How do you people feel about local mess, waste and litter?

lilybell82 wrote:

I marvel myself at posts I find about how heavenly the Phuket place is and how rich it is for picturesques sites... But, either I am some sort of that "negative thinking type" or people here - blind;-) All I see around are piles of litter which noone ever removes, waste grounds, tonns and tonns of wasted plastic along the waysides, curbs and lawns, and endless construction sites adding mess to the overall picture. We've lived on Kata, Kamala, Bangtao, been to Chalong and Phuket town, and to Patong, of course, - the picture doesn't change anywhere. No matter how stylish and expensive the house or condo is, it would neighbour another noisy construction site, slums and gutters or dramatically desolated wastelands.

I am not trying to be snobbish, I'm originally from Russia, we are not famous for being too tidy, neat and organized))) but still I've been shocked when I first came here for a constant stay outside of the sleek five-star club hotels, and I am still uncomfortable with the mess these days, can't get used to it after staying here for seven months.

How have you guys grew to live with it? ;-) Are you ignoring the surroundings or is the place where you stay so much cleaner? I see a lot of people from Europe here, looking like German or British, I'm especially interested how you cope with this mess so adverse to your nature;) Cheers to all.

Sadly I also find "rubbish" to be one of the few negatives I have about living here(not Phuket). I am keen on wildlife and photography so I get around the countryside a fair bit. It is quite disressing to see the mountains of waste, the burning and general disregard for wildlife I encounter. That said, in the UK(my home) folk can be equally bad at dumping things in the countryside. So I guess it's not just a Thai thing. Some people do try to recycle here, me included, since there are plenty of folk who collect plastic etc.

If Thailand could curtail it's love affair with the plastic bag, it would go a long way to help. But I know that is unlikely to happen anytime soon. Likewise it's citizens need to put rubbish in bins and not just dump it were they finish eating.

I like to visit a local waterfall near here but it is spoilt by the carpet of platic bags and other rubbish, such a shame in my opinion.