Reader Submission: "Where Is That Going?"
The oil globe time is over again. Many, including myself, wonder where all that cooking oil goes? And what does the Thai street vendor do with his or her used oil? My Thai neighbors quietly throw it into a sewer or worse into the water.
From the time when I still fried fish in the Netherlands, it was dozens of liters per week. We kept it in a barrel that we got money for because they used it to make soap.
I have never seen sewage treatment plants here in Thailand. I myself place the old cooking oil in a used herring bucket and put it outside next to the waste bin. I write what's inside on the lid, hoping the garbage collector knows what to do with it. I also hope that the person who comes to empty the septic tank, for a nice amount for Thailand, knows what to do with it?
That is why I never go into the sea in busy seaside resorts. I don't know where the sewage of all those big hotels in that area ends. Environment? Never heard of it! I also wonder if the car inspection does not even look at the emissions of the gases. Not to mention adjusting the headlights, because of this there are certainly also many extra burns in the temple.
There is still a lot to do in terms of recycling, if we want to keep this Thailand beautiful.
Submitted by Pim Hoonhout
I asked my Thai wife what should I do with my old frying oil, she can't use it anyway
pour sewer. Not at all, there are people who can use that well, will take it to the shop tomorrow. Had no more empty oil bottles, so just put them in cola bottles with a label on dirty oil.
A week later I go to a small restaurant with my wife and the lady starts pouring oil into the pan
with my oil in the coke bottle! Instantly no longer hungry and skip the restaurant
lady, most restaurants have no money to buy good oil, everyone here always uses the
used oil that still looks decent (had already been used 12 times for frying and more brown than
yellow) good healthy food in thailand have you experienced many things here?
Meat stinks then they wash it with lukewarm water and salt and verily you don't smell anything anymore just the color
does not look healthy but yes throwing it away is not for Thais, if it is too rotten they give it to the dog.
Do live in Udon Thani de Isaan but suspect that it will also happen in Bangkok, now always look at the oil before ordering something, sometimes it even looks black, certainly healthy?
There is some recycling. In my restaurant, the used grease, a dirty job, was always poured back into the cans and they were collected regularly. And that was paid for by the collector. That money always went into the tip jar. I know of many restaurants where this happens. So far it's okay. But I don't know what the street vendors and private users do, but I suspect. I myself keep the empty plastic bottles and give them separately to the staff of the condotel. They know what to do with it, just like with paper, plastic, glass, etc.
Moderator: there are so many typos it's unreadable.
Not everyone in the Netherlands knows where to find the soap manufacturers. There, too, in many houses apparently the necessary liters go into the sewer. The day before old and new there was an urgent request in many newspapers not to do this.
My wife collects used oil in old oil bottles. This is collected regularly, but not for reuse. It appears to be processed into biodiesel.
You should watch the movie, The making of gutter oil. Admittedly in China, but I would be surprised if they don't do it in Thailand,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrv78nG9R04
Regards Phillip
Used cooking oils, including palm oil, (to avoid other environmental reasons) are filtered by most operators of street and market food stalls using a funnel and old cotton cloth, after which they are reused. This can all be seen by the color of the oil in the wok. Also, before placing an order in a food court, first ask about the condition of the oil if you want to be assured of quality.
A Belgian friend sells his wife, in a roadside food stall, in Saphli (Chumphon) chicken drums. I have already seen that her used oil, in large metal cans, is collected by a Thai couple and she gets some money for it. Is this because of the environmental awareness of her Belgian husband or spontaneously, I don't know, but she does. However, oil is often simply dumped into the sewer. Have even seen car oil changes over a sewer grate.
Lung addie