Plastic bags: No more from the start of 2021

[Cake Monster]

4 hours ago, ezzra said:

Like someone said already, it will be hard to implement without a viable, working alternatives, education the people that this is a must do and not a choice, all in all, i personally don't see it happening without a lot of discontent and grumblings...

Maybe there will be so much backlash from the Thai public, a huge u-turn such as the Minivan, and load bed passenger ruling in Pickup Truck will come from the government.

 

[Beggar]

1 minute ago, ian007 said:

It starts in your head! Get used to not using or accepting a plastic bag. 65 countries have already starting with Bangladesch of all places many years ago. Just carry reusable bags in your car and that's it. Easy as....

What if I don't have a car?

[luk AJ]

So I went shopping on the 4th of the month, the day when supermarkets do not give out any plastic carrier bags. 
However my single banana was in a plastic bag, the avocado was wrapped in plastic cling film and I noticed most fruit and veg was wrapped in plastic, they will never get rid of it, the locals just don’t understand 

Sure, also the carrots I bought were wrapped per 2 in plastic foil. Silly right? I ate one carrot, threw the foil away and put the other in a basket. Next day the carrot was soft and shrivelled. I suppose they are grown on hydroponic systems and contain much more water than the ones from my fathers garden?
Anyway..


Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[steve73]

2 minutes ago, MikeN said:

Well I just asked the missus, and when she was a kid everybody took a basket to the market, and food was served in a banana leaf...even soup. That I would have to see to believe though.

Probably getting people to bring their own tiffin carrier would be a better choice now though. Or maybe it's time to bring in the "tiffin wallahs" system  from India, updated with "an app for that".

But I did not see any mention of the styrofoam containers being stopped ? They are almost as bad a problem.

A lot of vendors/markets around me now use waxed paper rather than styrofoam boxes... much less rubbish, and probably cheaper for the vendors as well...

But I'm still perplexed how they can make a banana leaf "soup-tight".  I must practice my Origami "water-bomb"...

[Burma Bill]

3 minutes ago, CygnusX1 said:

 

Yet another one of many self righteous comments which seem to assume that everyone does their shopping by car. You’re doing hugely more environmental damage by driving your car to the shops than someone walking home with their shopping in plastic bags (which will almost always be reused for another purpose anyway).

You seem to miss the point - Fat Prophet, like myself, may live in a rural area where a vehicle (car) is essential in being able to reach the shops, banks, Immigration Offices and hospitals. The introduction of the ridiculous TM30 has created more air pollution and environmental damage by all the extra kilometers created when reporting out here in the countryside!

[dallen52]

Here we go again. 

Why not start next week?

[kevin612]

Bring a cup and bag whenever you go out.

[dallen52]

3 hours ago, fforest1 said:

So every one will need to carry a bag with them at all times now....Never know when you want to go shopping......

Cargo pants are great.

I still have a reusable bag in the left pocket from the UK. 

Get used to it.

Or 15p a bag there.

[hotchilli]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Thai Public Broadcasting Service reported that an agreement has been inked between the Ministry of the Environment and major retailers like CP Group (7-Eleven), Central and The Mall Group to stop handing out plastic bags by January 1st 2020

A great achievement if they can pull it off...
however the mom & pop shop and street vendors might be a bit harder to tackle as the are singular entities.

[CygnusX1]

4 minutes ago, Burma Bill said:

You seem to miss the point - Fat Prophet, like myself, may live in a rural area where a vehicle (car) is essential in being able to reach the shops, banks, Immigration Offices and hospitals

But nobody’s forcing you to accept plastic bags, you can still use your cloth bags instead. I’m just saying what about people who live in a city, don’t have a car and don’t want to carry cloth bags around with them every day.

[natway09]

A total ban will never work. Whilst I applaud the intentions it is very easy to sit in your ivory tower  & state directives.

Every street vendor  uses plastic or styrofoam (which I think is worse.)

A 2,000 Bht fine for anyone disposing of plastic in an inappropriate fashion      Great

Who will enforce it ???????? Sorry, forget it

[Jimbo2014]

5 hours ago, 2long said:

Please no Thai bashing.

