Yangon authorities losing the battle against betel

It’s enough to make you want to spit. Efforts by Yangon city authorities to control the “undisciplined” ejection of crimson betel juice are just not working, officials say.

First they tried placing plastic boxes filled with sand at junctions and bus-stops. Their latest scheme is the distribution of more than 100,000 red plastic bags, into which betel users are encouraged to deposit the contents of their mouth. The bags can then be thoughtfully disposed of. But street cleaning staff report that not a single bag has been found.

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