The city administration is convinced city residents will be not burdened by the new household garbage waste handling fee that will start in October.
"These new rates aren't too much of a burden for residents. And it's based on the principle that whoever causes pollution should pay to help remedy it," Chatree Watanakhajorn, director of the environment office at the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), told the Bangkok Post by phone.
Mr Chatree was talking about the new waste handling rates approved by Bangkok's City Council on May 8. Bangkok governor Aswin Kwanmuang has already signed off on them.
From October, Bangkok residents will be charged four times above the current rates.
Mr Chatree said this would help the BMA deal with the growing waste being collected in the city each week.
"The BMA can only collect about 523 million baht a year in waste handling fees from Bangkok residents, or 7% of its costs," he said.
Last year, Bangkok produced up to 10,705 tonnes of waste per day, costing the BMA 7 billion baht, he added.
Residents interviewed by the Bangkok Post conceded the fees were low.
Banyen Maenpuen, who lives in a house in Din Daeng district, said she found the raised rates acceptable despite adding to her monthly bills.
The current rate is less than 1 baht a day. It will be raised to over 3 baht.
"I wonder if even the new fee will be enough for the BMA to dispose of all the waste efficiently," she said.
Ms Banyen said some residents would likely refuse to pay the new rates.
"The BMA needs to find measures to deal with those who won't pay, or others will follow suit," she warned.
Daoruang Thongthongkham, a 68-year-old housewife in Bang Na district, said the new rate had come as a surprise. She said she understood why it was required but wasn't sure she would be able to pay it.
She said she wanted to ask the BMA if it could introduce a more convenient way of paying the bill, such as at 7-Eleven stores.
Mr Chatree said the BMA currently has no policy to punish those who don't pay.
"But we are looking at measures to incentivise everyone to pay," he noted.
Come October, households that produce up to 20 cubic metres of waste a month will have to pay 80 baht instead of 20 baht now.
The current price only includes the cost of collecting the trash.
Mr Chatree said the new rate is divided equally between that and the cost of subsequently disposing of the waste.
Buildings that produce between 20 and 500m³ of waste a month will have to cough up 135 baht in four months' time.
Fresh markets, which churn out between 500m³ and 1 million m³ of waste a month, will be charged a flat monthly rate of 3,100 baht.
Shopping malls and other large buildings that are responsible for more than 1 million m³ a month will have to pay 3,500 baht.
Until 2003, the BMA only charged them 4 baht a month, a rate that had been in place for several decades.
From that year onward, however, the handling fee was raised to 40 baht, Mr Chatree said.
The rate was slashed to 20 baht a month in 2005, he added, and has remained at that plateau until now.
Regarding the new rate, the BMA is considering adding new and more convenient ways for residents to pay their bills.
Options include letting them pay once a quarter, half or even annually, he said.
E-payment platforms like mobile banking will likely be allowed when the new rates take effect, with counter service payments at top convenience stores added later, Mr Chatree noted.
The new rates reflect how the BMA is trying to reduce the heavy financial burden it has shouldered for years in collecting and disposing of the city's rubbish, he said.
After the City Council approves the new garbage management fees later this month, he said, it will switch its attention to revising the fees charged for collecting wastewater.
These are also anticipated to be ramped-up.