Burning Trash

Posted on February 4, 2005 by | 6 Comments
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I live in a fairly upscale village in the San Sai district of Chiang Mai just outside the super highway. Our village, “The Laguna Homes” has all the amenities of any western country including trash pick up. However, the older homes around our village apparently don’t have trash pick up. You guessed it. At around dusk every day people begin burning their garbage and trash. The smoke and noxious gas is so bad I have to retreat to our upstairs bedroom and turn on the air conditioning to mitigate the effects of burning plastic and garbage on my eyes throat and nose. This really spoils the wonderful evening breeze and the natural ambiance of Thailand’s atmosphere. Am I the only one that is troubled by this? Will there ever come a day when Chiang Mai and the outlying districts will have Municipal trash pick up or am i too optimistic to think that day will ever come?

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6 comments on “Burning Trash”

  1. Nui T. on said:

    Don’t just be optimistic! Go to the municipal office and complain. Raise such a din that they listen and send some trucks or be the strange farang and start to talk about environmental issues with those old houses. Maybe your upper scale village can subsidize garbage collection around the area that affects you at least. Communities become stronger when their members engage with each other, no? Meanwhile, look at the bright side of it, their burning the trash means that they are at least aware that they have to do something about their trash even if they deal with it in the wrong way.

  2. Anonymous on said:

    Dear “Farangdad”,
    Please hence the user name you chose! You’re a foreigner so maybe you’re just not used to that! But in Thailand, that is the way they do things! You can’t change it because they were probably doing it way before you came from Uncle Sam! Why don’t you just ask nicely to them to burn it in a different place?

  3. Anonymous on said:

    Burning is not only prevalent in Thailand. You can find that in Malaysia & Indonesia too. The clearing and burning of tree and BUSHes caused the so much haze recently.
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4153092.stm
    Chaiyo.

  4. Kale on said:

    As a volunteer living and working in Isaan, I’m troubled when I hear comments like siam13′s “that is the way they do things!” My Thai counterparts also do not like to breath in plastics smoke, which 100 years ago was not a problem.

    It is today and Thai youth can feel empowered to make change. This isn’t a problem for farang, it’s a problem for Thai health and it’s a problem they are willing and able to fix.

    Don’t let defeatest attitudes get the best of you, or believe the myth that things were always this way. When smoke travels thousands of miles, pollution is all ours to deal with.

  5. Olly on said:

    It is AMAZING how thai people immediatly feel attacked when farangs criticize something about Thailand. Farang or Thai or whatever! The breathing way is the same for all humans and IF YOU BURN GARBAGE, YOU BREATH IN POISON. Did you get it now “Anonymous on March 25, 2005 at 9:41 pm ”
    ? What about some EGO burning there?

  6. Olly on said:

    It is toxic and prehistoric. Only people who don’t have a clue about health’s issue and are uncivilized and selfish and don’t have an education do this. Yes, it was a normal practice 100 years ago….when the garbage trucks were not there.Wake up Thailand…try to learn from your very near friend Singapore…they are way ahead of you and still Asian they are.