Not fair! Public ripped off by big business in plastic bag ban - prices should be lowered

 

Picture: MThai

 

A leading advocate of customers' rights has complained about department stores and convenience stores taking advantage of the public regarding the plastic bag ban that came in on January 1st. 

 

Srisuwan Janya has accused retailers of violating consumers' rights by not providing sustainable alternatives to plastic bags. 

 

He told the Office of the Consumer Protection Board in Chaeng Wattana yesterday that the public are being taken for a ride. 

 

Big business is saving money but they are giving nothing in return, said the activist.

 

Srisuwan suggested that the consumer should expect lower prices for having to provide items to carry their shopping themselves. 

 

He asked OCPB secretary Pratheep Charoenkan to use 1979 legislation to force retailers to provide sustainable alternatives to the consumer. 

 

Source: MThai

 

 

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Unreasonable claim. The bags cost a few satang and most of the companies had already pledged any savings to green activity. I saw the same complaints in western  countries where bags were withdrawn: they were dismissed outright there  as well.

argh a dose of karma in the morning☕

 

stop bickering! buy the dam bags!!

 

i got nothing for losing everything i have in thailand with no consumer protection agency guna back me up any time soon and its a lot more than the cost of bags...

What you bickerers get is a better cleaner enviroment and if you dont like it put a bag over your head and save us all.

Life is not fair, get used to it.

Why must I carry bags everywhere just because someone believes that a plastic bag ban may save the planet?

12 minutes ago, Andrew23 said:

Why must I carry bags everywhere just because someone believes that a plastic bag ban may save the planet?

You don't have to carry bags, just get on the interenet and order all you need - they will deliver to you.

 

Simple, next ?

22 minutes ago, Andrew23 said:

Why must I carry bags everywhere just because someone believes that a plastic bag ban may save the planet?

 

Yes Newbie.

 

Welcome to. the Thunderdome.

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Not fair! Public ripped off by big business in plastic bag ban - prices should be lowered

Welcome to Thailand!

 

Oh!  You live here!  Then, welcome to farangland.

The baht has appreciated by 20-25% against some currencies and yet the price of imported goods from those countries hasn't moved - this guy thinks big Thai companies really give a <deleted>? The same companies that back the ruling junta - that's all you need to know about crony capitalism in the LoS. 

2 hours ago, canopus1969 said:

You don't have to carry bags, just get on the interenet and order all you need - they will deliver to you.

 

Simple, next ?

In plastic bags - got 9 green plastic bags with last Tesco order.  I did not have to carry any bags but there did not seem to be any net decrease for plastic use.

2 hours ago, Andrew23 said:

Why must I carry bags everywhere just because someone believes that a plastic bag ban may save the planet?

And how can the garbage truck get our trash if i don't buy binbags first? Untill now i used the bags from the shops.

2 hours ago, Andrew23 said:

Why must I carry bags everywhere just because someone believes that a plastic bag ban may save the planet?

You don't have to carry bags everywhere nor does the shop HAVE to give you bags to take your shopping away.

If the shop won't give you bags they may try to sell you reusable bags. Alternatively use a different shop that will give you "free" bags.

 

Despite that, Srisuwan Janya has accused retailers of violating consumers' rights by not providing sustainable alternatives to plastic bags. There is no entitlement for the shop to give you bags and there never was.

6 minutes ago, fruitman said:

And how can the garbage truck get our trash if i don't buy bin bags first? Until now i used the bags from the shops.

I guess that you will have to buy bin bags like many of us do or go without. Whichever way the problem is yours.

So, Khun Srisuwan Janya has to get his photo in the news again....does n't he have anything else to do ?

 

Srisuwan suggested that the consumer should expect lower prices for having to provide items to carry their shopping themselves. 

 

Lets see, the bags cost less than 50 satang each for a small order on lazada, so the big retailers possibly pay 10-20 satang when buying millions.

Lets say each 20 satang bag holds 5 items, that makes 4 satang per item in the bag. what's an average sized shop ...20 items ? So the total bill should be reduced by 80 satang !! Oh wow, what a difference that would make !

3 hours ago, Andrew23 said:

Why must I carry bags everywhere just because someone believes that a plastic bag ban may save the planet?

Please advise where it was said that a “plastic bag ban may save the planet”. 

 

I have never ever heard or read this. A ban will help but this one step alone is not expected to “save the planet”. 

 

Just get with the program. It’s easy. 

3 hours ago, Andrew23 said:

Why must I carry bags everywhere just because someone believes that a plastic bag ban may save the planet?

How you ever wondered why almost everything is made of plastic, you don't care, oh ok then.

 

Have you asked yourself where the plastic ends up, don't care, oh ok then.

 

Next time your coughing or feeling a little ill because the plastic ended up in that fish you ate, you might realise then what a lot of the fuss is about, still don't care, oh ok then.

 

Maybe then the next time you take a breathe, it might just be of particulate matter PM2.5 which has no smell, it's invisible, naked to the eye and is small enough to go through your bloodstream into your to your lungs, it's pretty much everywhere, and guess where it comes from amongst other places, perhaps from everyone burning plastic, yep and guess who needs to breath in clear fresh air with no particulate matter, maybe this is why everyone's longevity is threatened with around 9 million plus lives taken annually from PM2.5 related illnesses.

