With complete respect to Carolyn Blood and all the wonderful people of Thailand, the October 17 letter to the editor, “Idea to help people clean up their garbage”, became my chuckle du jour.
As a former full-time and current half-time resident of Thailand, let me assure you that Thailand is probably NOT the best lead to take when it comes to littering!
Garbage and trash are strewn throughout the Thai countryside, including national parks. Pretty much anywhere that isn’t indoors is considered an appropriate place to chuck anything unwanted. Fines for littering (almost nonexistent) are only imposed on foreigners, and of course a 500 baht (US$15) “tip” to the nice police officer will always make the fine go away.
In the US, litterers are uncool exceptions, whereas in Thailand, littering seems to be an accepted norm.
True, Thai society and culture have many fine attributes that we Americans could learn and benefit from, but littering is definitely not one of them.
When it comes to garbage and trash disposal, Thailand, along with most southeast Asian, Middle Eastern, African, and Latin American nations could well take a lead from us. We’re not perfect in that category, but we’re definitely better.
David Eklof, Grand Marais
and Nasok, Mukdahan,
Thailand
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