This may be a small and late step, but it's a step in the right direction and a good thing.

Sorry cant help it but 2021 - will it happen?  Its still in the future and the present shows no taste to change.  Its always in the future with this government.  Plastic bags are only a small part of it.  Almost all liquid the average Thai consumes are in thick plastic bottles and most things are wrapped in thick plastic in supermarkets and 7/11.  More urgent and more serious measures are required to stop the complete plastic catastrophe unfolding here.

[malt25]

4 hours ago, smedly said:

everyone agrees with the concept but it is only workable if a viable alternative is found

 

and plastic bags are only part of the problem

Agreed !  But Makro have found a viable alternative.

[AsiaCheese]

4 hours ago, khunPer said:

The real problem is people throwing plastic bags all the wrong places.

 

When stopping single use plastic bags, what will be thrown instead?

Precisely. As it is, lots of the "single use" plastic bags are actually re-used as garbage bags. They'll be replaced by the much thicker & sturdier black garbage bags you can buy in shops - those things are most probably lots more problematic to dispose of. Recycling them is not an option, and burning them will create lots more poisonous stuff than the current single use bags. I'm not an expert - just trying to figure that one out all the way!

[thhMan]

The one thing that I found very hard to find is a Garbage Bin on the sidewalks, which I am used to having in Australia

So after eating streetfood, I would hunt around for a place to dump the garbage and its not so easy.

 

Perhaps Thailand should consider having public bins?

But then, living in Thailand for 10 years, I just know that wont happen.... or if it does, it eventually will fail...

Habits are hard to change...

[ylmiri]

There are plenty of bamboo in Thailand and they grow very fast , overnight they grow about an inch or more. What do prisoners do ? Get them to make bamboo bags and pay them so after they finish doing their time they get some money.

Bamboo bags when return to supermarket you get return of 50 percent of the amount you paid.

Private jobless people can also make bamboo baskets to sell to supermarket. Government should help to set up for them a place to make those basket, throughout the city or small towns.

[Booboo101]

If the powers that be are as successful banning plastic bags as they are at making all motorbike users wear a crash hat, then there won’t be much change !

[Baggy]

InAustralia supermarkets only allow items purchased to be placed in shopping bags supplied by the customers,

works fine, if you forget your shopping bag, no problem, you can purchase in store.

[Vacuum]

2 hours ago, johng said:

Maybe Ganja bags..they are talking about every Thai citizen being allowed to grow 6 plants each

Only an idiot woould use them for bags... 

[Naamblar2014]

Eliminating animal agriculture is the only ethical way to stop catastrophic climate change.  Let's see CP jump on board that one.

Let's see human beings want to bring about change, without ignoring their own responsibility for the problem and refusing to change their eating behavior in any significant way. Those that devour animal flesh or animal products can no longer hide behind the 'it's my personal choice' excuse. Your personal choice is responsible for destroying our environment. There is no planet b.

[Chassa]

25 minutes ago, malt25 said:

Agreed !  But Makro have found a viable alternative.

Yes, they sell them by the millions.

[UKresonant]

4 hours ago, fforest1 said:

So every one will need to carry a bag with them at all times now....Never know when you want to go shopping......

Yes, useful if you can still get a bag, in Scotland bags have been 5p ~2baht each for many years..The Co-op now has a compostable equivalent to a single use bag, in their shops, so they could change to that technology now! For the unexpected shop.

[jmacken306]

5 hours ago, khunPer said:

The real problem is people throwing plastic bags all the wrong places.

 

When stopping single use plastic bags, what will be thrown instead?

I've been here 8 years and the first thing I noticed was MISSING TRASH CANS! What do I see, people sitting their partial drinks, partial meal down by the ATM.....and the person turned and saw me looking others tried hiding it behind a plant....tossing it in a grocery cart someone took from Big C.... Even in the Malls, Where's the Trash Can? They are starting to get better.... Screw the Paper Straws, I had my first one two weeks ago, collapsed minutes after sticking it in my cup. Like some other things education and alternatives. I will leave it at that, I could go on......

