Thais are terrible polluters - using EIGHT plastic bags each per day, conference told

[NextStationBangkok]

2 minutes ago, DinoSabanovic said:

I would like a bag for a bag please.

 

They would beg you to accept an extra bag....

[British Bulldog]

Its quite ironic, but some years back, I worked on a short project in Bangladesh, I was really amazed to find that plastic had been banned because of its pollution problems, paper bags were available at a small cost in supermarkets, however, most people used 'string (plastic) bags' which were very small and easy to carry in a hand bag and yet stretch to carry a huge load .... it seemed amazing that such a poor country could Police this policy ... this also extended to rolls of plastic, sheets of plastic etc. .... most annoying when we had to find a small piece of blue plastic for technical reasons .....  on the other hand .... *men often crouched practically anywhere to pee on the ground ! *(Yes, 'men')

[gandalf12]

1 hour ago, darksidedog said:

It is long overdue for the Thais to be woken up to their polluting ways. Now that they are slowly becoming aware of the problem, it will be interesting to see what they actually start to do about it. Probably next to nothing for quite some time yet, I suspect.

They will stop foreigners getting plastic bags. That will solve the problem 

[Shaunduhpostman]

Plastic bags are big money. Thailand must be a great market for the producers because people will only very slowly wake up to the reality if ever. 

 

In Khatmandu, seems the Nepalese government has banned plastics. Stores will issue bags but they are quite thick and durable cheap nylon based cloth bags with wide shoulder straps. I did not have a chance to visit other areas of the country so I don't know how widespread the plastic bag ban is, but it seemed to be in force everywhere in Katmandhu. But with their solution very quickly everyone has quite a lot of handbags for carrying purchases. There seems to be very good public awareness that plastic waste is a national problem that needs to combatted. Especially good since Nepal has yet to become a consumerist nation which Thailand has. Nepal has acted before the problem really exploded. Nepal has other problems regarding pollution but it seems they have made a good start  in getting a grip on the plastic bag problem.

 

Here, I can't see it happening in terms of govt taking successful action. Plastic producers will probably nip any ban plans in the bud with their own schemes. 

 

At the end of the day, plastic bag waste proliferation is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of Thailand's pollution woes. Off the top of my head the list of serious problems would include the mass dumping of increasingly powerful agri-chemicals on the rice paddies, Thailand's open door to international mining and other manufacturers to set up and pollute at will, Thailand's complete indifference to chemicals long since banned throughout the rest of the world for use in food and drugs. High air pollution levels in rural areas where no garbage collection services are available and where mass burnings for agriculture put tens of thousands in the hospital every year with respiratory ailments.

 

The future threatens Thailand with each and every new twist and development in technologies. China's nuclear power industry has held meetings with Thai officials and there are talks underway to get Thailand nuclear power. I think you can guarentee the public's health will be put at further risk with substandard  plants constructed, their construction quality severely compromised by shortcuts and quality downgrades at every step, poorly run by personel with little training poor wages and with nuclear wastes being dumped in areas where people either don't know any better or have no power to stop them. The alternative is nearly as bad with heavy pollution coal powered power plants needed for increasing levels of electricity consumption fueled mostly by industry, not consumer use as we are usually brainwashed into believing. 

[NextStationBangkok]

41 minutes ago, steve2112 said:

8, more like 80. 1 baht tax per bag would stop it in a day

 

I feel it is time for 7-11 to sell plastic bags, let people buy if they really need. I always keep the thing i bought in my backpack, or carry in my hand.

 

I am allergic to plastic bags, after all after just arriving home, all these new bags goes to dustbin quickly. Better to refuse.

 

 Few times i carried bunch of bananas in bare hands, it seems that it is crime in this country, i had been watched by people.

 

But i don't care.

 

[passiflora]

Only 8?

[YetAnother]

35 minutes ago, sikishrory said:

Theres an outdoor area with chairs and tables downstairs at my condo. People like to sit and eat there. Theres also a sign warning of a fine for littering but no bin to be seen anyway.

I asked my wife why not put a bin in as opposed to making people take there rubbish home or hunting for a 7/11 bin or something. 

Her reply was that maybe if put a bin it would be more dirty and encourage litter.

Goes to show the backwards thinking they have.

I used to ask my Thai wife for the thai logic...

[zzidenn]

in germany supermarkets etc. are not allowed to give out plastic bags for free. they have to obligatory charge people... which quickly made everyone use reusable canvas bags or paper alternatives. its very simple and easy to implement 

[Morakot]

At every second conference, trade fair, or biz event I have been to in Thailand, marketeers gave away reusable cloth bags. Like my Thai colleagues, I got dozens and dozens of these bags...

