National parks, zoos to soon ban plastic bags and containers, says Minister

By The Nation

 

 

Plastic and foam bags and containers will be banned from all of Thailand’s national parks and every zoo in the country under a plan being prepared by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment as a step to reduce the estimated 45 quadrillion pieces of plastic thrown away every year in the country.

 

The ministry will make their plan public one or two months before stopping people from bringing foam and plastic containers and bags into the areas under their jurisdiction.

 

The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation has been assigned to quickly inspect the country’s 154 national parks and seven zoos, said Natural Resources and Environment Minister General Surasak Karnjanarat on Thursday, along with planning the official date for implementing the ban on the use of the disposables.

 

Most plastics used in the parks and zoos were intended for a single use, including plastic bags, cups, spoons and forks, straws, water bottle caps and cigarette filters, along with foam cups and “clamshells”.

 

Despite their convenience and resulting popularity, the plastics are manufactured from petroleum, harmful to the environment and with many ending up in the oceans where they kill sea mammals and turtles who mistake them for food species.

 

Some plastics are known to partially disintegrate and become air contaminants that are dangerous to human health.

 

Surasak said that Thailand’s plastic industries needed to quickly adapt, catching up with consumption trends with lower environmental impacts. Consumers, for example, could be encouraged to reuse products rather than throwing them away after a single use.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30347217

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-6-7

There's a big sign on the start of the climb up to Doi Suthep, Chiang Mai, with "No styrofoam boxes" on it.  I was overtaken on my bicycle by a motorbike laden with, guess what, styrofoam boxes...

 

T-I-T....

Certainly a good initiative - if a tad late.

 

So... are they only going to stop "people" from bringing bags and containers into national parks or does the ban also extend to food and beverage vendors (i.e. the most notorious dispensers of plastic waste)? And are park officials going to search every vehicle, every rucksack, every backpack? How about f&b items that already come prepackaged in foils and bags ex-factory? How about the residents within the national park boundaries? Are they prohibited from bringing in plastic bags from their weekly Big C or Tesco trips, too? And most importantly: Will foreigners be fined ten times more than locals for violating the ban to be consistent with the ten-fold entrance fee? 

 

What's the general plan for implementing that ban anyway? Simply putting up "not permitted" signs obviously will be ineffective, as poster Samuel Smith already observed. Thailand is not short on laws and bans. It's short on actual enforcement of said laws.

 

Ah, so many questions nobody thought about, right?

At one point the excuse of ecology will be used to ban plastic bags and boxes that will plainly prevent people from bringing their own food and drinks and who will have to pay triple,  at the ripoff joint of the park. It would be tough for those with families and kids who would have already been scammed at the entrance with the falang price.

 

A bit like the stupid rule to ban people from bringing their own bottled water when flying...strangely the prices of bottled water,  after the security check-in at airports,  took off practically overnight.

Edited June 7, 20188 yr by observer90210

1 hour ago, snoop1130 said:

National parks, zoos to soon ban plastic bags and containers, says Minister

How soon is now?

 

The Smiths

58 minutes ago, Bluespunk said:

How soon is now?

 

The Smiths

It's in the 20 year plan; along with stopping corruption. Be patient!

There should be a total ban on all plastic bags and containers. With the rise of online use there is a large amount of wood for paper manufacturing and all supermarkets etc., should be forced to use them. The major problem will be the usual problem in trying to improve and advance our living standards, big business and politics.

Good luck with that.  What are they going to do?  Search all cars for plastic at the gate?  Nope.  Don't think so.

No enforcement no progress 

I'm guessing ordering takeaway is out of question for primates in the national parks now.

34 minutes ago, Darcula said:

I'm guessing ordering takeaway is out of question for primates in the national parks now.

It's the primates doing the delivery will have to solve that issue.