2019 World Cleanup Day – One Hour for Thailand By Chiang Mai Clean City

September 21

I love Thailand. I love Chiang Mai. I love football. Many foreign people love Thailand also. Why? Some say it’s the people, others say it’s the weather and others say it’s the lifestyle. There are so many great things about Thailand. Why is Thailand such a tourist-attracting country perennially in the Top 10 lists of travel websites, Trip Advisor and also has so many YouTube videos about it?

Thailand is simply a fantastic option for travel and living. Thailand is a welcoming place. Thailand generally is a safe place. Thailand is a place for all ages. Thailand has something for everyone to enjoy. As I write this I can hear a group of Chinese children playing below my condominium.

But Thailand is changing, Thailand’s shining star is fading a little. Some people are leaving because of this reason or that. This extended low season is hurting many local businesses, communities and the tourism industry as a whole. This follows on from a particularly bad “smoky” season in the north, which was earlier this year felt in Bangkok. Tourism is one of the biggest industries in Thailand.

In January, Thailand Business News and Bangkok Post predicted, “For 2019, the ministry expects 41.1 million tourists to spend 2.21 trillion baht. The number of visitors from is projected to rise 11% to 11.69 million, it said.

“The 41 million is a projection from the current trend,” Tourism Minister Weerasak Kowsurat said at the briefing. “If we actually really reach that level, I’ll have a headache.”

In July, the Bangkok Post said, “The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has revised down the number of international arrivals this year to 40.2 million from the 41.1 million forecast earlier.”

However, arrivals data from CEICDATA shows much lower tourist arrivals in May with probable continued lower arrival for the next few months compared with the growth observed in 2018 at this time.

We are all directly and indirectly affected by the tourism industry as a nation. Lots of tourists mean happiness and prosperity all round. Currently the “Land of Smiles” isn’t smiling so much and many businesses are going on holiday and closing their doors temporarily or permanently. Along with this, the perceived uncertainty in immigration and visa difficulties many foreign expats are looking elsewhere for long term living opportunities in other countries.

So what can WE do?

I say we! We are all living in Thailand, we are Thai people and we are expats, but we share a love for this wonderful country. We are all worried about what is going on.

We have a chance to change. We have to look around and see what we can do to help buff and polish the once beautiful star sitting on top of the Christmas tree. We can make Thailand beautiful again. We can make Thailand attractive to tourists and locals alike.

But we need to work together, we need to help each other, we need to look around, look up and look down. We need to look inside and clean up the trash that is an eyesore in every community. We need to look at our agricultural practices and the recent changes which have radically affected the environment and caused intense and extended pollution. This is being “advertised”, actually broadcast around the world that northern Thailand has the worst pollution in the whole world from February to mid-May. These days we can all breathe again, but we need to think about effective solutions to this problem for next year and the long term future.

We need to take responsibility. We need to work together and do what we can to make our streets beautiful again! We can’t wait for someone else to do this, we need to do our own areas and help others do theirs. We need to go to areas no one is responsible for and clean them also. We need to change our waste disposal and recycling habits to catch up with the rest of the world. We need to stop filling every spare bit of land with waste.

One day 21st September is World Cleanup Day and we would like to suggest that this is the day we start to change Thailand with a simple action! Cleanup! https://www.facebook.com/events/2371836396475255/ We have plenty of media information in here also –

http://tiny.cc/WCDThaiMedia.

If team Thailand, all of us, every single one of us, all 70 million people in Thailand on that day can cleanup for just one hour and picked up 10 kilograms of trash, that would change Thailand. It would be amazing. Everyone cleaning up everywhere just wherever they are, what would happen?

We need to work together in all things and we are asking you to work together with us to make Thailand beautiful again!

The details …

World Cleanup Day

When – 21st September 2019
Who – YOU, ME, EVERYONE
What – cleanup Thailand
Time – one hour anytime
Where – wherever you are, everywhere
Why – because we love Thailand
How – Bring your own gloves, bags and the city will coordinate rubbish collection

In Facebook, join.