Bangkok waste solutions

To one unfamiliar with Bangkok's sidewalk trashcans, the nighttime photograph would look like a thoughtless act. Only when municipal cleaners have caught up with local residents' pace of garbage generation and this key piece of sidewalk infrastructure is effectively "reset" does the act become recontextualized as considerate: one that saves the waste collector time and effort by keeping trash  concentrated in its "intended" space. A minimalist approach to a trashcan (a bare wire frame) becomes even more minimal (sans large bag) but not too minimal (spread all over the sidewalk).

Considering both the official municipal rubbish bin and the improvised rebar-crafted number next to this Bangkok construction site, could you take anything away from these two solutions and still call them "rubbish bins" (or trashcans, depending on context)? If you took something away, what would they become instead? Although possibly just hanging a bag on a wall, the part of a rubbish bin that identifies it as a rubbish bin to the rubbish-producers is necessary (perhaps a sign could be worked around by simply placing some "starter garbage" in and hoping crowds follow your example). Nonetheless, when you want the rubbish bin to entreat passerby to use it, best to make it at street-level, and include an appeal to use it. 

"Pitch in!"

Enhanced signage

Another Bangkok example of a manually augmented road sign - fluorescent tube lamps affixed to a directional arrow sign increase its visibility. Again, if only the cord running out the bottom of this lead to a battery charged with a solar panel attached to the overpass above, we'd have a neat grid-independent piece of the urban environment. Even better - if such an overhead solar panel was incorporated into permanent infrastructure, such as an outlet on the sidewalk for use by passerby at outdoor cafes, vendors, etc.

Signs of reuse

The tops of 50-gallon metal drums serve as natural canvases for repurposing as street signs in Myanmar. Their  shape complements the country's curvaceous alphabet, and they are simple to mount or hang. The red example, spotted on the main drag of Sagaing, is advertising that the shop within has air-filling services. It asks passing motorists to "Please fill [up your tires with] air" and is attached by wire to a wooden pole stuck through the designs in the concrete wall. 

The rust-hued number is from downtown Yangon, and implores drivers on this mixed-use residential/commercial alleyway to "Please drive slowly". Perhaps due to the more "public" nature of this sign, it is more solidly/permanently installed, bolted to the utilities pole (or maybe the poster of the sign hoped to capitalize upon the light emitting from the attached streetlight, amplifying their message with the power of the pre-existing municipal infrastructure). The red "air" sign, however, seems more temporary and designed to be easily taken down at the end of each day. Its mounting style may also have more purpose than simply easier setup/removal, as it doubtless garners additional attention from passing motorists from its ability to wave in the wind.

Out of sight

Depending on the hour of the day, this section of the freezer in this Bangkok 7-11 is obscured by a large piece of blue cardboard. The sign outlines the hours alcohol may be sold (as in, not when there is a giant piece of blue cardboard hanging in front that obscures/prevents access to said alcohol). Thai law states that alcohol may only be sold during particular hours of the day, with different people I've asked giving different reasons as to the logic behind the law.

I'm interested in the effect of this rule upon customers' desire to drink. Is it meant to moderate drinkers' urges? Or merely cause them inconvenience if they are planning a solid day of inebriation? Does this 7-11's physical obscuring of the alcohol section truly check the desires of thirsty customers seeking a tipple, or does it end up having the same effect of a smoker seeing a "No Smoking" sign and actually experiencing an increase in desire to smoke?

So I pulled it, now what?

 

A good warning sign, except for the third panel down - the one about waiting until the train has stopped. Suppose one's experiences had not yet exposed one to the octagonal red sign that (for Americans) unequivocally means "Stop". In an international airport such as JFK, where this sign is located, that is entirely possible. 

In the panic of an emergency situation, what would your racing mind otherwise assume the third panel meant?

Not yet saved by...

The introduction of a new system which is still evidently unfamiliar/unnatural to visitors, who would be understandably reluctant to push an unmarked button on the gate of this clearly upper-class house with its prominent barrier. The question remains, however, why the message is written in English. The Burmese language has a word for "bell" - is this a suggestion of the cachet of the visitors to the house - "If you can't read the sign and are trying to inquire about occupancy the conventional way, you have no right to be here")? A marker of the high level of education (and English language knowledge) of the owner? A marker of the cultural inspiration for the installation of this bell? 

Street-level ropes connected to bells located within higher-floor apartments ("ring-ropes") fill this role for urban residents, and most village residents in this type of house install metal bells on their gates if the space between their wall and the house is perceived to be greater than the distance that human voice can carry. Unlike the pictured solutions, both of these solutions get around the issue of unreliable electricity.