Waste Management in Thailand

There is no waste management, due to lack of education and accountability.  Parents set the bad example for their kids. Look outside your window and you will see what I mean.

However

Waist management would be a good thing for expats

@martinoo2002  The Thai people are not doing any recycling at all. I live in a Thai condo and no one but us recycles. We are from California and we just naturally recycle. our garbage room is full of garbage that the people can not even get in the trash cans. One is for clean garbage & one is for wet garbage, this is to difficult for them to understand so they just throw it in the room and let the housekeeper deal with it. we pick up garbage everyday from our condo garage. People love to drink there coffee drinks and just leave on the cement floor for someone else to pick up. We have garbage cans everywhere but they are always empty. I think it would be great if Expats took over this job of teaching the Thai people how to take care of there country. Teaching the children in school is the best.  Then the children can teach there parents.

@thailand4me

That's right! That's exactly why Thailand government let you come and retire in their country. So you can teach them how to do things differently than what they're used to for hundreds of years!

I have one rule - When you are a 'visitor' of another country, don't try to 'educate ' them to do things the way you're used to back in your home country!

If you're a guest at someone's house do you tell them how to live they lives? Im guessing the answer is NO....

We have all the different types of recycling bins at my condo and people just throw garbage in wherever there's room.

When the garbage men come and pick up the bags, they just throw it all in the back of a truck. I doubt they take the time to sort it out but who knows.

I believe it's a process to get people to change their attitude.

I believe it's a process to get people to change their attitude.
   

    -@scbrock

Correct, and as I said it is called education

    @martinoo2002  The Thai people are not doing any recycling at all. I live in a Thai condo and no one but us recycles. We are from California and we just naturally recycle. our garbage room is full of garbage that the people can not even get in the trash cans. One is for clean garbage & one is for wet garbage, this is to difficult for them to understand so they just throw it in the room and let the housekeeper deal with it. we pick up garbage everyday from our condo garage. People love to drink there coffee drinks and just leave on the cement floor for someone else to pick up. We have garbage cans everywhere but they are always empty. I think it would be great if Expats took over this job of teaching the Thai people how to take care of there country. Teaching the children in school is the best.  Then the children can teach there parents.
   

    -@thailand4me Well you're just wrong - you don't get out much, do you? In all the parks and many other places they have 3 or 4 different colored recycling bins, one for each type of waste. You sound like you don't know much about Thai people and their culture. Why don't you put your western judgments and prejudices aside and look through their eyes, or even ask them?

I have no trouble with waste management - those bum guns work fabulously, I take Milk of Magnesia once a day to get things going because Ozempic gives me constipation. And I never flush toilet paper or tampons either.

I'm not an expert at this at all (so take with grain of salt), but I asked my girlfriend about the other day and she said there's a recycling center in Tak province where they go through the trash and take out metals and plastics. I found this hard to believe but she seemed pretty confident. I also realize she may have been thinking of this proposed plan.

After seeing this post, I did a quick search online and there is / was / has been a project developed in Tak:  https://ir.dowa.co.jp/en/ir/news/news-6 … 2066.html. (granted this PR is from 2016)

Wiki page outlines some of the planning / goals: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waste_man … n_Thailand

At my apartment building they do recycle -- pick up the plastics and metals in separate bins in the trash. But I realize this is an outlier and most places (I have been) don't do this.

Waste management does seem bad here in CM. Then again, I spent the weekend in Lampang and I was surprised how clean it was there.

    I'm not an expert at this at all (so take with grain of salt), but I asked my girlfriend about the other day and she said there's a recycling center in Tak province where they go through the trash and take out metals and plastics. I found this hard to believe but she seemed pretty confident. I also realize she may have been thinking of this proposed plan.
After seeing this post, I did a quick search online and there is / was / has been a project developed in Tak:  https://ir.dowa.co.jp/en/ir/news/news-6 … 2066.html. (granted this PR is from 2016)

Wiki page outlines some of the planning / goals: [link under review]

At my apartment building they do recycle -- pick up the plastics and metals in separate bins in the trash. But I realize this is an outlier and most places (I have been) don't do this.

Waste management does seem bad here in CM. Then again, I spent the weekend in Lampang and I was surprised how clean it was there.
   

    -@jpword Chulalongkorn University, a cutting edge land, flood, and water management development and park:

https://ideas.ted.com/when-bangkok-floo … g-amazing/

As is usually the case there are a number of comments by people who don't know what they're talking about but like to comment anyway, like drunks in a pub.

I was surprised to find out there about a half a dozen recycling centers in Phuket. One example is the Wongpanit recycling center that accepts all types of trash from any and all sources and separates the refuse to be recycled.

There are about four hundred branches all around thailand from this parent company.

Phuket has no factories to recycle plastic, paper or glass so these items are shipped to neighboring provinces such as Rayong and Chon Buri that does have the ability to recycle the items.

Garbage on the beaches tends to be much higher during the monsoon season but there are teams of locals that clean the waste from the shores and for the most part keep the beaches looking intact. Most beaches have recycle bins to deposit waste. As do most of the seven eleven's and mini marts.

