Garbage collection fee may be raised to B220

Garbage collection fee may be raised to B220

The government is considering raising more than fivefold the maximum monthly garbage-collection fee to 220 baht per household from 40 baht.

The study on the pros and cons of the increase is being conducted, deputy government spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd quoted Interior Minister Gen Anupong Paojinda as saying at a cabinet meeting Tuesday.

Waste management in Thailand is not efficient and the government needs to allocate more funding to improve it, he said. 

Gen Anupong said agencies in charge of garbage disposal handled some 26 million tonnes of waste each year, or about 60,000 every day.  

Maj Gen Sansern said the shortfall in waste management costs was about 10 billion baht and local administrations were currently shouldering the burden. 

The government needs to explain the situation to the public because if the problem is left unsolved, Thailand could face a garbage crisis and it would be difficult to solve it by then, Maj Gen Sansern said.

“The suitable rate is likely at 220 baht per household per month. The government is conducting the feasibility study and the public should not panic,” Maj Gen Sansern said. “The government has approved in principle the proposal and will look into the detail later.”

A Public Health Ministry law currently caps the collection fee at 40 baht per month. In practice, local administrations, which are responsible for waste management in their localities, collect an average 23 baht per month from each household. 

The Pollution Control Department (PCD) recently warned Thailand would face a looming "garbage crisis" if the government fails to allocate more funding to improve waste management

It said local administrations are reluctant to raise the collection fee, or do not even collect it at all, for fear that it will affect their political base in future elections.


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