As the city, including Koh Larn, grows, so does
the need for bigger and better rubbish removal.
Pratchaya Kerdthong
Afraid Koh Larn is turning into an “island of garbage,”
Pattaya will spend 2.2 million baht for additional containers to store
garbage while it is waiting to be transported to the mainland.
At a July 7 Pattaya City Hall meeting, city council
president, Tavich Chaiswangwong and Deputy Mayor Wutisak Rermkitkarn agreed
on the plan to better handle Koh Larn’s estimated 15-20 tons of garbage per
day.
Currently the island’s Pubic Health and Environment
Department manages trash collection. But with the increase in Thai and
foreign tourists to the island, there has been a marked increase in garbage
on the beach and foul odors arising from current storage areas.
Trash is regularly hauled off the island by barge, but
bad weather can delay shipment by days at a time. In such instances, Koh
Larn does not have enough containers to store all the trash waiting to be
exported.
Officials hope the 20 new tanks planned for Koh Larn will
solve the problem, at least for now.