Welcome to paradise - sorry about the rubbish!

[Elkski]

It needs to start with the youth in schools.  It may take 50 years.  There will be a cost in solving the trash issue.   Trash disposal in the USA is big business.   I bet I pay 1000 baht a month in trash collection fees.  Sewar is extra.  I think most areas have standard bins that can be automatically picked up by a lone truck operator.  We have two bins per house to sort out recycling stuff. Twice a year you can put out a major pile that is picked up with a front end loader and fleet of trucks.   These trucks are used as plows in winter.  

[natway09]

More      zero dollar Chinese tourists please., just to add to the mess

Talk about killing the goose that lays the golden egg

[Sooo Upto Me]

16 hours ago, Elkski said:

Biggest disappointment of my visit.   I tell everyone about the trash in my first moment or two of my Thailand impression.    Trash everywhere including the beaches, roadsides, yards, just unimaginable and the scuba diving sucks. 

 

Apart from that,  everything ok for u?  ?

[amjamj]

17 hours ago, ChrisY1 said:

So.....what's the issue?

All beaches are similar......

 

 

EXACTLY ! And the sea is a dump ! I wonder why people don't swim in their toilets, as it's exactly the same !

So stupid when knowing that large pools are available everywhere for cheap !

 

 

[oldsailor35]

3 hours ago, maddermax said:

If you watch the Thais around town you can see that they have no pride in their country as they drop rubbish anywhere and everywhere.  Some years ago the UK Government had a campaign, telling people to 'Have pride in your country' and 'take your rubbish home' which were very successful.  A similar scheme here would be very timely.

You must be another "Newbie dreamer"  Believe me, i have been here 10 years and i can tell you, Thai's and English are nothing like each other. If you don't believe me, do as study on Thai driving compared with English driving.

[Yann55]

15 hours ago, goferman said:

 

 

What about the ecosystem? There's a serious problem with garbage in our oceans or is that not worthy of consideration?

My thoughts exactly ... All the guy cares about is the 'image' ... read : the impact on tourism and therefore the potential financial loss... It's all so incredibly shortsighted and shows a level of ignorance, selfishness and indifference that is simply mindblowing.

Edited December 20, 2016 by Yann55

[MaxiMaxi]

The district chief just blamed...???

We would have been fined, deported or arrested as farangs.

And also in our countries we would have a trial in court with very big fine etc etc.

Here All normal.....

And this is the result also in Bkk, between tge "bful" ... condos....

two faced medals....

This goes to Chaopraya river then in the rice fields, in the salt farms, in the prawns and fish farms and then in the gulf of Thailand where other fish eat it, at least goes on the dish of all people...thais and farangs. But thais don't realise it.

Same thing happens on Phuket beaches and Krabi and all over thai coasts.....

[TPI]

6 hours ago, toenail said:

Why should tourists from developed countries spend their holiday cleaning up after the Thais? I observe daily Thais leaving their foam or plastic bag food containers where they have finished eating outside including empty bottles (too lazy to place it somewhere in s bin). --A huge government marketing campaign & education in Thai schools ( the future adults of Thailand)  about not littering & caring about the environment. --For some reason Buddhism in Thailand does not connect to respecting the environment.

Town, Provincial and Federal governments do not and will not put rubbish bins out for the people to use! You can't really blame the "people" as they're in exactly the same spot we are!

Now, if you could encourage your local Pu Yai Ban to put some rubbish bins out on the side of the road in the village (without anyone stealing them) that would be a big start for the whole country!!

[maxcorrigan]

6 hours ago, Rimbuman said:

That would be just too logical to do.

And obviously there is no money in it, so why bother!

[Saraburi121]

I found a party that would come to our village and pay for glass, recyclable plastic bottles etc and cardboard.  He comes every other week.  Still does not solve the plastic bag problem but makes a difference and keeps things a lot cleaner plus gives folks some baht.  He must be making some money off my beer bottles, he keeps coming back.  Not sure if that service is offered everywhere but worth asking around.  

[PoorSucker]

24 minutes ago, Saraburi121 said:

I found a party that would come to our village and pay for glass, recyclable plastic bottles etc and cardboard.  He comes every other week.  Still does not solve the plastic bag problem but makes a difference and keeps things a lot cleaner plus gives folks some baht.  He must be making some money off my beer bottles, he keeps coming back.  Not sure if that service is offered everywhere but worth asking around.  

They are everywhere on Samui, glass, plastic, bottles, metal gets recycled.

Big business.

[MaxiMaxi]

31 minutes ago, TPI said:

Town, Provincial and Federatn governments do not and will not put rubbish bins out for the people to use! You can't really blame the "people" as they're in exactly the same spot we are!