 

As convenient as it maybe from the day plastic was introduced to us, we cannot get rid of it without poisoning ourselves and the planet, not a great place to be wanting to raise kids in, i.e. unless we all start to undo what the big companies did, and buy less plastic.

 

I understand change is hard, and ignorance is bliss, but the ship is taking water so to speak and I am doing my part to plug the leak before it takes us down.

People will buy less products and plastic bags will be back. yet another campaign set to fail. give it a few months

30 minutes ago, billd766 said:

There is no entitlement for the shop to give you bags and there never was.

If we were not expecting such service we would likely be buying at the cheaper Makro places.  Supermarkets pride themselves in tempting us to buy more than we plan and they should have the provision to allow us easy travel with these extra goods.  They have been doing so for 100 years and now they should not?  

I agree, it is a ripoff. Makro sells bags for 99b...yep, plastic bag.

10 minutes ago, Somtamnication said:

I agree, it is a ripoff. Makro sells bags for 99b...yep, plastic bag.

My 5 cloth bags that I bought from Makro were about 29 baht each last year.

"Srisuwan Janya has accused retailers of violating consumers' rights by not providing sustainable alternatives to plastic bags."

 

True, there are biodegradable alternatives, unfortunately literally everything you might buy at 7-11 is shrouded in disposable plastic. But hey TIT..

i see where he's coming from. many cities in the philippines have banned the use of plastic bags (except for food and wet items) several years ago. instead of plastic bags, shoppers are given paper bags and/or carton boxes for their items. of course, shoppers are encouraged to bring their own.

49 minutes ago, MasterBaker said:

People will buy less products and plastic bags will be back. yet another campaign set to fail. give it a few months

This believe this might be true. As I carry all my shopping by motorcycle I have already cut back on the amount I buy from any particular shop. Yes, I bring my own bags, but the cloth bags are not so easy to carry a shopping cart full of groceries. At the moment, while I still have stock, I bring old plastic bags.

 

The winners are the shop tellers. They don't do so much packing now.

 

7Eleven had plain (blank) placti bags on offer this last week. Foodland offered them for 1 baht each. I said, no problem, but the charge did not appear on my receipt.

15 minutes ago, tropo said:

This believe this might be true. As I carry all my shopping by motorcycle I have already cut back on the amount I buy from any particular shop. Yes, I bring my own bags, but the cloth bags are not so easy to carry a shopping cart full of groceries. At the moment, while I still have stock, I bring old plastic bags.

 

The winners are the shop tellers. They don't do so much packing now.

 

7Eleven had plain (blank) placti bags on offer this last week. Foodland offered them for 1 baht each. I said, no problem, but the charge did not appear on my receipt.

I'm sure there's some logic in there somewhere, but I cannot find it ....the cloth bags are usually bigger and stronger than the plastic ones, so you don't need quite as many. Therefore it should be easier to carry them on your motorbike, I certainly don't have a problem on my scooter with my green bags.

 

And I've never had a problem with the checkout staff not packing my stuff either, even long before this ban came in. I put my basket or shopping on the counter, put my bags on top, the checkout staff take the bag and fill it. No problem at 7/11, tesco, or Big C,  either now or couple of years ago.

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Srisuwan suggested that the consumer should expect lower prices for having to provide items to carry their shopping themselves

Did it ever occur to you that plastic bags are a gift?

1 hour ago, fruitman said:

And how can the garbage truck get our trash if i don't buy binbags first? Untill now i used the bags from the shops.

And where  do you put the  bags? In a bin? Every bag our local rubbish collectors pick up get ripped open on the way into the back of the truck. Now I just put non recycleables straight into the bin from a bucket.

My 711 has them under the counter now. They kind of whisper if you want a bag, give you a little nudge and a wink, look both ways and then quickly hand you one before ushering you away.

 

Reminded me of buying weed from the local dealer at school ????.

53 minutes ago, MikeN said:

I'm sure there's some logic in there somewhere, but I cannot find it ....the cloth bags are usually bigger and stronger than the plastic ones, so you don't need quite as many. Therefore it should be easier to carry them on your motorbike, I certainly don't have a problem on my scooter with my green bags.

 

And I've never had a problem with the checkout staff not packing my stuff either, even long before this ban came in. I put my basket or shopping on the counter, put my bags on top, the checkout staff take the bag and fill it. No problem at 7/11, tesco, or Big C,  either now or couple of years ago.

It would probably depend on the motorcycle in question and the size of the hooks. For me, the old plastic bags are way easier as you can hang a lot more on one small hook, and big cloth bags hand too low off the sides.

 

There's no problem with packing, just that if you observe the checkouts now, you'll see most people packing their own items into their boxes and bags. They most definitely have less work to do. I don't see why you're comparing the situation now with with before the plastic ban came in.... where is the logic in that. Previously the staff did 100% of the packing.

2 hours ago, tropo said:

The winners are the shop tellers. They don't do so much packing now.

I've been using my own bags for a couple of years now.  I've never had a problem with packing.  The cashier always packs it for me.

3 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

Next time your coughing or feeling a little ill because the plastic ended up in that fish you ate, you might realise then what a lot of the fuss is about, still don't care, oh ok then.

 

I have more probability to die from an alien invasion than get sick from a fish polluted with plastic from a 7/11 bag. So, it would be more rational to stop using our TV and phone because its waves emission may uncover our presence on the Earth to aliens.