 

I asked my colleagues what they are doing with these bags and they told me that they collect them. Using them did not occur to them.

[elephant45]

It is disrespectful for a Thai not to get a 8 pieces of plastic when they go shopping andf checkout, even at the hospital they want to give me a beautiful brown thick paper bag for my prescription which I alway refuse, and they are baffled. . "Mai Sai Tung" I say, = no bag or for straw 'Mai Sai Laut"

Yesterday I went to a local cheap restaurant and ordered some food and had cleaned out the nice cardboard container from yesterdays order and had the same bag and rubber band and they almost refused to serve me. Thinking I was some type of idiot for not wanting 5 new pieces of junk to throw away.

I just wonder who is running the school system in this country.

[madmitch]

Thais recycle plastic bags by filling them with biodegradable food waste, tying them and throwing them out of the car window! 

 

On a plus point, Homepro now ask if you want a bag and give ten extra points to cardholders if they refuse a plastic bag.

 

 

[Morakot]

2 hours ago, champers said:

I would like to see major supermarkets and mini-marts making a charge for bags, but also making a available a "bag for life" replaced FOC when worn out.

 

I once went into a major supermarket in the UK and complained that my "Bag for Life" was broken. The cashier had no sympathy and  said she had to kill me if I keep insisting on a replacement bag.

[wvavin]

This perpetual problem can never be eradicated because no campaign or education works, its all in their brains!

[Jo M]

And they make laws for cigarettes butts... That's make a lot of sense... Arrest the smokers... So all will be clean... Haha

[Ceruhe]

43 minutes ago, impulse said:

If you're getting too many bags (and straws) from 7/11, it's on you, not them.

Not sure how your logic works here.

 

Everything your employees give out "too much" is a loss to your bottom line, thus the problem should be adressed by management, seems more like you are sort of confusing "shifting responsibility" with "the honorable thing to do".

 

As a consumer I am only obligated to pay for my goods/services, whatever they decide to give as a bonus isn't part of my responsibility at all. Sure, I can be the change I want to see and decline such things but at the end of the day, I only had that option because it was given to me.

[bananafish]

You only have to be here one day to notice the overuse of plastic. I personally use a bag for life but I fear I might not be making a dent in alleviating the problem. 

[300sd]

Fines for "pig" littering might help, but then this leads to another problem: the so called law enforcement!

[elephant45]

Misunderstanding of Technology and the increasing population has overridden any type of common sense or even a chance to fix it at this point. They just dont get it.

 

Just wait till they start building substandard nuclear power plants, you thinks its bad now?

 

Well, maybe a few more submarines will fix it.

[webcrawler00]

BigC is one of the biggest plastic bag polluters in Thailand. 

 

Please send them a quick note to:

[email protected]

 

This is the best Customer Complaint email I could get. If someone has a better email, please post it. 

[Morakot]

24 minutes ago, elephant45 said:

It is disrespectful for a Thai not to get a 8 pieces of plastic when they go shopping

 

 

I know what you mean. I every time I go to 7/11, I feel sorry for the cashier. First, she get to hear (in Thai) 'No bag please.'  than 'I don't need a spoon/ straw, thanks.'  To top it all, she get the stamps returned she just gave out with the change.

[CLW]

BigC is one of the biggest plastic bag polluters in Thailand. 
 
Please send them a quick note to:
[email protected]
 
This is the best Customer Complaint email I could get. If someone has a better email, please post it. 

They make fantastic garbage bags.
Once I have enough I use my canvas bag for shopping.
Make the customer pay for it. I wouldn't mind.
And they are so thin. The problem is not the use of resources for production, it is their proper disposal or recycling.

[impulse]

14 minutes ago, Ceruhe said:

Not sure how your logic works here.

 

Everything your employees give out "too much" is a loss to your bottom line, thus the problem should be adressed by management, seems more like you are sort of confusing "shifting responsibility" with "the honorable thing to do".

 

As a consumer I am only obligated to pay for my goods/services, whatever they decide to give as a bonus isn't part of my responsibility at all. Sure, I can be the change I want to see and decline such things but at the end of the day, I only had that option because it was given to me.

 

Jeez.  It's simple.  Say, "no bag, please".  It works for me 100% of the time.  It's not that hard.  Really.

 

If you walk out of 7/11 with a bag that you don't want, it's on you.  And if your bag ends up somewhere other than a proper bin, it's on you.  Don't blame it on their business model or their management.

