Thailand gets serious about plastic bags

[tifino]

do something more meaningful/relevant - save the pedestrian from extinction, cull the plastics...

Edited December 4, 2018 by tifino

[TheFishman1]

I did not know today no plastic bags I just returned from 7-11 and they put everything I bought in a plastic plastic bag go figure. TIT

[Clutch]

 

I never really understood why they gave up using paper bags.

Because paper carry bags are over 10 times the cost.

[Benmart]

 

And what if I bring plastic bags with me? Are the stores going to refuse to bag my purchases?

Try, and then let us know what happens.

[Gandtee]

I take my own bag to Macro. Perhaps someone can come up with the answer as to the alternative to when selecting loose goods, ie vegetables, they are weighed, put into a plastic bag and the price stuck on? 

[recom273]

 

Every Time l bring my reusable cloth bag to TESCO , the checkout clerk is looking for a tag to scan. They have no clue what they are. ????

 

Wow! I never make it past the security guard in Big C who instructs me to check my empty backpack into the storage lockers.

 

How can I fill it with my shopping? Put the goods in plastic and then trek all the way back to the entrance and leave the bags at the help desk, who then throw them away because the average local consumer doesnt want a second hand - used plastic bag. It really defeats the object.

 

I got to say, TOPS understand, I think they give a small discount if you don’t use any bags.

 

It is a matter of just using a reusable bag - but there are so many obstructions along the way. 

[Scotssing]

I draw the line when they put my newspaper in a plastic bag

Otherwise the plastic bags get recycled as rubbish bin liners and this pretty much uses them all up

Maybe tokenism but at least they are starting to face the problem. One day they may follow the European practice of charging for plastic bags. It doesn't happen overnight.

Just because many other items wrapped in plastic and Styrofoam doesn't mean you shouldn't start here

But how to tackle the littering and dumping of trash especially plastic, that is another story 

[fruitman]

 

 

555... don't you mean 'had some in...'? ???? 

 

 

 

 

thinking further... this will be a challenge for them:       hmmm, the cloth bag challenge...

And i doubt this is a food grade baggy....a what? Ohhh mai rou krab...mai ben rai..

[toenail]

It will be like anything else- just talk. There should be a government- university incentive to encourage private enterprise to come up with recycling packaging out of local plants. (Look at what their ancestors used for ideas.) 

[catman20]

 

Because paper bags were considered to be a waste of valuable timber recourses and a threat to the environment!

good point ! and they thought plastic bags were not 

[malt25]

 

And what if I bring plastic bags with me? Are the stores going to refuse to bag my purchases?

You didn't read the Original article. "single-use plastic bags"..  If you take your own plastic bag to the store it's NOT, repeat, NOT, a single-use bag. No reason you can't reuse it several times.

[KittenKong]

 

Believe it or not those orange bags actually breakdown to powder after 6 months, I have some in my storage area with bolts and screws packets in them.

The green BigC bags also seem to decompose after a few months.

[norbra]

Latest news from Australia, Supermarkets are now under pressure to eliminate the 15c plastic bags

[fantom]

 

So many people with simply no idea!!!!!,

All major shopping centers already do this in australia, and charge 15c if you need a bag.....what's the issue??

I agree Aldi for example has never offered plastic bags to my knowledge. Reading the preceding posts I get this mental picture of an enraged farang chanting 'no plastic bag' in an alien tongue while waving a token eco bag at the check out chick who stares back in bewilderment.

Mrs Fantom and I have never had the slightest problem, either shopping singly or as a couple, Tesco, Big C, markets mom and pop shop, etc etc.

The technique is:

 

1. Load your shopping on the conveyor

2. When your turn comes move foreward to the packing area.

3. Place your cloth bag on the packing table where the COC can easily access it.  mutter 'dont want plastic bags' in thai.

4 As she starts to scan the goods, hold the bag open and help as needed

5. If the bag is full and there are more to scan, remove bag and replace with another empty one, repeat as required.

6. When all goods scanned and packed, pay the bill and be rewarded with a beatific smile and wai from the COC who recognises an intelligent farang with impeccable good manners.

 

 

Your first comment is spot on.

 

Edited December 4, 2018 by fantom
spelling

[connda]

Banning them is 'getting serious about plastic'  A one day moratorium followed by business as usual is a bad joke.

[tifino]

 

Latest news from Australia, Supermarkets are now under pressure to eliminate the 15c plastic bags

 

 I forethought when they first came out; and got a heap of them when they were first up offered free

 

p.s. if in Aust, one is looking for best value re-useable (fabric) bags... go to Bunnings, as they are the biggest for the price, and are pretty strong

 

the other day we had 3 * 3kg bags of Woolies oranges in the one big red Bunnings bag(@0.99c) , and it's been repeating the same job well, for the past 6 months

[zyphodb]

 

I never really understood why they gave up using paper bags.

Because oil companies make lots of money out of plastic....