Now, if you could encourage your local Pu Yai Ban to put some rubbish bins out on the side of the road in the village (without anyone stealing them) that would be a big start for the whole country!!

Yes you are right. But the double metal rings like In the basketball With big black plastic bag catched between like In many countyries without rubbish bins, could make a nice job. But maybe the chiefs themselves are not use to put In the bin....

[wump]

5 hours ago, Loeilad said:

 There are a couple of questions you could ask yourself here.....

 

Is all the garbage you see on beaches from locals or even Thailand - simple answer -  NO!

 

why do people throw their garbage away like this? - Simple answer - there is no proper refuse collection system and disposing of it in any other way would be too costly.

 

 

Now in total you've made 3 posts saying the rubbish is not all Thai. I beg to differ, I guarantee you that 99% of the rubbish (in the Gulf of Thailand) you can find that has a label will have Thai writing on it. So it must be either from Thailand or Cambodia since this is the only countries that normally use Thai products with Thai script on them.

Edited December 20, 2016 by wump

[MaxiMaxi]

39 minutes ago, Saraburi121 said:

I found a party that would citme to our village and pay for glass, recyclable plastic bottles etc and cardboard.  He comes every other week.  Still does not solve the plastic bag problem but makes a difference and keeps things a lot cleaner plus gives folks some baht.  He must be making some money off my beer bottles, he keeps coming back.  Not sure if that service is offered everywhere but worth asking around.  

Yes they collect everywhere In Thailand that's why people abbandone plastic everywhere but It's to much everywhere and a little discipline would be a great step forward

[GR8fun in LOS]

I have to agree with the majority of posters above, the waste and rubbish lying around the beaches is amasing.

 

10 days ago I went to the supposedly beautiful Patong Beach, what a cesspit!

 

As you approach the water you have to avoid at least 7 paragliding groups who suggest that they own the beach and you should get out of their way. I must admit if the deck chairs and umbrellas can only take up 10% of the beach because it is owned by the Royal Family and people should not profit from that strip of land; the paragliders and jet ski operators take-up or try to control the other 90% of the beach. 

 

As you approach the water's edge there are numerous plastic bags and plastic containers, dead or dying fish of various sizes and colours, the odd glass beverage bottle, bottle caps and some vegetable matter. Not entirely enticing as you wade into the water.

 

Once in the water you legs or torso are brushed by leaves, fronds and various other pieces of misplaced vegetation. Then come the plastic bags, plastic wrappers, plasticised paper wrappers and previously used condoms to name but a few . The water is far from crystal clear being pale greeny brown colour. I have heard of numerous people developing eye and ear infections after swimming in the beautiful Patong Bay

 

Whilst in the water you need to take care of jet ski riders who zoom here there and every where with no obvious intention of avoiding the swimmers in the marked areas or outside those areas.

 

It seems the jet ski and paragliding people are the ones responsible for laying out the Swimming flags Red / Yellow (safe to swim here) and the Water Sports (no swimming) Red Flags and these seem to suit the commercial needs of the flag layers rather than the swimmer's safety needs.

 

Another day in Paradise ....   ????

 

[free123]

you receive what you deserve....everybody ( individuals groups ) always deserves what they do .... clear to see now you throw it in the klong and the sea brings it back to you...

solution : complain about it till the doctor arrives ? = mostly the way people go .... maybe better build a fire plant, 

collect all rubbish from all island permanently burn it and produce electricity from that plant....= change something difficult to something good....

[off road pat]

ha ha ha haa,.....I remember years ago at Lamai beach. I was reading a book on the beach at a small bungalow park just outside Lamai..

When i heard some unusual noise on the street !! i went to see and saw a 20/30 young Thais with all white T shirts wearing the same inscriptions ...walking along the street and collecting garbage !!! ??? I thought this is extraordinary things are changing !?!?

All over sudden a minivan came with a camera crew they started filming, a journalist was interviewing a local politician wearing the same white T shirt, that obviously was leading everybody....a short time later the camera crew got back in the minivan and drove of...And so did the politician and all the young people....!!! leaving the garbage...... TIT....This Is Thailand !!!

Don't expect any changes in a near future.....Hahahahaaa

best regards....

[sambum]

7 hours ago, jesimps said:

I see you're a newbie and it shows in your post. Tourists are normally excellent at disposing of their rubbish, either binning it or taking it away with them. It's the Thai's themselves that litter the place, they come to the beaches with everything, including the kitchen sink and just leave all their garbage laying around when they leave. Lots are sensible enough to bag it, but then just dump it on the ground when the bins are full, which seems to be most of the time, instead of taking it home with them.

