The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) is ordering all city eateries to install grease traps to help improve drainage efficiency in the capital ahead of the rainy season.
Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt on Wednesday visited the Talat Phlu Market, a popular street food destination in Thon Buri, to inspect sewer cleaning work before the onset of the rains.
Mr Chadchart said there were about 20,000 licensed eateries in Bangkok and all are urged to work with the BMA by installing grease traps so that waste can be properly processed later.
District offices are ordered to be on the lookout particularly over the next three months. Both restaurant operators and street food vendors are being told to comply.
Those who fail to do so could face a maximum 6-month jail sentence or a maximum fine of 50,000 baht.
Mr Chadchart also urged the general public to report eateries who do not comply via the BMA’s Traffy Fondue complaints system, along with photographs as evidence.
Sewer cleaning efforts will not help prevent blockages if fat and grease from food continues to be released into the sewer system, the governor said.
“The effort is important because it helps with wastewater problems, helps reduce the smell from fat that clogs drains and also helps prevent flooding,” he said.
“This three-month campaign period is for all of us to help each other out. Food providers, please follow the law. Don’t be negligent or selfish. We have to be considerate for the common good.”
According to the Department of Drainage and Sewerage, there are 6,924 kilometres of public sewers in Bangkok.
About 3,800km are expected to be cleaned by May, when the rainy season begins. Over 1,500km of sewers have so far been cleaned.
Apart from sewer cleaning, littering and wastewater discharges into canals were also urgent matters to address, the governor said.
About 23 city canals are requiring immediate work, the governor said, adding that dropping garbage from boats along the Chao Phraya River would also be addressed.