It may seem spotty at times but there is a movement underway in the kingdom to make thailand more recycle friendly.

I live in a small village in Prachin Buri  near 304 Industrial

in our village there are several  people who drive around on bicycles and one or two on motorbikes with the normal sidecar collecting  bottles ,cans  and other larger pieces of scrap. so there is not much of this lying around but irritates me are the plastic bags  ice cream  packets etc which seem to be ignored. I have had  a new hobby since i moved here  to teh village as once or twice a week I collect al lteh bags etc and throw them in the trash cans

I have never seen any bottle ,plastic bottles lying around .

One lady and her mother have a motorbike with a sidecar and it is constantly stacked high being taken to the local buyer of scrap.

These people are extremely poor and I give the old lady a hundred baht a week for fuel

When the  garbage collectors arrive they also search the trash for bottles cans etc and add them to bags attached to the  trucks side for sale to the scrap buyers.

It does irritate me to see all the plastic bags blowing in the wind and I call them the national flower of Thailand which upsets my wife

Mate i live in Rural Sukothai , no local garbage collection ,

my wifes family used to throw all the garbage on a heap at the back of the prpoerty , dogs chickens ans cats would spread  it all ll around ,

i built a 2 M sq enclosure from  roofing iron , and burn it there ,

some improvment

Peter Australian

I understand your frustration completely and have great sympathy for you

I cannot handle teh plastic lying around the same on the beaches

We are spoiled here as the Tessaban  collects garbage twice a week for a  ridiculous fee of 10 Baht per month.

They also have two elderly ladies who sweep teh main road through the  main village once a day six days a  week

Here is a little boy in our   call it annex to the village who I give a black bag once  week and he collects the plastic and other small bags and I give him either 50 Baht or twenty Baht if he does not do a good job.he is sometimes lazy and when i inspect I see several plastic bags I deduct 30 Baht and i show him I am doing this

His parents and extended family live in an old house of my wife  on our  farm  close to us

@barrytaylor God bless you sir and others like you for acting rather than sitting around and complaining. I've been to Prachinburi and have a dear lady friend from there and whose family, also poor, lives there.

@gmf131

We live very rural.

Takes 10 minutes by car to get to the closest garbage collection point, I think as the staff handles it.

I know a place 20 minutes away..

Every house has its own place where they burn garbage....

I hate it when I see what ​they thow at the side of the road....

And their kids follow the great example

Education is the key word here for most of the population's issues.

For industrial wastes and oil and gas wastes, our government has made an attempt to exercise and regulate certain regulations and process at certain level.  Yet for household waste, there is not much regulated, in Thailand mainly method of waste treatment is incinerated or landfill.  Economically reason is that average cost of living in Thailand is simply low (this is the same as local taxes and so so), so Social administration office cannot charge higher rate. 

From local point of view, villagers are lack of confident that the wastes that they segregate at home will be managed properly.  Certainly, Thai people would love to have more wastes to be upcycled to its maximum.

Why does this lady  and her daughter then collect all the waste in the  form of Bottles ,plastic bottles  cardboard etc and sell it at the waste collector in our village

Why do iIalso see the one person  at the one garage constantly  throwing the oil and or diesel on the dirt  track in front of his business where it soaks away in the soil. Why is he not prosecuted.

This Tessaban has a waste disposal dump on the outskirts of the village. it is not a landfill

The people operating the  trucks in the village  go through every trash bin they empty looking of cardboard ,Bottles  plastic etc and place it in bags which are hanging on the side of the   garbage trucks and I have seen the trucks at the waste buyer selling the collected waste there.

if this small village can do this the other villages can also.

It is just plastic bags which are a problem.

It is due to all the burning of garbage, sugar cane,  and harvested rice fields that Thailand has a smog problem and not so much the vehicles.

The schools can implement a system paying the children to bring waste to the schools by having a function for then once a year with the money made collecting the waste

I come from a third world country where waste is collected even though many of the people are poor

@Cheryl

How can you learn about waste management in Thailand (types of waste collected, sorting, collection days, recycling, bulky items, etc.)? Do local authorities provide information on waste management to newcomers?

Household waste: You can contact or visit a website of Social Administration Office in your area.

Industrial Waste :

Pollution Control Department – https://www.pcd.go.th/ : Country overall regulations

Department of industrial works - https://www.diw.go.th/webdiw/  : More of the registration, permission

Industrial Waste (Hazardous Waste and Oil and Gas waste) : Both departments have sub section department to work on hazardous substance waste

What are the main differences you've noticed compared to your home country in terms of waste management? How have you adapted?

Different, I have replied some in my below comment.

Are there recycling programs, composting initiatives, or other eco-friendly alternatives to reduce waste in Thailand? What personal initiatives can be implemented?

How are hazardous waste items such as batteries, household chemicals, or electronic equipment managed?

