In one corner of the island, trucks and tractors trundle back and forth moving piles of rubbish around a sprawling landfill, the final destination for much of the more than 1,000 tonnes of waste collected on Phuket every day.
In a matter of months, the landfill has grown so large that it has replaced the serene view of the mountains from Ms Vassana Toyou’s home.
“There is no life outside the house, (we) just stay at home,” she said. “The smell is very strong; you have to wear a mask.”
To cope with the stench, Ms Toyou said she keeps her air-conditioner and air purifiers switched on all the time, which has doubled her electricity bill.
Phuket, Thailand’s largest island which was voted one of the most beautiful islands in Asia by readers of the American magazine Condé Nast Traveler last year, has undergone rapid development due to its tourism sector, a major driver of the Thai economy as a whole. Of the country’s 35.5 million foreign arrivals in 2024, about 13 million headed to the island.
“The growth of (Phuket) city has been much more rapid than it should be,” said Suppachoke Laongphet, deputy mayor of the island’s main municipality, explaining how a tourism and construction boom has pushed garbage volumes above pre-Covid-19 pandemic levels.
By the end of 2025, the island could produce up to 1,400 tonnes of rubbish a day, overwhelming its sole landfill, he said.
The authorities are pushing ahead with plans to cut waste generation by 15% in six months, expand the landfill and build a new incinerator, he said, as the island strives to become a more sustainable tourist destination.
But increasing capacity and incinerators is only part of the solution, experts say.
Assistant Professor Panate Manomaivibool, who specializes in waste management at Burapha University, said: “If you just keep expanding more waste incinerators, I don’t think that would be just the solution.
“They need to focus on waste reduction and separation.”
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