Cambodia's rapid urban development is leaving some residents behind. Nowhere is this more evident than in a community living along - and above - a waste drain that cuts through the capital. Joanna Mayhew reports.

 

Meach Pov holds his palm perpendicular to his aged doorframe, half a meter above the ground, signaling how bad the flooding can get inside his one-room house. Though flooding is common in Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh, the effect is anything but innocuous. Just a little more than a meter below him, a putrid river of human waste and garbage is visible between the rickety floorboards. The 34-year-old lives at the end of one of Phnom Penh's major exposed sewage canals. The stagnant water slices through 30 blocks of the city's center, its arresting odor permeating bordering roads.

 

Meach, now unable to work due to sickness, spends long stretches at home, reliant on assistance from his wife and neighbors, and exposed to the waterway's air. In the dry season, the grey substance filling the ravine remains still, but with rain it oozes and periodically rises onto surrounding streets - and directly into Meach's home.

 

read more http://www.dw.com/en/open-sewage-canals-put-phnom-penhs-poorest-at-risk/a-37469618

How about the 'open sewage smells' in Bangkok that put Thai's (and me) at risk. Seems like every 20-30 meters I get a whiff of some horrible raw sewage smell emanating from somewhere. The Thai's pretend it does not exist and just keep walking....

Edited February 10, 20179 yr by lgking

And while we are at it...what about proper-civilized-garbage/trash receptacles on the streets of Bangkok.

 

(don't get me started...)

Edited February 10, 20179 yr by lgking

3 hours ago, lgking said:

How about the 'open sewage smells' in Bangkok that put Thai's (and me) at risk. Seems like every 20-30 meters I get a whiff of some horrible raw sewage smell emanating from somewhere. The Thai's pretend it does not exist and just keep walking....

Yeah, I can't believe in a modern world, where Thai's like to say they are becoming a developed country, that the sewage and trash situation, not to mention clean water are things that no one seems to care about. And lets not even get into the environmental impact that this society is having on all humans, this place is a toxic dump, and the typical Thai citizens seems to be oblivious.

Pak Shee Roi Nah...

15 hours ago, ocddave said:

Yeah, I can't believe in a modern world, where Thai's like to say they are becoming a developed country, that the sewage and trash situation, not to mention clean water are things that no one seems to care about. And lets not even get into the environmental impact that this society is having on all humans, this place is a toxic dump, and the typical Thai citizens seems to be oblivious.

 

 

I do not believe for one minute, that nobody cares. I think the average Thai cares deeply about the foul smells, and the open sewage, the polluted rivers, etc. But, what can they do, other than to avoid fouling the rivers themselves? They are dealing with a government that is displaying an astonishing degree of apathy toward the common man. He means nothing to them. And the idea that they would devote their precious budget toward making the lives of the masses more pleasant, or safer, is beyond their scope of thinking, or planning.

 

Little P. Moving Thailand backwards at an alarming pace. 

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

 

 

I do not believe for one minute, that nobody cares. I think the average Thai cares deeply about the foul smells, and the open sewage, the polluted rivers, etc. But, what can they do, other than to avoid fouling the rivers themselves? They are dealing with a government that is displaying an astonishing degree of apathy toward the common man. He means nothing to them. And the idea that they would devote their precious budget toward making the lives of the masses more pleasant, or safer, is beyond their scope of thinking, or planning.

 

Little P. Moving Thailand backwards at an alarming pace. 

On the road to immigration in Nonthaburi, they actually have a sign up on the road, telling locals not to dump their trash on some Innocent guys property. The whole lot is got trahs dumped on it from passersby, because they seem to think, "out of sight, out of mind"......I know all I need to know about this societies love of nature....non-existent.

35 minutes ago, ocddave said:

On the road to immigration in Nonthaburi, they actually have a sign up on the road, telling locals not to dump their trash on some Innocent guys property. The whole lot is got trahs dumped on it from passersby, because they seem to think, "out of sight, out of mind"......I know all I need to know about this societies love of nature....non-existent.

 

While love of nature is not a common thing here, respect for nature, and other peoples property, and the environment can be taught. It has to start in school. It has to come from the top. Unfortunately the people at the top are morally and ethically bankrupt, and apathetic beyond imagination. Someone has to take the lead. We cannot count on the little man, to ever do the right thing. Someone else could step up, but maybe he would get slapped down by stealing the thunder from the tiny one.