Plastic bottles and empty beer cans litter the seabed around Phuket in southern Thailand, as more and more garbage piles up on the island, a place famed for its pristine beaches and stunning sunsets.
In a remote area of Phuket, heavy vehicles constantly shuttle heaps of garbage across a vast landfill, where the island’s daily collection of over 1,000 tonnes of waste ends up.
This amount has increased from 742 tonnes in 2022 and 961 tonnes in 2023, as reported by the provincial statistics office and the Pollution Control Department.
Recently, the landfill has expanded so significantly that it now replaces the previously peaceful mountain scenery from Vassana Toyou’s residence.
“There is no life outside the house; we just stay at home,” she said. “The smell is very strong; you have to wear a mask.”
To manage the foul smell, Vassana mentioned she runs her air conditioning and air purifiers continuously, which has doubled her electricity costs.
Phuket’s rapid development, fueled by its tourism industry, plays a significant role in Thailand’s economy. In 2024, of the country’s 35.5 million international visitors, around 13 million visited the island, a stark increase from about 6 million two decades earlier.
“The growth of Phuket city has been much more rapid than it should be,” observed Suppachoke Laongphet, the deputy mayor of the primary municipality, noting how a surge in tourism and construction has pushed waste volumes beyond pre-Covid levels.
By year’s end, the island might generate up to 1,400 tonnes of waste daily, overwhelming the only landfill at Saphan Hin, he noted.
Authorities are moving forward with initiatives to reduce waste generation by 15% within six months, enlarge the landfill, and construct a new incinerator, he explained, as part of the island’s efforts to become a more sustainable tourist destination.
As of 2021, Phuket had a permanent population of 418,000, not counting temporary workers from other provinces and countries.
The region has a single incinerator managed by the Phuket municipality, capable of processing about 900 tonnes of waste per day, with the remainder going to dump sites. Only 10% of Phuket’s waste is recycled, and 60% is organic, according to the Pollution Control Department.
However, merely increasing incinerator capacity is not the full answer, experts claim.
“If you just keep expanding more waste incinerators, I don’t think that would be the solution,” stated Panate Manomaivibool, an assistant professor of waste management at Burapha University. “They need to focus on waste reduction and separation.”
Last year, the municipality initiated a ‘garbage bank’ experiment in the Samakkee Samkong community of Muang district to recycle waste. If this trial proves successful, it will be implemented in other areas.