 

Also, as said in the original article, people living up the creeks just throw their rubbish into the water and during rainstorms it all washes down to the beaches.

 

There also seems to be no control on illegal dumping, many scenic areas are ruined by mountains of building and household rubbish.

 

In my opinion, it's caused by lack of deterrent. If there was a 20,000 baht fine for littering, and it was enforced, then there's be a lot less of it. Money's number one in Thailand and if the locals were to be hit in their pocket, then I'm sure there'd be a dramatic improvement.

 

Cue the Thai-bashing policemen who'll say that the farang are as guilty as the locals.

 

 

It would help if there were "wheelie bins" or decent sized bins to put the rubbish in! These are few and far between, and seem to be disappearing by the week, to be replaced by mountains of bags of rubbish where the bins used to be! 

[sambum]

1 hour ago, TPI said:

Town, Provincial and Federal governments do not and will not put rubbish bins out for the people to use! You can't really blame the "people" as they're in exactly the same spot we are!

Now, if you could encourage your local Pu Yai Ban to put some rubbish bins out on the side of the road in the village (without anyone stealing them) that would be a big start for the whole country!!

 

And a hefty 500 baht fine  for those caught stealing or in possession of "Council/Public" bins?

Edited December 20, 2016 by sambum

[Thaidream]

There must be a concentrated effort from the top levels of Government all the way down to the local authorities to control the refuse problem. Part of the problem as mentioned is there are no bins to throw refuse or in some places few and far between. Thailand is literally being destroyed by filthy water and beaches. As a resident of Thailand, I am appalled by the lack of a concentrated effort to solve this issue.

In stead, we get over development everywhere which adds to more refuse. If someone complains about the over development- they are accused of hindering progress and not supporting the economy.

If I were a tourist looking for a vacation spot I would never go to Phuket, Pattaya; or Samui- I would most likely go to Vietnam where the beaches and water are still pristine.

[jmacken306]

8 hours ago, toenail said:

Why should tourists from developed countries spend their holiday cleaning up after the Thais? I observe daily Thais leaving their foam or plastic bag food containers where they have finished eating outside including empty bottles (too lazy to place it somewhere in s bin). --A huge government marketing campaign & education in Thai schools ( the future adults of Thailand)  about not littering & caring about the environment. --For some reason Buddhism in Thailand does not connect to respecting the environment.

Where are the bins, and It's not just the beach, how many trash bins do you find in the malls? Where are the bins in the markets, on the sidewalks where the vendors sell their stuff and you finish your food and walk to the next vendor to get a drink....................

[ttrd]

12 hours ago, Thechook said:

Thai beaches are disgusting and there is no way I would swim in the disgusting polluted waters.

Its not only in Thailand this kind of issue appear - luckily the sea clean it self by throwing some of it back to shore...

 

http://inhabitat.com/19-year-olds-ocean-cleanup-array-could-clean-half-the-pacific-garbage-patch-in-10-years-study-shows/

[papa al]

8 hours ago, phantomfiddler said:

Sadly asians seem to have no concept of proper waste disposal. The worst I ever saw was at Ban Phae around where the ferry leaves for Koh Samet, much worse than the garbage shown in the photos here   I do believe farang tourists are not responsible for this problem.

Been to Japan?  Singapore?

[ammagic]

Or been to Hong Kong? NO plastic bags allowed anywhere & the equivalent of TB 7500 fine for littering & yes, it's enforced . How do I know ? Lived there for over 20 years

[Italian guy]

22 hours ago, webfact said:

stop throwing litter that was damaging the image of the tourist beach

That's the true problem... who cares for the environment...

[Nemesis7]

actual picture of reality.

[IamNoone88]

It is dumping of commercial volumes of rubbish out at sea that is the problem. You only got to ask the right locals.

[George FmplesdaCosteedback]

20 hours ago, Ostseefoto said:

This is the result of Mass tourism. All tourists should help to collect and sort the garbage. For a clean enviroment.

Yes of course,Thais visiting on holiday would never leave rubbish. It is clearly the fault of all those pesky tourists. I do with they would just send us their money and not come themselves....

[sambum]

53 minutes ago, IamNoone88 said:

It is dumping of commercial volumes of rubbish out at sea that is the problem. You only got to ask the right locals.

 

I suppose this lot floated in from the sea? About 250, 000 tonnes at the last estimate! (June 2016)

 

Edited December 20, 2016 by sambum
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[notmyself]

I'm not sure how many people are even interested in such a subject. I tried to irrigate the front area of a ladies house earlier and she went nuts on me.