If you live in a building you can leave stuff neatly in the trash room and the workers will for sure make sure it doesn't go to waste. Same thing as giving it away.
it is important to respect traditions, to respect the people and the land. Whether or not someone plays cards, and gambles, has absolutely nothing to do with showing any respect towards Thailand, or any other country. These are two totally different topics.
My biggest issue with using a bank card to access money instead of western Union is the simple fact that in most places you can only take a out a few hundred at a time.