BANGKOK: Bangkok is keeping its Songkran plastic water gun recycling campaign running until Sunday (April 19), even as the capital wraps up one of its busiest festival periods in recent years, with more than 3.14 million people joining celebrations across the city from April 10 to 14.
Bangkok officials said the city had expanded collection points for plastic water guns from three to nine locations, while also tightening safety and crowd-management measures for the closing stretch of the Songkran festival.
Pornphrom Vikitsreth, adviser to the Bangkok governor and the city’s chief sustainability officer, said the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration is inviting the public to help cut plastic waste by bringing in water guns of all kinds, whether old, new or no longer in use, for recycling.
The collected plastic will be processed into naphtha for use as a raw material in producing plastic resin, which can then be developed into new products such as chairs, storage containers, plant pots, clothing fibres and other plastic components. The initiative is being supported by SCG Chemicals, or SCGC.
The city has expanded collection points from three to nine across Bangkok:
- Silom Road, Bang Rak district
- Khao San Road, Phra Nakhon district
- Benjakitti Park, Khlong Toei district
- Iconsiam, River Park, G floor, Khlong San district
- CentralWorld, front plaza, and Central Park, Pathum Wan district
- EMSPHERE, front plaza, Khlong Toei district
- The Mall Tha Phra, entrances on floors B and G, and the first-floor skywalk, Thon Buri district
- The Mall Bangkapi, two points in front of KFC and Starbucks on the G floor
- Central Park, Bang Rak district
Residents have until April 19 to drop off the items.
City Hall described the campaign as the first concrete effort to recycle Songkran plastic water guns, which in previous years would typically have ended up as general waste. Officials said the project would help reduce rubbish volumes and make better use of resources in line with Bangkok’s circular economy push.
The campaign also comes against the backdrop of Bangkok’s heavy Songkran waste burden last year:
- Khao San Road: 141.4 tonnes, or 31.43%
- Silom Road: 74.5 tonnes, or 19.05%
- Sanam Luang: 34.6 tonnes, or 4.80%
At the same time, Bangkok authorities have been reviewing crowd safety as the capital’s Songkran festivities draw to a close. Aranya Phonchaiya, deputy permanent secretary for the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and commander of the city’s Songkran disaster prevention and mitigation centre, said a meeting was held on April 15 at the BMA Command Center at City Hall in Din Daeng to monitor the situation and safety measures.
She said overall attendance in Bangkok from April 10 to 14 reached 3,145,215 people. Of that number, 1,521,589 joined events at 16 main highlight locations across the capital.
Silom Road recorded the highest concentration of revellers, drawing 652,974 people between April 12 and 14. At some points, daily attendance exceeded 140,000.
Officials also reported 16 fatalities from accidents across Bangkok during the period.
On Khao San Road, water-splashing activities were scheduled to end at 10pm on the final day. Aranya said the city had instructed municipal officers to work in coordination with Phra Nakhon district officials and police at screening points, particularly during the closure period when no more people would be allowed into the area, and later when crowds were being cleared after the event.
She said the city also plans to draw lessons from this year’s celebrations in each area to improve management for future festivals and support more sustainable urban event planning. - The Nation/ANN
