Officials are planning to increase the garbage collection fee from THB20 to THB150 maximum per household to encourage Bangkok residents to dump less.
New legislation for garbage management is being drafted by the Ministry of Health in response to a daily average increase from about 9,400 tons to 10,000 tons this summer, the responsibility for which Thatri Wattanakachorn, director of garbage disposal, dumps on the bounty of tropical fruits for sale.
According to the data, each Bangkokian dumps one kilogram of garbage per day, meaning an average household of five throws away 150 kilograms of stuff per month. A fair amount of that being fruit, if Thatri is to be trusted.
The new law is expected to encourage residents to separate their trash and make an effort to recycle, as officials spend THB1.2 billion each year to manage the garbage disposal while collecting only around THB100 million in collection fees.
Rules will be set to decide whether how much households will pay. Those who don’t throw away much may not have to pay a single baht at all.
If consideration is being given to basing the fee on quantity of waste, it’s entirely unclear how they plan to measure monthly household waste.
Meanwhile, under the proposed rules tourists will also have to pay THB2 fee a day while staying in Thailand, a fee to be collected from hotel operators, Thai PBS and Matichon reported.
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Photo: Maol