So far, there is no proper waste management for these types of waste. Household - they are mixed with household wastes.  Industrial sector, they segregate but there is no proper waste management for batteries and household chemicals.  For electronic equipment, you might need to check and compare with international standard.

What actions are taken to encourage compliance with regulations (rewards, penalties, taxes, etc.)?

Rewards - only for those companies who joined Department of Industrial Works program or implement CSR or environmental friendly programs.

Penalties - as shown on the news.  When there is a report/complaint and found misconduct (both waste generator and waste processor)

Taxes - no incentive

@pelesiamsmile Thank you for your kind reply but my experience is that when you contact any Thai Government office you never receive  reply not even an acknowledgement of your mail.

I will now for sure contact the government dept you mention in your reply

I have not even touched on  vehicle tyres  and electronic equipment

Do you not think the best place to teach the people is at the schools and motivate the children.

The Tessaban Manager  family (son) has a business right next door to the guy pouring diesel on the soil Why has he not taken action?

Why is nobody ever prosecuted for burning rubbish  without the necessary permit

Why are people allowed to burn  tyres and nothing is done about it.

Why have I never heard or seen  of a person being fined for  throwing rubbish next to a road

I hope we can achieve something

Barry

@barrytaylor

Spot on with the education part..

You can add

Why is nobody ever charged for burning the remains of the crop on his land.... I mean everyone knows whose land it is, it is registered in the land office in every village

Answer for most of these cases ; Probably the right pockets are lined

Most larger villages have a garbage collection, for glass, plastic and you can get cash

But the problem is also wood, food leftovers that attract vermin, batteries and any other leftovers from a household

If there is no collection point it will not work, anyway most people prefer to do it 'their way' thinking, ahhh is it just a little bit...should not be a problem

Adn fines are nice, they exist for crop burners as well, and in daily life from police side, but if you cannot control or check it, the fines are a farce....

@barrytaylor

I can understand that Thailand has failed to create awareness and Thai people may lack of discipline as you may have seen.   

Our laws are not strict enough. Waste collection is not well managed.  Waste segregation programs are repeatedly taught to certain groups of people ie. young students (not every schools), villagers representatives, NGO and so on.   Some schools and villages have established Waste Banks in Schools and Villages but not all.  In addition, there are only private sectors who try to implement environmental programs to collect recycled waste: bottles, cans...

Actually, "this lady and her daughter" whom collect all the waste in the form of Bottles, plastic bottles cardboard etc. It is a wrong practice and unhealthy for sustainable waste management value chain.  Yet, this will continue to happen unless there is a law or restriction imposed.

At the same time the next jigsaw should be established to encourage and create confident to those who practice.  For instance, may be soon in the future having waste collection kiosks so at least to bring the waste and exchange the money back near home.  In Australia or somewhere else they put the kiosk at groceries stores in Thailand may be near village markets, local area in the village and etc.  So, it will at least help household waste segregation and good practitioner with the short-term storage and transportation cost of waste. 

All you have mentioned about plastic waste and so on, it is not only awareness but also strict laws and implementation of sustainable waste management programs. When it comes to waste, not many people spend money on proper waste management (as the whole chain/stream cannot fully increased price starting from taxes, government policy, strict laws, cost of living, manufactures, logistic cost of waste, upto waste treatment method and treatment price). Definitely, no excuses and this should be well managed.  I hope our authorities would be able to drive ahead of manufactures and private sectors to achieve sustainable waste management.  My replied may not fully answer all your queries about waste management but I hope in the soonest future Thailand will at least reduce your queries by half or less. 

All you want to know about waste management in Thailand.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waste_man … n_Thailand

Surprisingly it states that 50% of the garbage is collected somehow.

Given these numbers come from the Thai side they could be off a little

@martinoo2002  I tend to beleive these figures if I see the amount of trucks motorcycles and even people with bicycles selling at the large waste  collectors

You see these trucks daily on the road with these huge bags of waste  travelling on the roads.

But it is the plastic bags and smaller  cardboard and plastic  cups lying everywhere

@pelesiamsmile As you are well aware my dear lady

Such a matter as Law enforcement in Thailand does not exist and that is the crux of the matter

Thailand has sufficient laws no new laws have to be implemented. It is the total lack of any law enforcement in Thailand by all government departments as well the police. Most police have no idea  what a law actually is

I have a diploma in law and most laws right through the world are very similar

it is  defined as a crime. There is a clear definition what the crime is and then there is a penalty be it a fine or prison sentence

In the ten years I have been living in this village i have never seen or heard of teh police taking action against any person

They sit playing with their phones at the police station or once a day drive up and down the main road

Thailand has lovely people but one thing about most of them They have an inborn fear of so called people with any management  position.

Also Thailand has a slander law where you cannot even speak the truth and it is slander

This lady and her daughter are doing the village a favour by collecting  scrap

In my country they also have collection bins at the large malls and even in some main roads in the towns

To cut the whole problem short. It is no discipline ,no law enforcement and no concern about the environment as well as no training and educating of teh kids at school

How can this be solved I wish I can assit and help