Residents in nearly half of Bangkok’s 50 districts will soon pay an additional THB50 per month for wastewater treatment.
Under the plan greenlit by metro city council members, regular households will pay THB2 per applicable cubic meter of water in 21 districts throughout the capital, an area that excludes large swathes of downtown.
The fee will be applied to 80 percent of total volume of tap water used, according to councilman Kamron Komolsupakit. Commercial customers will pay THB4 per cubic meter while factories and hotels pay THB8 per cubic meter.
Under this structure, Kamron said most households will not pay more than an additional THB50 (US$1.60) per month. How exactly the fee will be collected – on regular utility bills or otherwise – was unclear. Several calls to city offices went unanswered Friday.
The fee will be assessed in 21 districts now using water treatment services from eight government facilities: Phra Nakhon, Pom Prap Sattru Phai, Samphanthawong, Pathumwan, Din Daeng, Ratchathewi, Phaya Thai, Dusit, Huai Khwang, Chatuchak, Bang Sue, Yannawa, Sathon, Bang Rak, Bang Kho Laem, Rat Burana, Chom Thong, Thung Khru, Phasi Charoen, Bang Kae and Nong Khaem.
Don’t break the piggy bank just yet – after the regulation is approved by Bangkok Gov. Aswin Kwanmuang, it won’t go into effect until 240 days after it’s published in the Royal Gazette.
Kamron said the measure enjoys wide public support from upward of 80 percent of 1,111 people surveyed by City Hall. He said the ordinance has been in place since 2004 but gone unimplemented for 15 years.
The fee will put an estimated THB500 million (US$16 million) into city coffers annually.
