Recycling lags behind the capacity of the ultimate landfill and oven while regular trash pile exceeds the capacity of the sole landfill and incinerator
PHUKET- Cheap bottles and bare beer cans slam the ocean floor in Phuket, southern Thailand, making way for ever more garbage to pile up on the island itself, a tourist hotspot known for its picturesque beaches and beautiful sunsets.
Cars and tractors shuffle spend piles of trash around a sprawling landfill in one corner of Phuket, which is where the more than 1, 000 tons of trash are ultimately transported.
According to statistics from the municipal statistics company and the pollution power department, the figure has grown from 742 kilos in 2022 to 961 tonnes in 2023.
The waste has grown to the point where Vassana Toyou’s home’s earlier peaceful mountain view has been replaced in a few months.
” There is no life outside the house, ( we ) just stay at home”, she said. ” The taste is very powerful, you have to use a mask”.
Vassana claimed she keeps her air conditioning and heat purifiers turned on constantly, which doubled her electric bill. ( Story continues below )
A garbage is visible in the Muang area of Phuket next to the Saphan Hin community. ( Photo: Reuters )
According to Phuket’s tourism industry, which is a major force behind the Thai market as a whole, the country has rapidly grown. Of the government’s 35.5 million international visitors in 2024, about 13 million headed to the area. In contrast, that number was about 6 million two decades ago.
” The growth of ( Phuket ) city has been much more rapid than it should be”, said Suppachoke Laongphet, deputy mayor of the main municipality, explaining how a tourism and construction boom has pushed trash volumes above pre-Covid levels.
He predicted that the area may have produced up to 1,400 tons of trash daily, making Saphan Hin the island’s only landfill, by the end of this year.
Authorities are pushing ahead with plans to cut waste generation by 15 % in six months, expand the landfill and build a new incinerator, he said, as the island strives to become a more sustainable tourist destination.
The continuous native inhabitants of Phuket was 418, 000 as of 2021. People from outside the state and those who work on the island are not included in the physique.
The Phuket city operates one incinerator in the province that you store just about 900 tons of garbage per day. The remainder is sent to garbage dumps. According to the Pollution Control Department, only 10 % of the trash in Phuket is recycled, and 60 % is organic waste.
However, according to experts, increasing capacity and incinerators are just a small part of the solution.
” If you just stay expanding more spare incinerators, I don’t think that would be just the answer”, said Panate Manomaivibool, an assistant professor in waste management at Burapha University.
” They need to rely on waste reduction and parting”.
Last year, the city tested a “garbage bank” to discard trash and waste in the Samakkee Samkong neighborhood in Muang district. If effective, it will be rolled out to other sites.
In Phuket, bullshit is strewn all over the bottom of the ocean. ( Photo: Reuters )