I checked, and Thunar calls g_file_trash (), and this error string comes directly from glib anyway. "gvfs-trash foo" on the livecd also fails with the same error.
** Package changed: thunar (Ubuntu) => glib2.0 (Ubuntu) -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Desktop Packages, which is subscribed to glib2.0 in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/874674 Title: XUbuntu Thunar liveCD cannot delete a file Status in “glib2.0” package in Ubuntu: Confirmed Bug description: When you try to delete a file you get the error: Unable to find or create trash directory. This is a user test file created from the empty file template. ProblemType: Bug DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.10 Package: thunar 1.2.3-0ubuntu1 ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.0.0-12.20-generic 3.0.4 Uname: Linux 3.0.0-12-generic i686 ApportVersion: 1.23-0ubuntu3 Architecture: i386 CasperVersion: 1.287 Date: Fri Oct 14 22:55:36 2011 LiveMediaBuild: Xubuntu 11.10 "Oneiric Ocelot" - Release i386 (20111012) ProcEnviron: PATH=(custom, no user) LANG=en_US.UTF-8 SHELL=/bin/bash SourcePackage: thunar UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install) To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/glib2.0/+bug/874674/+subscriptions -- Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~desktop-packages Post to : desktop-packages@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~desktop-packages More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp