The Mall Group become first Thai stores to charge for plastic bags

 

 

Picture: Daily News

 

The Mall Group - that runs some of Bangkok's leading stores as well as Bluport in Hua Hin - is going to charge customers for plastic bags starting tomorrow. 

 

They are the first retail group in Thailand to do so. 

 

Customers are being encouraged not to use bags at all under the company's "Go Green" initiative. Cloth bags are available. 

 

If customers insist on a plastic bag they are available for sale at one baht each. Proceeds will go to the World Wildlife Foundation Thailand.

 

The ban applies at The Mall department stores in such places as Ngam Wong Wan and Bangkapi in the capital and high end stores like Emporium, Paragon and Emquartier. Bluport, Hua Hin is also part of the group.

 

Supermarkets and Gourmet Markets at the stores are also included in the scheme. 

 

Meanwhile the move by The Mall Group, that marks International Plastic Bag Free Day on Wednesday, has stolen some of the thunder from Tesco Lotus Express. 

 

In a story in Daily News they said they had been at the forefront of moves to limit plastic bags since 2010. 

 

On Wednesday they are stopping the use of plastic bags at three of their outlets on Koh Chang in Trat in eastern Thailand. This will make eight branches in total out of 2,000 outlets nationwide. 

 

They have a no bag policy on the fourth of every month at all their stores that the company has said has already reduced the consumption of millions of bags. 

 

They reckon that the ban on bags at just three stores in Koh Chang will save 500,000 bags being thrown into trash a year.

 

Tesco are now planning to introduce a no plastic bag policy to more stores near the sea and near schools.

 

The company rewards customers who refuse bags with 50 points on their club cards. 

 

Source: Daily News

 

 

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4 hours ago, webfact said:

The Mall Group become first Thai stores to charge for plastic bags

I really hope it works out, but I have my reservations owing to Thais love of anything plastic.

6 minutes ago, bluesofa said:

I really hope it works out, but I have my reservations owing to Thais love of anything plastic.

Such as plastic faces and boobs ????

12 minutes ago, kotsak said:

19 minutes ago, bluesofa said:

I really hope it works out, but I have my reservations owing to Thais love of anything plastic.

Such as plastic faces and boobs ????

Now if they're only one Baht, I can see a queue forming already.

Of course. They cover their 'expenses' while claiming to 'save the planet.'  

If retailer were for real, they would stop buying single-use plastic from the Petro-Chemical industry, ie, "Big Oil" and put their money where their mouth is.  Cost saving for the company veiled in Eco-Friendly hyperbole and advertising jargon.  

I don't buy it until the retailers stop purchasing plastic in the first place.  Anything less is just BS.  They can save the eco-system.  Just say "No" to Big Plastic.  It simply doesn't stop at the consumer level.  Or - the government should just belly-up-to-the-bar and ban single use plastic.  

Just stop plastic bags full stop.

Offer cloth alternatives or go shop elsewhere, Thais will soon get the message and change their habits.

Not completely true , the French sport and recreational retailer Decathalon have charged the customers for plastic bags for more than a year

Edited July 2, 20197 yr by spetersen

They mean, you pay AGAIN for the plastic bags.

The price it costs for the company is already in the prices of the goods.

NOTHING is for free, only sunlight.

Anyone know where I can buy plastic supermarket bags directly? Should cost less than the 1 baht the Mall Group is planning on imposing.

I hope they at least give 10000 plastic straws free to each customer to smooth out the inconvenience. Because single use plastics only mean bags.

Only in this way we learn, in Germany it has been doing so for decades, and it has worked.

Well I know were I will not be shopping.....I like plastic bags....

Well I know were I will not be shopping.....I like plastic bags....

It's a pain at Tesco-Lotus, esp. the two times I wasn't prepared... You get some handle-less, low-quality paper bags you have to carry under your arm. (They look more like oversized paper bags for french bread.) Okay, if you own a car, but just impossible if you don't, and live 10min. away! Since they introduced the 'no plastic bag on the 4th', I shop less often and spend less money there, avoiding shopping there at the beginning of the month altogether. - Why can't they use real quality paper bags like they have in Vietnam? Oh yes, they'd cost them 1 or 2 baht more...

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They will doubtless be giving away some plastic piece of crap with the goods purchased anyway! 

1 hour ago, 30la said:

Only in this way we learn, in Germany it has been doing so for decades, and it has worked.

Of course.  Retailers reap the benefit of lower costs, governments collect taxes - and the use of plastic bags continues unabated.  It's all BS. P.T. Barnum understood.  Why the masses can't grasp it?  "The is a sucker in every crowd" I guess.

48 minutes ago, Bipolar said:

The problem is not palstic bags but how they are disposed especially by the garbage disposal services!

Thrown by the roadside.  Thrown over a hedge,  usually thrown from cars and m/cycles on the move, left at the spot they last stopped to eat, etc etc etc.

If people acted responsibly then a big part of the problem would go away.  However, people's behaviour is not going to change, especially in this country, which leaves the only viable option being legislation.  Of course the government is not going to legislate so we're stuck with the problem and no solution. 

 

Quote

Because single use plastics only mean bags.

