Editor;
I’d like to answer “John in Pattaya” about the Green Pattaya Clean Up in Pattaya: First of all, John, thank you for your kind words about the Green Pattaya clean up. I would like to comment on some of the things in your mail. All the people that day were volunteers, except the people from City Hall, and it was not on that occasion their intention to empty or clean up City Hall rubbish bins. We had a kind sponsor donating 500 trash bags and at the end of the day all of them were full and collected; but having said that we could have filled 500 more but since volunteers help of their own free will nobody can “monitor” their work.
I am a bit surprised that you stood there and looked at my helpers not cleaning and did not dig in to help us out? We always welcome more volunteers as team leaders, clearers and sponsors to help keep Pattaya a cleaner place; you clearly have an interest and as we have an event every month. You are most welcome to all of them to lend a hand or give encouragement.
Regarding City Hall, as you know they have many departments with emptying bins and disposing of rubbish being only one of them. In brief, the physical location of rubbish is a problem as the department is mandated to clear rubbish from public land which, all too often, means only their designated sites; they cannot go onto private land to retrieve dumped rubbish or to empty bins. On the other hand the public in Pattaya City have no problem with dumping trash on private land and failing to move full bins onto the public highway. Most of the land in Pratamnak does not belong to City Hall.
Clean ups by Green Pattaya volunteers have inspired many others to come out and effectively adopt some public land around their homes, businesses and favorite locales. One couple has decided to keep clean a small patch of the beach they like to visit and we hope, from the example of public spirited people like these, a grassroots community will grow.
Neo Lothong Kum
Founder Green Pattaya
https://www.facebook .com/GreenPattaya
