Jump to content

Pattaya is serious! 100,000 baht fine for smoking but no jail time mentioned


webfact

Recommended Posts

Most of the sh1t washes in with the tide or comes down the sewers....

 

I have seen smokers on the beaches but 100,000s of ciggy butts don't accumulate over a few days or a week. This is caused by an ongoing accumulation as a result of lazy or ineffective cleaning of a 'tourist' area.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 106
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Forget the 100k fines , it will never happen , just used to scare people from smoking there. But who is going to fine them ? The beach vendors ? If they see someone smoking they have a hot line so they can call the police ? Forget it. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, Pattaya28 said:

Why no mention of 1 year jail ?

I think that quite appropriate for the crime. And proportional.

And what about the punishment for feeding fishes - how do you feel about that? Or murder - perhaps a 100,000 baht fine might be consider a suitable punishment, and then you wouldn't need to bother Interpol with having to issue those pesky Blue notices? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I live in pattaya but I dont go to the beach here. In fact I dont recal any beach in Thialand (or Vietnam, Cambodia.....) that is not blighted by rubbish of all types. I am not OCD about rubbish but I see beaches in this part of the world as dirty as a bag of rubbish. No matter where I look the sand is contaminated with man made rubbish that could easily be put in a bin. People are just too lazy. I even see people drop rubbish (of all sorts) on the floor even when they are stood next to one of the large refuse bins on the beach road area. In my unqualified (and often not valued) opinion, all a fine does is suggest it remains OK to do as long as you can pay. This is clearly not true. The amount of rubbish littering beaches and the sea is amazing if only because it is accepted and we would rather argue of how appropriate a fine is rather then saying it has to stop. I am deeply saddened by the culture that is well established in Asia allowing rubbish to be left all over the place.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, shart said:

I live in pattaya but I dont go to the beach here. In fact I dont recal any beach in Thialand (or Vietnam, Cambodia.....) that is not blighted by rubbish of all types. I am not OCD about rubbish but I see beaches in this part of the world as dirty as a bag of rubbish. No matter where I look the sand is contaminated with man made rubbish that could easily be put in a bin. People are just too lazy. I even see people drop rubbish (of all sorts) on the floor even when they are stood next to one of the large refuse bins on the beach road area. In my unqualified (and often not valued) opinion, all a fine does is suggest it remains OK to do as long as you can pay. This is clearly not true. The amount of rubbish littering beaches and the sea is amazing if only because it is accepted and we would rather argue of how appropriate a fine is rather then saying it has to stop. I am deeply saddened by the culture that is well established in Asia allowing rubbish to be left all over the place.

Apologies for being slightly off topic here, but the subject is about rubbish and littering, and I know that I (and many others) on here or one of the islands, would use use a refuse bin if there was one available. The local Council here in their wisdom have decided to remove them all as people have not been paying their "taxes", and hence mountains of rubbish at the roadside and outside 711's and supermarkets that smell to high heaven , and ripped apart by feral animals. A fine to anyone dumping their rubbish at one of these communal "sites" would only lead to dumping it down some country road somewhere, thereby exacerbating the problem. 

 

Add to that, and once again the subject is about rubbish and littering, when you see a mountain of more than 250,000 tons of garbage that can not be disposed of due to the incinerator not having worked for several years despite money having been provided for its repair that you see the scale of the problem. One quite sensible solution for the household waste, which ha already been mentioned is to incorporate a percentage "garbage" tax into the electricity bills - the higher the bill, the higher the amount for garbage disposal.Hotels and landlords could include this tax in their rates/rents , so that all tourists could contribute towards the cost of removal and disposal. 

 

The other problem, which has been mentioned above, is the  mindset of the Thai people in general. They seem to think it standard practice to just drop their rubbish where it is convenient without regard to the eyesores or health hazards  that it creates. Many side roads are absolutely contaminated in this way, and even child's discarded toys form part of the problem. If I mention this to my Thai wife, the  response is that children do not know where to put their broken "dollies or dump trucks" so just throw them away anywhere! So the problem filters down from no available garbage bins, to uneducated Thais allowing their children to carry on littering uninterrupted - the same applies to sweet wrappers, plastic bags etc. As the situation stands - "THEY DON"T THINK IT"S WRONG!".

