THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
nationthailand

In Rayong, life’s a beach (and a rubbish dump) 

In Rayong, life’s a beach (and a rubbish dump) 

It seems Rayong provincial authorities are experimenting with a novel form of garbage disposal.

It is called Mae Ramphueng Beach. There is currently a solid wall of garbage lining the whole 7 kilometres of this beach. It comprises various plastics and polystyrenes, bottles, cans, tins, fishing nets, ropes and other flotsam and jetsam. As I walked my dogs along the beach this morning, tiptoeing around the rubbish, I talked to a woman who owns a small restaurant on the beach. She was lamenting the fact that, although she tries to keep her area of the beach clean for tourists, it is all covered with garbage again the next morning.
If you see a yellow garbage compactor truck driving along the beach’s service road, you would be forgiven for thinking it was making a delivery, rather than collecting garbage.
I have seen horrendous river and beach pollution in places like Bangladesh, India and the Philippines, but have never seen anything as bad as the current state of Mae Ramphueng Beach.
Thailand may like to classify itself as a developing country, but as long as it allows pollution like this, its mindset is firmly cemented in the Third World.
David Brown
Rayong 

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