Phuket faces growing garbage crisis

People work at the Saphan Hin landfill in Phuket. (Photo: Reuters)
People work at the Saphan Hin landfill in Phuket. (Photo: Reuters)

Plastic bottles and empty beer cans roll on the sea floor in the waters around Phuket, while more garbage piles up on the island itself.

In one corner of the island, trucks and tractors move piles of trash around a huge landfill, the final destination for much of the more than 1,000 tonnes of waste collected on Phuket every day.

The number is up from 742 tonnes in 2022 and 961 tonnes in 2023, according to figures from the provincial statistics office and the Pollution Control Department.

In a matter of months, the landfill has grown so large it has blocked the mountain view from Vassana Toyou’s home.

“There is no life outside the house, (we) just stay at home,” she said. “The smell is very strong, you have to wear a mask.”

To cope with the stench, Vassana said she keeps her air conditioner and air purifiers switched on all the time, doubling her electricity bill. 

Phuket has undergone rapid development due to its tourism sector, a major driver of the Thai economy as a whole. 

By the end of this year, the island could be producing up to 1,400 tonnes of trash a day, overwhelming its only landfill at Saphan Hin, the deputy mayor said.

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.

The province has only one incinerator which can handle only about 900 tonnes of garbage daily. The rest is sent to dump sites. Only 10% of the trash in Phuket is recycled and 60% is organic waste, the Pollution Control Department says.

The municipality began a trial of a “garbage bank” in the Samakkee Samkong community last year to recycle waste and trash. If successful, it will be rolled out to other locations.

Vocabulary

  • crisis: a situation that has reached and extremely difficult or dangerous point - ช่วงวิกฤต
  • driver (noun): something that causes other things to happen (example: a driver of economic growth) -
  • dump (noun): a place where waste or rubbish/garbage is taken and left - ที่ทิ้งขยะ, กองขยะ
  • garbage: waste food, paper, etc. that you throw away - ขยะ
  • incinerator: a machine or structure to burn garbage or toxic waste in - เตาเผาขยะ
  • landfill (noun): an area of land where large amounts of waste material are kept and buried under the earth - หลุมฝังกลบ, สถานที่ฝังกลบขยะมูลฝอย
  • mayor: the most important elected official in a town or city - นายกเทศมนตรี
  • municipality: a town, city or district with its own local government - เทศบาล
  • overwhelm: to be in such great amount that a person cannot deal with it - ท่วมท้น
  • purifier: something that cleans , that makes pure - สิ่งที่ใช้ชำระล้าง
  • stench: a strong unpleasant smell - กลิ่นเหม็น,กลิ่นสาบ
  • tonne: (or ton) 1,000 kilogrammes -
  • waste (noun): the useless part that is thrown away after something is used - ขยะ, ของเสีย, ที่ไม่มีประโยชน์, การสูญเสียไปโดยเปล่าประโยชน์, การหมดเปลือง

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