Pattaya sanitation workers got a pleasant surprise after finding the mess left behind after Loy Krathong was much smaller this year.
The garbage pileup from the annual water-goddess festival usually takes two days to clean. Foam and natural krathongs set free in the sea wash up later on shore while lakes have to be dredged to clear the waste. Then there is the trash left behind on beaches by revelers.
This year, however, Pattaya officials led by Deputy Mayor Poramet Ngampichet arrived on the beach for a well-publicized cleanup to find that beach vendors, allowed to work until 2 a.m., had done much of the job for them.
Poramet said diligence by beach vendors and city workers the night before, as well as consideration by the public, resulted in a beach that didn’t have such a bad “morning after” look.
There were still plenty of krathongs that returned to port overnight and lots of cigarette butts (despite the no smoking signs), but everything was swept up in a day.
 |
 |