 

I think it's generally accepted that bags aren't the only problem but certainly the biggest. Water bottles, plastic straws, drinks containers, fast food packaging, and of course many may more.

18 minutes ago, Bipolar said:

I too will stop stopping there....i shop there 3 times a week for me and my better half at their emporium branch and just at the supermarkets we spent at least 25,000 to 30,000  there per month. If the stop the plastic bags , I will move somewhere else, they can stick to having the farangs who are into environment saving but spending like less than 500 baht per month as their customers! Real Stupid! The problem is not palstic bags but how they are disposed especially by the garbage disposal services!

Sounds like your just passing the buck. I'm also surprised that you spend a decent amount on what I expect is good quality food and you like to carry it around in cheap plastic bags. Having just had a short holiday in the UK it was refreshing not having plastic bags thrown at me. Now back in Thailand I'm amazed again at how much unnecessary waste is created.

The government should level a tax charge on all plastic bags and give the proceeds to the Min of EnV. 

Tops have a no plastic bag day. But they will sell you a shopping bag....made of plastic.

Time to invest in a bin liner factory. Sales went up 3,000% when they banned free plastic bags in the UK

7 minutes ago, MRToMRT said:

The government should level a tax charge on all plastic bags and give the proceeds to the Min of EnV. 

Have you ever been to Chaeng Watthana Government Complex and seen the offices of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment overlooking an incredibly wasteful, vast, cooled atrium? Not sure they're good custodians of the money based upon their example.

2 hours ago, connda said:

Of course. They cover their 'expenses' while claiming to 'save the planet.'  

If retailer were for real, they would stop buying single-use plastic from the Petro-Chemical industry, ie, "Big Oil" and put their money where their mouth is.  Cost saving for the company veiled in Eco-Friendly hyperbole and advertising jargon.  

I don't buy it until the retailers stop purchasing plastic in the first place.  Anything less is just BS.  They can save the eco-system.  Just say "No" to Big Plastic.  It simply doesn't stop at the consumer level.  Or - the government should just belly-up-to-the-bar and ban single use plastic.  

Forget the bags these  days everything you buy is wrapped often in several layers of packaging, box then bag then wrapper......drives me nuts I usually rip the things to shreds in frustration sometimes.

Will this stop the bag ending up in the sea !!?

I wonder if i'm the only person for who the amount of plastic bags while shopping does about match the amount of trash i have to throw away.

If the shops stop handing out the plastic bags, this just means i have to spend money for plastic bags to throw my waste away.

In the end this still produces about the same amount of plastic bag waste.

So the customer spends more money than before, and the shops make more profit. The result for the environment stays the same.

4 hours ago, HHTel said:

Thrown by the roadside.  Thrown over a hedge,  usually thrown from cars and m/cycles on the move, left at the spot they last stopped to eat, etc etc etc.

If people acted responsibly then a big part of the problem would go away.  However, people's behaviour is not going to change, especially in this country, which leaves the only viable option being legislation.  Of course the government is not going to legislate so we're stuck with the problem and no solution. 

 

I think it's generally accepted that bags aren't the only problem but certainly the biggest. Water bottles, plastic straws, drinks containers, fast food packaging, and of course many may more.

In japan, there are not many garbage containers lying about. People just keep their trash in their pockets or bags and bring them home or some place that has the trash cans like the subway stations. 

5 hours ago, MRToMRT said:

The government should level a tax charge on all plastic bags and give the proceeds to the Min of EnV. 

And then he can buy a new Mercedes.

4 hours ago, jackdd said:

I wonder if i'm the only person for who the amount of plastic bags while shopping does about match the amount of trash i have to throw away.

If the shops stop handing out the plastic bags, this just means i have to spend money for plastic bags to throw my waste away.

In the end this still produces about the same amount of plastic bag waste.

So the customer spends more money than before, and the shops make more profit. The result for the environment stays the same.

Why do you need to put your trash in a plastic bag? The correct procedure is composting, recycling and trash ends up being very little and dry so it can go into can direct. It's time people started thinking about the future and not just convenience for today.

But, looking at the picture, the produce they sell is still wrapped in plastic! So much for the BIG environmental gesture!


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My shopping bills will go up by a few baht each time I visit. I don't care about this, I want the bags.

 

The difference between here and Europe where they've been doing this sort of thing for many years now is that in Thailand they're very paranoid about people taking their own bags into stores here....

 

 

6 minutes ago, graemeaylward said:

But, looking at the picture, the produce they sell is still wrapped in plastic! So much for the BIG environmental gesture

I do agree that sadly it's a gesture. Being cynical it could be seen as no more than a marketing opportunity.
 

I saw an excellent BBC documentary last month 'War On Plastic'. In the UK there are groups being proactive in trying to raise awareness especially by publicising how much plastic individual manufacturers are using to wrap their products.

Incredibly, MacDonalds was shown as being the number one toy distributor worldwide, purely due to the 'free' plastic toys they hand out in kids meals, I think it said 80% of which are thrown away, a lot without even having the additional plastic packaging opened. Of course MacDonalds refused point blank to be interviewed or even discuss the matter.

Try using those same tactics here - not!

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/12/world/canada/plastic-bags-embarassing-messages.html