American here, familiar with extreme consumption and plastic waste etc, but particularly green person and I would never litter, always keep waste on me until I can dispose or recycle when possible.
I’m on day 8/13 of vacation that I saved for a long time. We’ve been to Bangkok, Kanchanaburi, Ayutthaya, Khao Sok, finishing up in Phuket to relax a bit at some nicer hotels before returning home.
We wanted this trip to be a cultural experience, try local cuisine, experience a lot of buddhist temples and such.
The point of the post, are my expectations too high or is the litter problem really crazy even nearby some nicer places? I’m familiar with poor areas not having the best sanitation but I mean like dumpsters worth of waste, plastic, etc a block away from Phuket airport.
Went hiking up to Erawan when we were staying in Kanchanburi, specific signage about not bringing food/drink, watched a Thai girl toss a water bottle off the side of the path, stared at her but didn’t say anything as I picked it up.
Kanchanaburi, seems particularly affected by poverty and is very sad to see, we came here particularly for Erawan and learned about the railway since arriving. I’m not educated as to why this area is so bad currently.
Ayutthaya we came for the temples and learning about early Thai history, here too just seems very dirty. Our hotel was nice, but a block away, crumbling sidewalks and trash scattered, barbed wires protruding etc.
TL;DR I didn’t experience the fancy resort, beach areas that a lot of tourists experience. Curious if I expected too much or went to the wrong areas.
Don’t mean to offend anyone, trying to learn other cultures throughout life, and yes my first time in Asia.
