More Garbage Disposal Problems for Thailand

Garbage disposal isn't exactly rocket science. The city provides each residence and hotel and resort appropriate containers for their garbage, with a special container for recycleables. Residents load their garbage and the city picks up the containers weekly. Then the garbage is sorted in a warehouse and all remaining recycleables are removed and recycled. Then the garbage is either delivered to a designated landfill, or the garbage is disposed of in an approved incinerator. How difficult is that?

Apparently, for the Thai government, that's a tall order. For several decades, regional governments in charge of all major tourism destinations including Phuket, Samui, Pattaya, and many other beach resorts have never figured out how to dispose of their trash. Remember, this isn't rocket science. It's just easier for the regional governments in most tourist zones to blame tourism, blame hotels, blame resorts, blame anyone but where the fault really lies: Thai government both local and national.

It stinks.

Bangkok Post reports on the garbage disposal problems on Ko Racha, a very popular tourist island just south of Phuket.

The future of the once-pristine tourist mecca Koh Racha is being threatened by steaming piles of garbage. The island south of Phuket, also known as Koh Raya, is famous for its coral reefs and white sandy beaches.

But as the garbage piles grow taller and refuse buried in landfill plots threatens the island's water supply, authorities fear the situation will dramatically worsen.

Hotels and resorts on the islands enjoy brisk business - which is part of the cause of the problem - but the image of the island is being spoiled by the sight and smell of the piles of garbage being dumped. The island is virtually choking with garbage as landfill is the only disposal method. There is no boat designed specifically to carry the garbage to nearby Phuket where it could be destroyed.

Hotel operators and local authorities have been discussing the possibility of building a local garbage incinerator but the talks have made no headway.

Phuket environment office spokesman Ong-art Chanacharnmongkol said garbage dumping must end if the island is to survive. He said garbage buried in landfill plots must be dug up and disposed of properly to prevent contamination of groundwater.

The refuse problem was so serious hotels and resorts had been asked to establish an association to manage garbage disposal together. His office would provide technical support to make wastewater treatment of all hotels and resorts part of one large system, Mr Ong-art said.

Witthanu Chumsuwan, the human resources manager at The Racha, an upmarket hotel on the island, said the garbage problem required a concerted effort to tackle it effectively. But cooperation was lacking and the provincial authorities must step in to help, he said. "The rubbish problem has persisted for a long time and requires a great deal of manpower and budget to deal with it," Mr Witthanu said. He said Koh Racha was popular with tourists. Its hotel occupancy rate averages 90% all year round. But its garbage disposal capacity apparently could not keep up with its popularity.

There was a push for the garbage to be transported to the Rawai municipality on Phuket for disposal. Rawai municipality chief Arun Solot said the municipality was willing to take the garbage but his agency did not have the boats to pick it up from Koh Racha. Transporting refuse from Koh Racha to Phuket takes about half an hour by speed boat and up to one hour by a long-tailed boat.

Mr Arun said occupants of land on Koh Racha, including many hotels and resorts, did not have land ownership papers. That added to the difficulty of enforcing the waste disposal law.