Thailand Fights Addiction To Plastic Bags

[bkkjames]

I personally think 15 plastic straws for every can of Leo purchased 711 is going a bit far.

[outre99]

please don't perpetuate this fairy tail.

after living and doing business in Thailand for several years i have come to realize that this whole Greng jai is a myth or carefully orchestrated PR campaign. Most Thais are only considerate to people they know personally. there's not a iota of Greng Jai when one is driving, or walking around in a store or a market. i lost count how many times a car or a person would just stop in the middle of the road or in the only available passage with complete and utter disregard for the dozens of people/cars stuck behind them. the most telling part though is that it's not malicious, they are just not aware of what's going on around them. that is not being considerate, that's being selfish and shortsighted. and these are the same reasons why the plastic bags are such a big problem.

I've been living on the beach for the last year or so and have my own little beach concession that i try to keep clean from all the crap that the tide washes up including countless plastic bags. i understand that people like to spend their time on a clean beach so it's good for business. this simple fact apparently eludes the beach restaurants on either side of us. they only clean the space around their tables while leaving the tide line, which is literally only a couple of meters away, marked by piles of trash sitting there for days. that's not

being considerate.

every week the we get mobbed by weekend picnickers who drive by and get attracted by our nice little piece of clean beach. being in the natural park we are required to let people enjoy the beach anywhere they want. so the whole families sit down on the sand and relax. i have no problems with that. but i do take an issue with the fact that they think it's ok to leave all of their trash right there even though we have trash cans by the road, right next to their cars. that is not being considerate.

I'm convinced that 50% of traffic problems in Bangkok are due to the fact that people think they still live in a small village and can dirve, turn, or park wherever they please. the other day i saw this car making a u-turn across 4 lanes of heavy traffic rather than just drive a bit further to the traffic light. that's not being considerate either...

i can go on and on.

The point i'm making is that Thais have many great qualities but consideration is not one of them. Greng Jai might have been a cultural ideal but it is sure not a reality.

Edited June 28, 2010 by outre99

[JusMe]

I picked up a couple of book bags at Thammasat University's bookstore, and use them for my grocery shopping. A clip holding two of them together slings over the seat of my motorbike like saddlebags and I can hold lots of food, extras, including the big six litre bottles of water.

I usually use them at my local Tesco, but very rarely if ever get credited with points for them. Then again, I do believe we have a manager who's in contention for the "Worst Tesco Manager in Thailand" award. But that's another subject.

A couple of years ago, I went to the Shrewsbury International School fair and they were handing out cloth bags with every entrance fee. Sometimes toss that into the storage bin of the motorbike, too.

{Edit to attempt correction of formatting)

Edited June 28, 2010 by JusMe

[AskTheCPT]

As much as it annoyed me, in mainland China, they charge for plastic bags.... they should do so here too as they are not only annoying but have their obvious environmental concerns...<br><br>What about receipt addiction?  <br><br>For the last time, I don't need a stinkin' receipt (& straw & plastic bag) for the 14 baht can of soda i just bought @ 7<br><br>Thanks<br>

[koto]

Aloha

Now would be a great time for all that might be concerned or would like to start fixing some of the past and do a tad more walking the walk, rather then just talking the talk and bitching about the problem. Why not reach out and join the Nifty Over Fifty Club, and start doing some Waster-Sizing, Bending at the waist to pick up the Waste and not only doing yourself a favor, by exercising but also helping in the removing of the plastic, camera batteries, toxic cigarette butts and other harmful things, left behind, that is killing or making sick our Children, Sea Life, all Wild Life, along with Contaminating All of of Waterways. We allow people also under 50 to join. We here what people say, but we see what they do and seeing is believing. The Pollution Solution Group and Pattaya City Hall welcomes all, Thai and Expats, that would like to do one random act of kindness at a time, We work on the beach, which is the last stop before the ocean, also lakes, rivers, streams and creeks and stenciling storm drains is not a bad idea. If some of us would just reach out, listen to the cry of Mother Nature, Children, Wildlife and Waterways, we could start to set examples and make a difference. We are all in this neighborhood together. Please do your best to leave smiles, examples and only footprints behind.

