Dirty work

Without them, Bangkok would be suffocating under a thick layer of garbage. But the saleng people receive little recognition for their work

Karnjariya Sukrung

A woman pedals her tricycle, or saleng , through the car-choked streets of Bangkok in search of garbage she can sell for recycling. The "saleng people" perform a valuable community service since most Bangkokians still refuse to sort out their garbage to facilitate recycling. --Yingyong Un-aongrak

Half an hour before dawn, Chuan Phanklai, 39, hurriedly puts on her ragged shirt and pants, and wakes her three-year-old son. They have to get an early start otherwise all the good things will be gone.

On the rusty tricycle, or saleng, Chuan and the little boy roam the back alleys and laneways of Bangkapi, stopping at every dustbin and pile of litter they find along the way.

The bigger and nastier the garbage appears, the better the opportunity that awaits her, she says. No matter how foul the odour and how many flies hover close to her face, she continues looking for waste she can sell.

"This is my treasure, my money," says Chaun as she rummages through a yellow trash can.

Chaun is among the troops of saleng people whose call of "Old things to sell?" is an integral part of Bangkok's streets and residential areas. Some people are happy to sell their unwanted items to them and turn their garbage into money. Others are annoyed by their interruption of a afternoon nap. And most people feel that the "garbage people" are on the lowest rung of society.

But according to Jirapol Sinthunawa, a lecturer at Mahidol University's Faculty of Environment and Resources Studies, the saleng people are the unsung heroes without whom Bangkok would drown in a sea of trash.

Since cosmopolitan Bangkokians still refuse to sort out their garbage to facilitate recycling, it is the ant army of saleng people like Chaun who has kept Bangkok from a garbage disaster.

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has installed special bins for wet, dry and toxic junk in various parts of the city. It also has a special fleet of tin-coloured trucks to pick up sorted garbage which will go to recycling factories. However, this recycling effort still does not work because Bangkok residents lack garbage-sorting awareness while the BMA facilities are too few and far in between to make any impact.

"In Europe, for example, people who sort garbage and put it on recycling conveyor belts receive good salaries and benefits because few people want to do this dirty job," says Dr Jirapol.

"But in Thailand, you have people who are willing to do this nasty job without asking for any salary or welfare benefits," he says.

"These people deserve not only proper recognition of their important work, but also concrete welfare assistance," he adds.

To help the saleng people, Dr Jirapol plans to set up a welfare fund for garbage collectors nationwide, and he is inviting the public to contribute.

Apart from medical assistance, the fund will be used for training so they know how protect themselves when dealing with toxic materials, he explains. The fund will help also the saleng people buy better tricycles and garbage-collecting equipment.

Through a random survey, it is estimated that there are about 4,000 garbage collectors in Bangkok. The number is constantly rising in response to Bangkok's increasing population and garbage.

Many of the saleng people are from the landless rural poor, the environmentalist says. Some sold their land during the speculation boom. When the money is gone, they have little choice but to join the garbage collectors in the city, given their lack of education.

"Some of them work very hard, wishing that one day they can buy their ancestral land back," says Dr Jirapol.

Chuan, for example, left her hometown in Suphan Buri because her parents sold their land to speculators. Some garbage collectors, like Sei Sankaew, 58, are are too old to work as labourers.

"I've got an aching back and a limp in one leg," she says. "No one wants to hire me."

Some saleng people work alone while others make it a family affair with husband, wife and children going together on the same old vehicle. Sometimes the husband takes the morning round, leaving the afternoon one for his wife, while the kids tag along with either parent.

To earn enough money, most saleng people make more than three trips a day in search of the treasure hidden in the trash. And the competition is fierce.

Take Chaluay Boonchan, 52, for example. He forages for two to three hours at a time before selling what he collects to the garbage buyers. Then he goes out again. In the course of a day, the frail man goes out three times: early morning, afternoon and evening.

The prime time, he says, is the early morning before the BMA garbage trucks have done their rounds, and in the evening when the city is again flush with refuse.

Each working day, Chaun, Chaluay and Sei earn on average 100-300 baht. Occasionally, they hit the jackpot when they come across big heaps of usable garbage which they can sell for 800-1,000 baht.

Paper can be sold for two to three baht per kilo, plastic bottles for 6 baht, paper boxes for three baht.

The poorer saleng people just collect garbage from the streets, the trash bins, or wherever they find it. They do not have money enough to buy waste from households or offices.

Those with some money have a better chance of earning a higher income. They can buy more usable paper, boxes, plastic and steel from regular customers, mostly offices and small factories, which can then be traded for a higher price.

Less tiring and more profitable, this type of garbage seeker can earn as much as 3,000 baht on a good day.

"During the last ten years, I earned a lot. People didn't care at all, they threw out everything they didn't want and much of it was still good to use. A lot of construction sites, a lot of garbage, it was my heyday," says the skinny uncle Sei.

"But since the economy has collapsed, our work also suffers. My regular customers who used to sell me hundreds of paper boxes can't do that any more because they too have less customers. Now I only get 300 baht a day," he frowns.

The work is not only dirty but also dangerous. When they are collecting garbage, their hands are sometimes cut by sharp objects such as broken glasses.

"I'm used to it," says Chaluay, showing the scars from stitches on his hand where he was stabbed by a sharp steel pipe.

As vital as their contribution to Bangkok's health and recycling industry is, there has been no research into the saleng people's health or the hazards they face.

Common ailments afflicting them include respiratory problems, cuts, infections and skin problems.

"What would happen to them if they inhaled or touched litter which was contaminated by poisonous chemicals?" asks Dr Jirapol.

Like Chuan, other saleng peddlers live a hand-to-mouth existence and have no money to pay for medical treatment when they get sick.

"When I get better, I go back immediately to the garbage. People say it is dirty and makes me sick, but I have no choice," says Chuan.

The biggest threat to the saleng people, however, is road accidents.

Chuan knows this well. She lost her husband a year ago when a car hit him as he was roaming the streets for junk.

She only received meagre compensation for the loss of the family breadwinner and now she raises two children aged five and three alone by collecting garbage for sale. "I have no choice, though I'm afraid of cars hitting me," she says, looking with concern at her three-year-old boy perched on the tricycle.

"I just pray it will not happen."

Most saleng people share the same prayer as Chuan. The thought of being rich never enters their mind. They are thankful for mere survival.

"If I am hit by a car, it would be unfortunate. I wouldn't blame anyone because I would think it was my karma," says one of the garbage seekers.

Although the welfare project for saleng people is still awaiting approval and funding, Dr Jirapol emphasises the importance of individual contributions from the public to help get it off the ground.

A little appreciation would also help, he says. Next time you see the saleng people bellowing "Old things to sell?" Dr Jirapol wants you to take a good look at them instead of looking through them as if they do not exist.

"Here are the people who are actually doing the dirty work for you. Without them, you would live with a garbage nightmare.

"Instead of throwing out garbage mindlessly, try to sort it out first to make the work a bit easier on the saleng people," he says.

"Even better, it would be good if you could give, not sell the garbage. This would help them a lot.

"This is not just because it's your obligation to help the poor, but also because it's your duty to minimise the environmental problems we all are facing."

Info for donations:

To volunteer or make a donation to The Saleng Fund project, please contact Dr Jirapol Sinthunawa at the National Energy Policy Organisation (NEPO), 394/14, Samsen Road, Dusit, Bangkok 10300. Or call 280-0951-7 ext 145. Alternatively fax 282-4607 or 282-4682.