The pile of trash keeps
getting bigger on Soi Chularat near the Pattaya Indoor Sports Arena, where
thoughtless residents are polluting their own environment by carelessly
tossing trash into vacant lots whilst expecting others to pick up after
them.
Warunya Thongrod
While Pattaya residents often point the blame at city
bureaucrats for failing to address pollution issues, many Thais need only
look in the mirror to see where the real problem lies.
Throughout Pattaya, ad hoc trash dumps like one on Soi
Arunothai highlighted by the Pattaya Mail in recent weeks, mar the
image of the city. In many cases, such as on Soi Chularat near the Pattaya
Indoor Sports Arena, thoughtless residents are the ones polluting their own
environment, carelessly tossing trash into vacant lots expecting others to
pick up after them.
Preecha Benjaphra, who lives near the growing mountain of
construction materials, rotting food, plastic bags, bottles and even old
mattresses said neighborhood denizens have been throwing out trash illegally
there for more than a year. City workers have come in occasionally to clean
up and post “no dumping” signs, but with no effect.
The 37-year-old noted that a landowner opposite the
makeshift landfill has worsened the pollution problem by occasionally hiring
trucks to push the eyesore into a water source behind the lot.
Pattaya Sanitation Office spokesman Sunya Thupthimsri
said the Soi Chularat problem is not unique. The city, he said, does what it
can to keep streets and vacant lots clean, but if Thais have so little
regard for the law and the environment, there’s little that can be done. He
urged people to give up their selfish, slobbish ways and put littler in its
place.
He noted anyone caught dumping garbage illegally is
subject to a 2,000 baht fine. Anyone witnessing such acts can call the city
Call Center at 1337.
