Bangkok’s ‘garbage cages’ a proven success, Aswin insists
Bangkok Governor Pol General Aswin Kwanmuang has defended the “garbage cages” being tested on some city sidewalks as being a success in other countries.
Photos of the square metal-grate contrivances circulating on social media drew criticism. Citizens are concerned about hygiene, given the potential for spills of rancid, germ-ridden wastewater, and possible inconvenience to pedestrians.
But Aswin insisted in a Facebook post that the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration pilot project involved a garbage-collection system that has been a success in Japan, France and elsewhere and costs very little.
In the project – dubbed “Ting Pen Tee, Kep Pen Wela” (Dispose garbage at the right place, to be collected as per time schedule) – people must drop their tied-up garbage bags in the cages within a specific time period for collection.
Should the garbage not be collected within the appointed time, citizens can call a designated phone number to report it.
Aswin pointed out that the cages are made of reused materials and thus low in cost. They can be configured in different shapes to suit the character of any given neighbourhood.
He called them a solution to littering and animals rummaging through trash and, because the garbage is collected according to a strict schedule, it wouldn’t pile up.
Aswin said the city would also, among other measures, encourage people to separate different kinds of waste and to stop dumping trash in canals and rivers.
If the public disapproved of any aspect of “Tin Pen Tee”, he added, adjustments could be made.