Mounds of garbage were left
everywhere in the aftermath of Songkran.
Theerarak Suthathiwong and Boonlua Chatree
Once the water was dry, all that remained of Songkran in Pattaya was a
mountain of garbage.
From main thoroughfares to tiny sois, food containers, plastic bags, empty
alcohol bottles and other rubbish covered sidewalks, beaches and streets
across the city. Riding through town in pickup trucks with water buckets,
revelers simply tossed their garbage on the streets, expecting others to
clean up after them.
A few did. DPAC Inter Co., the Royal Thai Navy and the Humans Love Earth
Club joined forces at Jomtien Soi 4 for the second Amazing Clean Thailand.
Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome and MP Poramet Ngampichet kicked off the cleanup,
which saw volunteers collect trash from Pattaya and Jomtien beaches.
Organizers bemoaned the careless attitude of Songkran water warriors, but
said the garbage was to be expected with Pattaya’s increasingly popularity
among domestic and foreign tourists coming to the city for the annual Thai
New Year celebration.
To the rescue - teams of good
hearted citizens undertake the major cleanup.