Wishing all health, inner-wealth, self love and peace.

The Pollution Solution Group and Pattaya City Hall

http://solution2pollution.blogspot.com

With Aloha KOTO Keeper Of The Ocean

[GungaDin]

Simple solution would be that the Thai stores to start buying "biodegradable" bags and use them. Yes, they exist are being used elsewhere and in fact everywhere else it seems. They are actually made from "vegetable oil" and "plasticizers". I have been given them to me here a few times so I know they do exist here. The bags are identified by a "recyclable" label printed on it. They literally self destruct in 3-6 months with exposure to heat or UV light.

So true!

I bought a load of potting soil and compost, the unused bags disintegrated when I picked them up to use after 4-5 months.

Kudos to the gardening / nursery industry for taking the lead.

So, it can be done!

[12DrinkMore]

9 million people use 600,000 plastic bags per day? Is that not one bag per person every 15 days? A likely story.

Is that right that they weigh 1,800 tonnes every day, 600,000 plastic bags weigh 1,800 tonnes? They must be thicker and heavier than the bags we get here in Chiang Mai. Correct me if I am wrong as maths was never my strong point.

Yep, I would have though that at least two bags/person/day are handed out. The 7/11 even use two large bags, one inside the other, as "one might break" for anything heavier than a packet of peanuts.

If 600,000 bags weigh 1,000 tonnes, then they reckon each bag weighs 3 gramms. Which is a bit much. But I think the figure of 600,000 is on the low side.

[lukeskywalker]

Well, I at least get double usage out of mine. The small plastic bags (for food, 7/11, etc.) I use to pick up my dogs poo on walks, and the bigger plastic bags (Carefour, Tesco) I use again as trash bags. So that's something, And I use the bags for other things when I need them. But I avoid bags when I can stick the product in my motorbike or in my pockets and I never take a straw, just say "mai ou".

And it's so ironic, things already in bags (e.g. potato chips) get put into another bag upon check-out. But at Tesco, I've tried to say no bag for small things but they still do, apparently it lets security know that you've paid for it.

[Token]

Because plastic bags are used in so many different ways these days, not only supermarket bags, the only solution is to tax non-degradeable plastic bags and make biodegradeable ones much cheaper - maybe even use the tax to do this, although after a while there won't be much tax income generated by it. Banning them, fining users or public education campagns won't work in Thailand - only higher costs will win the day, provided there are cheaper and better substitutes.

[hjvdhoef]

<img src="http://static.thaivisa.com/forum/public/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif" alt="" class="bbc_emoticon"> I use always plastic bags.It's good for the economy.<img src="http://static.thaivisa.com/forum/public/style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif" alt="" class="bbc_emoticon">

[bkkjames]

I think they should put big warning labels on them.

"This Product is Harmful to the Environment" 

[Hyponeros]

In Phuket there is a "No Plastic bag" going on but as for so many things in Thailand, it is just talking!

Every time we leave Tesco without any plastic bag we are scrutinized by the security to make sure we didn't steal anything! So they are saying we should not use plastic bags but they want us to keep using them so they can see we don't steal? Sometimes I have to repeat 2-3 times to the cashier that I don't want any bags before she stops giving them!

After all, why should Thailand try to learn from other countries? They are soooo perfect and don't need anybody!

[GungaDin]

<img src="http://static.thaivisa.com/forum/public/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif" alt="" class="bbc_emoticon"> I use always plastic bags.It's good for the economy.<img src="http://static.thaivisa.com/forum/public/style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif" alt="" class="bbc_emoticon">

Great post!

&lt;deleted&gt; happened?

What were you trying to say?