[Max69xl]

5 hours ago, Fat Prophet said:

I am not in favour of government restrictions and regulations, when I look at the beaches in Thailand, I think that this is a move long over due. And why wait until 2021? This should be a ban of immediate effect, along with plastic bottles, straws, carrying containers, etc.  The billions/trillions being spent on the illusion that is termed "global warming" could be much better spent on the tangible and obvious harm that ignorant people (Thais and foreigners alike) do to the environment through carelessness and laziness.  It is a horrible trait of human beings to want someone else (most often the government, especially if they don't pay for it (i.e., college students)) to bring about change, while ignoring their own responsibility for the problem and refusing to change their behavior in any significant way -- "what I do isn't enough to cause (or solve) the problem". A move in the right direction, but a major/complete change in the focus of "environmental protection" is what is really required, in Thailand and throughout the world. 

Millions of thai people buys food at local markets or from street vendors every day. How are the vendors supposed to hand over the food without styrofoam containers

or plastic bags for soup etc etc? Water will be quite expense if there will only be glass bottles. 

[Soundspeed]

You can now buy inexpensive reuseable shopping bags which fold up to a wallet sized pack and can be easily carried around in your pocket or purse to use at the supermarket. We got into the habit of doing it. It is a good step Thailand is taking along with many other countries so get with it and make it work for yourself instead of seeking to demolish every effort the country makes.

Lead the way  or move aside.

[Nyezhov]

20 minutes ago, Naamblar2014 said:

Eliminating animal agriculture is the only ethical way to stop catastrophic climate change.  Let's see CP jump on board that one.

Let's see human beings want to bring about change, without ignoring their own responsibility for the problem and refusing to change their eating behavior in any significant way. Those that devour animal flesh or animal products can no longer hide behind the 'it's my personal choice' excuse. Your personal choice is responsible for destroying our environment. There is no planet b.

That made me want to go have a big juicy burger, and tell all my friends to have a big juicy burger too. Im doing my part to destroy the planet..... you can fry with a mouth ful of arugula, not me......

[kensisaket]

Break out the banana leaves and rubber bands.  

[samsensam]

2021... such a reactive government and so behind the curve, the issue of plastic bag use has been tackled effectively for several years in many countries, the experience, standards and clear and obvious benefits of the initiative are available NOW, why wait until 2021? as my boss old used to say JFDI (just f**king do it!)?!

[DogNo1]

Banning plastic bags seems to be a cosmetic solution at best.  What percentage of the plastic waste do the bags constitute?  Probably 10% at most.  Supplying lots of conveniently located rubbish bins and paying a cadre of garbage collectors and street cleaners to police up the plastic frequently would probably be a better solution.

 

My daughter, who shops in Seattle, won't buy any item that is not hygienically packed and that packaging usually includes plastic.   The prevention of disease and food poisoning is very important and plastic plays an important role in preventing it.  Effective collection and disposal of all used plastic items is important.  Banning plastic bags and straws is relatively unimportant.

[khunPer]

35 minutes ago, AsiaCheese said:

Precisely. As it is, lots of the "single use" plastic bags are actually re-used as garbage bags. They'll be replaced by the much thicker & sturdier black garbage bags you can buy in shops - those things are most probably lots more problematic to dispose of. Recycling them is not an option, and burning them will create lots more poisonous stuff than the current single use bags. I'm not an expert - just trying to figure that one out all the way!

Thanks, exactly my thoughts...

 

Personally, we re-use all re-usable single-use plastic bags in my house, fx. in some of the smaller garbage bins, we may instead just buy more thin single-use plastic bags in rolls for the bins.

 

Heavier bags – even paid for by a few bath – ending up in nature, or other wrong places, will probably make more damage, as they last much longer than the thing single-use bags, many of which often degenerate after not that long time.

 

And as AsiaCheesse say, burning thick plastic bags them must be more problematic than burning the thin plastic bags.

 

I have difficulty to see the thin single-use plastic bags as such a huge problem. Plastic bottles, and other more heavy plastic stuff, which contains far more plastic material, must be a bigger problem. I live by the sea, and I almost daily walk a Thai beach. After heavy rain it's amazing what comes out in the sea from the rivers, and the plastic majority is not bags, but all other kind of plastic stuff...????