[webcrawler00]

1 minute ago, CLW said:

They make fantastic garbage bags.
Once I have enough I use my canvas bag for shopping.
Make the customer pay for it. I wouldn't mind.
And they are so thin. The problem is not the use of resources for production, it is their proper disposal or recycling.

"fantastic garbage bags." that's no solution to the environment. There is NO fantastic use of a darn plastic bag. They should all be banned and we should only use paper or cloth bags. Why don't the Thai's (and other countries) look at what many other countries do e.g. Scandinavians and Canadians etc etc. But they just don't care. Its all about convenience with TOTAL disregard for the environment. Soon the oceans will have more tonnage of garbage bags and junk than fish! Read about the Pacific Ocean vortex of garbage. The other day I swam with Manta Rays near a deserted island of Indonesia and saw so many drifting plastic bags in the sea.  What a disgrace.

[webcrawler00]

8 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

Jeez.  It's simple.  Say, "no bag, please".  It works for me 100% of the time.  It's not that hard.  Really.

 

If you walk out of 7/11 with a bag, it's on you. Don't blame it on their business model or their management.

If the government and/or all these big chains such a 7/11 and BigC etc. stop handing out plastic bags, it will stop. Too few people care to say NO to plastic bags because they don't think and care more about their own convenience than the environment. 

[webcrawler00]

11 minutes ago, Morakot said:

It is disrespectful for a Thai not to get a 8 pieces of plastic when they go shopping

Yes exactly. It's like many people, particularly in this part of the world, if they go to the doctor and get no or few tablets, especially antibiotics, then the doctor is not good. The more tablets the doctor hands out (sell), the better the doc is!

[RandG]

2 hours ago, rkidlad said:

Me and my missus always use canvas bags when we go to the supermarket. Not long ago they asked to take a picture of us after we had paid for all our stuff at Tops. Reason? Apparently we were the only customers to bring our own bags. 

On one recent visit to Tops, we were stopped by a security guard as were walking away from the check out area with no plastic bags, who demanded to see a receipt; apparently based on the logic that no plastic bags means we could not have paid. 

 

Having said that, most Westerners we see in Tops, 7 Eleven etc. are coming away with a handful of plastic bags, so there is not much room for the holier than thou attitude that exists in these forums.

[67Ford]

Everyone has the option of not taking plastic bags at any of the stores, food stalls and yes even at the most coffee shops. We all can bring our own canvas bags and reusable cups and mugs.  

 

It’s not only Thais causing this major issue, it’s everyone, that takes convenience over our environment.  It’s nit fare to pick on the Thais just because your in Thailand, I am guessing that the people that are blaming everything on the Thais with looking at oneself and all of the millions of tourist visiting each day and all of us expats that are part of this society.  

 

If your blaming the local thais only and do not consider yourself part of the problem,  well I’m afraid that you are indeed part of the problem. 

 

Change takes everyone 

[slippery snake]

Using plastic bags and bottles is not the problem,  the problem is most Thais have no regard for their country.

Just drop it any where they happen to be,,  a rubbish bin ?  what is that !!!

Don't see many tourists doing that, most look for a bin to dispose of their rubbish.. 

If it was being disposed of properly then a high percentage could be recycled or burnt. 

But will Thais ever learn ??   still see heaps riding their bikes with no helmet.... 

Actually if the police set up road blocks on every road In Patong and charged them all 500B for not wearing a helmet, they could all retire in a month or two... 

[mike324]

3 hours ago, overherebc said:

Biodegradable doesn't do that much good either. If put into rubbish tips when breaking down they release a lot of methane. Even if left in the open they take a long time to disappear.

Plastic is probably one of the worst inventions so far.

I know central department store bags are mostly biodegradable, I notice they breakdown after around 2 years. 

[slippery snake]

14 minutes ago, RandG said:

On one recent visit to Tops, we were stopped by a security guard as were walking away from the check out area with no plastic bags, who demanded to see a receipt; apparently based on the logic that no plastic bags means we could not have paid. 

 

Having said that, most Westerners we see in Tops, 7 Eleven etc. are coming away with a handful of plastic bags, so there is not much room for the holier than thou attitude that exists in these forums.

Difference is most westerners dispose of the bags properly, as they probably own a condo or are staying in a hotel,

but Thais just throw their rubbish over the fence,, out of sight, out of mind...  

I've seen it time and again, but never see anyone do that at the apartment block where I live,  except for the Thai security guard that throws his rubbish over the fence....