[OzMick]

9 million people use 600,000 plastic bags per day? Is that not one bag per person every 15 days? A likely story.

Is that right that they weigh 1,800 tonnes every day, 600,000 plastic bags weigh 1,800 tonnes? They must be thicker and heavier than the bags we get here in Chiang Mai. Correct me if I am wrong as maths was never my strong point.

Yep, I would have though that at least two bags/person/day are handed out. The 7/11 even use two large bags, one inside the other, as "one might break" for anything heavier than a packet of peanuts.

If 600,000 bags weigh 1,000 tonnes, then they reckon each bag weighs 3 gramms. Which is a bit much. But I think the figure of 600,000 is on the low side.

What is this, Maths for retards? If 600,000 bags weigh 1,000 tonnes, then 600 bags weighs 1 tonne= 1,000 kg = 1,000,000g. Each bag weighs 1666g or 1.666kg, which is simply ridiculous. 1.66g I might accept!

[GungaDin]

I think they should put big warning labels on them.

"This Product Bag is Harmful to the Environment" 

Good idea & easily done at the point of manufacture.

In English & Thai.

[bkkjames]

Looking at this HK tax levy article below is interesting  - especially the total number of bags that were used per day in HK. One might think that Bangkok's numbers of bags used daily would be similar no? 

Perhaps they only counted hi-so bags?

Shoppers in Hong Kong face plastic-bag tax to cut waste mountain

Jul 6, 2009, 2:38 GMT

Hong Kong - Shoppers in Hong Kong were Monday preparing for a plastic bag tax aimed at cutting the city's daily mountain of waste.

A tax of 50 Hong Kong cents (6 US cents) will be levied from Tuesday in a total of around 2,000 shops, including every major supermarket.

Littering is a major problem in the former British colony, a densely populated city of 7 million which has one of the world's largest per capita carbon footprints.

Around 30 million plastic bags a day are thrown away in Hong Kong - more than four per person - accounting for some 6 per cent of the 17,500 tons of rubbish sent to the city's landfill sites every day.

Previous voluntary attempts to introduce charges on plastic bags in supermarkets have flopped, with one chain dropping a pilot scheme because of fierce opposition from customers.

However, the city's environment secretary Edward Yau said he believed people in Hong Kong now understood the need for the charge and were ready for it.

'More and more people already bring their own shopping bags and use fewer plastic shopping bags as they know more about the importance of the environment to the future of Hong Kong,' Yau said.

[Mitker]

<br>

<br>I take my own cloth bags to Tesco, Carrefour, etc.  They look at me like I'm crazy!  And it's hard to tell the clerks at 7/11, etc., that you don't want a plastic bag.  It's only a can of coke!  I don't need a bag for it.<br><br>My wife says it's a Thai thing...they feel if they don't get a bag, they are getting ripped off...go figure...<br>

<br><br>Did you make yours or did you purchase them somewhere? I've been wanting large cloth bags to do the same but have been unable to find any of quality around here.<br>

<br><br>A simple way is to bring back of few of them next time you travel to the west. Most supermarket and large outlets (like Ikea) provide light, strong, lasting ones. I have now 15 of them I use here (home, work...).<br>

[JetsetBkk]

A lot of the problems with plastic bags being dumped in the streets and rivers (khlongs et al) is lack of education to the Thai populace. <snip>

Bingo!

I too have seen school kids throw away their finished coke cup, straw and bag from the back of the moto-cy being driven by their mum.

I saw a huge bag of rubbish being thrown out of a songthaew aimed at a klong that the bus was going over, but it fell short into the street. This was in the middle of Phuket town.

It's this attitude you need to get rid of, not plastic bags.

Education, education, education.

[craigt3365]

Looking at this HK tax levy article below is interesting  - especially the total number of bags that were used per day in HK. One might think that Bangkok's numbers of bags used daily would be similar no? 

Perhaps they only counted hi-so bags?

