Thailand’s Canals are Like Open Sewers
It may be unfair to say such a thing, but it is a worrying environmental problem. Why are so many of Thailand’s canals like open sewers? And how can people live along them? This is Paknam Canal in Samut Prakan. The stench was overpowering. There is another canal the other side of town and the Thai nickname for this one translates as “stinky canal”. Surely something must be done about these canals. It cannot be healthy for families living along these canals. What can be done and how can we help?
I believe that they are indeed doubling up as sewerage canals, and the plying khlong boats which traverse them help aerate the “waste water”. More can be read here:
http://dds.bangkok.go.th/wqm/English/water%20quality.html
One of the ways to treat them would be like the “New Water” project in Singapore, where 30% of all tapwater is recycled “toilet water”, or sewage water. More can be read here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NEWater