"Want to throw it out? Then call us,” is the campaign’s slogan.
“If local residents of Koh Kaew want to throw away large items, please call the Koh Kaew OrBorTor at 076-239263,” explained Wararat Ramani of Koh Kaew OrBorTor’s Public Health Division.
“Our officers will bring a truck to pick up the items from the house within the same day without any charge,” Ms Wararat said.
The free service is available to local residents in Koh Kaew only, she added.
“People have been dumping large items such as mattresses, beds, cabinets and sofas because they don’t know where to take it, or because the regular rubbish-collection trucks cannot carry these items away,” Ms Wararat explained.
“You can see people have dumped such items throughout the area, under trees and right beside the road,” she said.
The free rubbish collection in Koh Kaew is being conducted under the campaign “Koh Kaew Clean by the Year 2020”, organised by OrBorTor President Khuakiet Chitkhua, Ms Wararat explained.
“The items collected will first be brought to the Koh Kaew OrBorTor offices. When enough has been collected we will have larger trucks take it to the landfill at the Phuket City Municipality waste incineration plant in Saphan Hin,” she said.
“The goal is get at least 40 calls from people wanting to have large items collected, and so far we have already had 15 sites cleaned up where a wardrobe, beds and sofas have been dumped,” she said.