 

So, as has also been mentioned before, education for all is mandatory. Explain about health hazards etc and you will largely be be ignored. After all, if the authorities appear to not give a hoot, then why should they? However, if you explain  the desirability of property in a clean environment will generate more income not just from property prices, but from the additional number of tourists prepared to pay a few more baht for their refreshments, and more inclined to stay longer, and hence purchase more refreshments. Give their kids treats for disposal of rubbish properly - withhold pocket  money or mobile phones for severe offenders! There are a few solutions to the problem - I have mentioned a couple, but it has to come from people having the right attitude, which can take many years to instill, but eventually the end result is worth it - just show a video on TV with the PM's weekly "sermon" how clean and desirable countries like Sweden and Norway are, and then tell them what the average weekly wage is - you could even say that it is BECAUSE of the clean environment!

 

Rant over!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Similar to the jet-ski scams that many embassies warn their nationals, it should be time to warn foreigners on the tough laws and to beware of any attempts of extorsion on false accusations of smoking.

 

The 100'000 THB fine could possibly feed the immagination of many a crooked official, who could be tempted to abuse and extort money on falacious charges of smoking. Who can guarantee this cannot happen ?

 

Not safe to be a farang on a Thai beach under current times. Consequently, if no beach, then why come ?..... and then no money, boys....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
On 24/11/2017 at 1:46 AM, mdmayes said:

Good. Sick of trying to find a cig butt free spot on beach to put my towel on. Smokers bought it on themselves.

You Effin serious!what about all the <deleted> beer bottles,cans and other crap on the beach.hiw about getting rid of all the Alco’s off the beaches,sick of all you drunks on there!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, KonKorat said:

You Effin serious!what about all the <deleted> beer bottles,cans and other crap on the beach.hiw about getting rid of all the Alco’s off the beaches,sick of all you drunks on there!

Two wrongs don't make a right. The problem with the 10 % of people who smoke as opposed to the 90% of people who do not smoke is that they feel entitled to abuse us as. But litter louts and loud drunks on the beach are perceived to be in the wrong. They do not pretend to be virtuous victims like the smokers do.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/27/2017 at 3:22 AM, observer90210 said:

Similar to the jet-ski scams that many embassies warn their nationals, it should be time to warn foreigners on the tough laws and to beware of any attempts of extorsion on false accusations of smoking.

 

The 100'000 THB fine could possibly feed the immagination of many a crooked official, who could be tempted to abuse and extort money on falacious charges of smoking. Who can guarantee this cannot happen ?

 

Not safe to be a farang on a Thai beach under current times. Consequently, if no beach, then why come ?..... and then no money, boys....

Most of us do not smoke Thai or Farang. Only 10% of people smoke. We welcome this law and it makes Thailand and the beaches more attractive just as non smoking pubs and restaurants are more attractive to the majority of people.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, The manic said:

Most of us do not smoke Thai or Farang. Only 10% of people smoke. We welcome this law and it makes Thailand and the beaches more attractive just as non smoking pubs and restaurants are more attractive to the majority of people.

It is obvious that non smoking areas are attractive to non smokers, just as smoking areas are attractive to those who smoke !!!...

 

But there is a difference between the overweight sunburnt chap with a loud mouth who is puffing on a 30 cm cigar next to your table in a closed restaurant, and a casual smoker enjoying his smoke in a  open air beach. The point here is learning to live and respect each other towards mutual differences and habbits. A few doubts could be legitimate regarding the locals would respect the ban or if the enforcement would really pump out a Thai of 100'000 THB for not respecting the rule.

 

Nevertheless, to be pragmatic, it does seem highly disproportionate to fine smoking THB 100'000 or 1 year jail, but on the other hand letting a common criminal get away with a 500 THB fine and a appology.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 hours ago, The manic said:

Most of us do not smoke Thai or Farang. Only 10% of people smoke. We welcome this law and it makes Thailand and the beaches more attractive just as non smoking pubs and restaurants are more attractive to the majority of people.

I'm sure only "popular" beaches like Patong or Pattaya have the problem and that is down to the authorities refusing to spend money on beach cleaning. Human nature isn't going to change and fining farangs isn't going to stop Thais littering.

I have been to many beaches in LOS and none of them have the problem because not many people overall. The problem on such beaches is rubbish coming from out at sea, and the resorts always clean their bit of the beach during non monsoon season.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.





×
×
  • Create New...