{"id":20092452,"date":"2022-08-20T17:27:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-20T16:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thethirdpole.net\/?p=92452"},"modified":"2024-08-22T09:20:09","modified_gmt":"2024-08-22T08:20:09","slug":"plastic-river-following-the-waste-thats-choking-the-chao-phraya","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/plastic-river-following-the-waste-thats-choking-the-chao-phraya\/","title":{"rendered":"Plastic river: Following the waste that\u2019s choking the Chao Phraya"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Chao Phraya River is born from mountain streams in northern Thailand, flowing hundreds of kilometres south to the sea. By the time the river travels through Bangkok and empties into the Gulf of Thailand, it is carrying huge quantities of plastic waste \u2013 an estimated 4,000 tonnes<\/a> every year. The plastic clogs the river along its course, drastically impacting communities and the waterway\u2019s ecology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Third Pole travelled from the Chao Phraya\u2019s beginnings to the sea to explore what\u2019s happening to one of Southeast Asia\u2019s most important rivers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The upper reaches of the Chao Phraya are relatively rural, its banks lined with villages and paddy fields (Image:\u00a0Mailee Osten-Tan<\/a>\u00a0\/ The Third Pole)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The river is home to 190 native fish species, including several types of catfish. The iconic Chao Phraya giant catfish is now thought to be extinct here, surviving only in the Mekong. (Image:\u00a0Mailee Osten-Tan<\/a>\u00a0\/ The Third Pole)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Even here, the Chao Phraya\u2019s plastic problem is clear to see. One of the main causes is single-use plastics such as water bottles and plastic bags. (Image:\u00a0Mailee Osten-Tan<\/a>\u00a0\/ The Third Pole)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Chao Phraya starts at the confluence of the Ping and Nan rivers, which meet in Nakhon Sawan province in the heart of Thailand. Although the river\u2019s waters have already travelled half of the country\u2019s length by this point, it is still relatively clean, flanked by villages and farms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The surrounding land is ideal for growing rice thanks to the river\u2019s annual floods, which come with the monsoon from May to October and provide an ample supply of water and nutrients. In 2012, around 45%<\/a> of land in the Chao Phraya river basin was used for rice farming. Fruit orchards are also common.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But even here in these rural upper reaches, plastics already make an appearance. The farms themselves are one indirect source \u2013 the material is used extensively in agriculture across Thailand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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At Riche organic farm in Chai Nat province, vegetables are grown in plastic sacks inside greenhouses made from plastic sheeting (Image:\u00a0Mailee Osten-Tan<\/a>\u00a0\/ The Third Pole)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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In a nearby mango orchard, plastic bags are tied around the fruit to protect them from pests. Once the fruit is harvested, the bags are usually thrown away. (Image:\u00a0Mailee Osten-Tan<\/a>\u00a0\/ The Third Pole)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Old plastic containers, which may have once held pesticides, are left next to a paddy field (Image:\u00a0Mailee Osten-Tan<\/a>\u00a0\/ The Third Pole)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Floods bring plastic to ancient capital<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The floods that bring water and nutrients to crops along the Chao Phraya also draw plastic into the river.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South of Nakhon Sawan, the Chao Phraya flows through the ancient city of Ayutthaya, which was the capital of Thailand until 1767. Built at the point where two other rivers join the Chao Phraya, the city is crisscrossed with canals, and traditional ways of life here are closely connected to the water. Seasonal flooding is expected, with homes along the waterways built on stilts to accommodate the higher water levels. But climate change and a range of other factors is intensifying rainfall, and severe flooding is a growing problem in the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ratimaporn Pakorn is a 23-year-old boat driver in Ayutthaya. Her home was flooded in 2021<\/a> after unusually heavy rainfall. \u201cThe area floods nearly every year, but the extent of it varies. Last year, the water came all the way up to my calves,\u201d she recalls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ratimaporn Pakorn drives her family\u2019s boat on the Chao Phraya at Ayutthaya. Behind her a tug pulls a barge loaded with sand. Sand is extracted at numerous points along the river, and could be reducing the watershed\u2019s capacity to\u00a0absorb floodwaters<\/a>. (Image:\u00a0Mailee Osten-Tan<\/a>\u00a0\/ The Third Pole)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Many of the houses that line Ayutthaya\u2019s waterways are built on stilts to accommodate regular flooding. This household appears to have shored up its flood defences using old tyres. (Image:\u00a0Mailee Osten-Tan<\/a>\u00a0\/ The Third Pole)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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As a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the ancient capital attracts tourists from around the globe, many of whom take boat tours to view its famous temples. Ratimaporn relies on these tourists to make a living.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s dirty,\u201d says Ratimaporn, noting that plastic can be seen floating in the river, where it often clogs her propellers. She worries that this will impact tourists\u2019 perceptions of the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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For those involved in tourism in Ayutthaya, the pollution of the city\u2019s many waterways is a blight. \u201cThe tourists really do look at the plastic debris along the river. It\u2019s dirty for them,\u201d says boat driver Ratimaporn. (Image:\u00a0Mailee Osten-Tan<\/a>\u00a0\/ The Third Pole)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Plastic sandbags left along the banks of the Chao Phraya following last year\u2019s floods. Weathered by the elements, sandbags like these disintegrate into microplastics, which are a threat to aquatic life. (Image:\u00a0Mailee Osten-Tan<\/a>\u00a0\/ The Third Pole)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Water hyacinth is an invasive species on the Chao Phraya and can cause problems, blocking routes and reducing oxygen in the water. It also traps plastic waste, causing unsightly garbage floats. (Image:\u00a0Mailee Osten-Tan<\/a>\u00a0\/ The Third Pole)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Plastic-clogged canals<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As the Chao Phraya snakes through densely populated central Thailand and on to the country\u2019s modern-day capital, Bangkok, it\u2019s often treated as a catch-all waste disposal unit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Much like Ayutthaya, Bangkok grew from a settlement built on canals that borrowed the waters of the Chao Phraya to form convenient transport routes. These canals remain a significant feature in today\u2019s megacity, where 1,161 khlongs <\/em>(the Thai name for these waterways) are lined with settlements, home to over 23,500 mainly low-income households. Many of these canals are choked with plastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sira Leepipattanawit is a community leader who grew up on the Bangkok Yai canal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n