[White Christmas13]

 

good point ! and they thought plastic bags were not 

http://www.allaboutbags.ca/papervplastic.html 

[Purdey]

I think it would be brilliant to go back to using paper bags for our shopping. The old ways are still the best. While Thailand maybe does not have managed forests like, for example, Norway, losing a bit more forest cover to produce more paper bags is a small price to pay for not recycling or reusing our plastic. Better still, because paper bags break easier than plastic ones, we can ask for two bags, one inside the other as that will almost make them as strong as the plastic ones. Yes, I know the slightest drip of condensation from our milk will make them soggy and soft but we can always ask for a third bag as this will only have an impact on our forests that will be missed by David Attenborough and a few "greenies". Having trees is vastly overrated and not being forced to take responsibility for our packaging choices is so au fait. Perhaps we can insist on wooden chopstick only as those plastic ones don't pick up the sushi half as well at Fuji.

We should also go back to wrapping fish in banana leaves as no one minds them being cut down too. Let Thai Union know that chopping down banana leaves for the millions of fish they sell is much more practical than hygienic plastic wrapping. 

The public ought to start forcing manufacturers to be responsible for over-producing plastic, which goes against business sense, but they do it anyway. I now understand they are responsible for throwing those plastic bottles out of their factory gates as they are making more than market forces demand. While we do this, can we blame Toyota for causing so many car accidents at Songkran? Obviously, the manufacturers must be held responsible for the road deaths - who else should we blame if not them?

[ebonykap]

 

Wow! I never make it past the security guard in Big C who instructs me to check my empty backpack into the storage lockers.

 

How can I fill it with my shopping? Put the goods in plastic and then trek all the way back to the entrance and leave the bags at the help desk, who then throw them away because the average local consumer doesnt want a second hand - used plastic bag. It really defeats the object.

 

I got to say, TOPS understand, I think they give a small discount if you don’t use any bags.

 

It is a matter of just using a reusable bag - but there are so many obstructions along the way. 

Is that a Big C policy? At Big C Rachadapisek I just walk in with my backpack every time no question. At the checkout I just say "Mai sai tung" and pack it myself.

If anything, perhaps they should check my backpack when leaving the store (standard procedure in Oz), but they never do.

Edited December 4, 2018 by ebonykap
Add information

[Purdey]

 

Because oil companies make lots of money out of plastic....

Oil companies make money from oil for heating, energy production and petrol for automobiles. Plastics use a tiny fraction.

[lopburi3]

 

I did not know today no plastic bags I just returned from 7-11 and they put everything I bought in a plastic plastic bag go figure. TIT

Ditto at MaxValue - seemed to use more bags than normal.  But admit did appear more shoppers appeared to have carry bags with them today. 

 

As for paper bags - grew up with them and bottoms falling out - they could not carry any weight, ripped open with package corners and fell apart in the rain/humidity/moisture of cold items.  There was a reason scrambled eggs were popular.  Plastic was considered a godsend.

[Moonlover]

 

Does it not take more energy and water to produce paper than plastic? Just asking.

Three points regarding your comment.

 

1. Water can be recycled and nature even does it for us.

 

2. Paper is readily biodegradable and/or recyclable.

 

3. It takes 100's maybe 1,000's of years for plastic to degrade and has become a global threat, every bit as large, if not larger than global warming.

 

To me, it's a no brainer. 

Edited December 4, 2018 by Moonlover

[ChipButty]

Its happening just went into 7/11 and no bag, but the food was in a plastic box wrapped in plastic 

[david555]

Plastic is a major problem and can be solved by paper bags or bring your own cloth bag  ….. but different than Tesco Big C 7/11 and others …. how the street food suppliers gone solve how to pack their food ,as for now they do in those little bags magic way closed as air compressed with  elastic closure …?

Besides years ago I read here , that their is a precede to make plastic  from cassava in Thailand , which is soluble after time....never heard anymore  

[sabyedee]

Makro does not give out plastic bags. Never has and they have lots of shoppers. Why can't the other stores figure that out. They would save money and the environment to. I constantly refuse plastic bags at 7/11. They just smile and say deemak. 

 

[Giving it a Go]

 

I never really understood why they gave up using paper bags.

I asked Tesco's in the UK why they didn't use paper bags and they answered that because paper bags are heavier, en masse, to transport, therefore it would create more carbon footprint by doing so. You can imagine my reply!!!

 

[b3pur]

Just went to family mart and they are making more money out of today by charging people 5b for a paper bag! No free cloth bags in sight!

[Greyhat]

Greyhat's log Stardate 96525.76. At first impression it was business as usual in 7-11. I observed plastic bags being doled out the same as any other day. However much to my surprise once I had paid I was actually asked if I wanted a plastic bag. Although, the girl that served me almost certainly recognised that I'm the same alien which has refused plastic bags on a daily basis for a long while now, I was also offered cigarettes. Further analysis is required.

[ChangMaiSausage]

So much negativity, every little bit counts, change does not happen overnight. 

 

Good for Thailand that they are now trying to change. 

 

Will you?