Shoppers in Hong Kong face plastic-bag tax to cut waste mountain

Jul 6, 2009, 2:38 GMT

Hong Kong - Shoppers in Hong Kong were Monday preparing for a plastic bag tax aimed at cutting the city's daily mountain of waste.

A tax of 50 Hong Kong cents (6 US cents) will be levied from Tuesday in a total of around 2,000 shops, including every major supermarket.

Littering is a major problem in the former British colony, a densely populated city of 7 million which has one of the world's largest per capita carbon footprints.

Around 30 million plastic bags a day are thrown away in Hong Kong - more than four per person - accounting for some 6 per cent of the 17,500 tons of rubbish sent to the city's landfill sites every day.

Previous voluntary attempts to introduce charges on plastic bags in supermarkets have flopped, with one chain dropping a pilot scheme because of fierce opposition from customers.

However, the city's environment secretary Edward Yau said he believed people in Hong Kong now understood the need for the charge and were ready for it.

'More and more people already bring their own shopping bags and use fewer plastic shopping bags as they know more about the importance of the environment to the future of Hong Kong,' Yau said.

Fantastic. They tried to do this in the US, but too much opposition...probably from the bag makers! Too bad...

[Krishnamayi]

I lived in a small Indian town for almost 9 years, and I never used plastic bags. I was able to purchase all of my food items in bulk, such as sugar, flour and rice, and had small cotton bags with drawstrings sewn for this purpose. The vendors would always weigh my bags prior to filling them, so they weren't ripping me off for a half a gram or whatever they weighed!

In Bangkok, I always take my own bags to stores. Sometimes the cashier thanks me for putting my things in my own bag. Once someone said to me when they realized why I was using my own bags "Oh! Happy earth!"

I purchased a canvas bag with strong canvas straps at Big C. The section where they have purses have a small selection of canvas bags. In addition to this I keep a small cotton bag always tucked into my purse for "spontaneous purchases."

[Thailand]

Same, we have used our own cloth bags for over 16 years in various countries. Every little helps but we are definitely the oddities amongst the masses.

Could simply charge for plastic bags as they did in HK and now China, that tends to make people think more-maybe!

No oddity. Charging for plastic bags is common use in a lot of countries. Where I'm from they charge Euro 0.25 - 0.50 for a mutli-useable plastic bag, up to Euro 1 for a so called "big shopper". A shopping bag with reinforced textile.

Especially in the Western European countries, there's deposits on glass bottles, alu cans, pvc bottles.

There are a lot of ways to control the flood-of-waste.

Regarding Thailand: Next step should be the polystyreen food-containers.

Read it again and you will see I was referring to us as being the oddities because we were using our own environmentally cloth bags as opposed to -well, nobody else using anything but the plastic bags provided-everywhere for every item!

[sneary7]

I was in Family Mart yesterday and the poor lady at the counter was so sad when she charged me 1 baht for the plastic bag...She pointed at a sign (in Thai) that I assume said that they are charging for plastic bags. I wasn't upset and I was glad they are doing something...Of course there are three 7-11's within eye shot, so the poor Family Mart will get no business. <br>

[kissdani]

TVF has a new topic to talk bad about Thai people.

Blame the Farang. Where plastic bags and soft drinks came from? Not so long time ago there where no plastic bags and no polystyreen food-containers. Food was packed in banana leaves.

There is a lot of recycling going on for all kinds of material. And believe it or not many plastic products in Thailand are made of biodegradable plastic.

[chonak]

My wife says it's a Thai thing...

God I hate it when people say that "Oh, it's a Thai thing", corruption - "its a Thai thing", lateness, "its a Thai thing" or, my personal favorite, Greng jai (being considerate) "its a Thai thing" - as if no other nation has the concept of being considerate towards other people - 555555

:-)

couldnt agree more, its thai thing to stop me on my motorbike everyweek for 200bht just for the pleasure, bless em:jap:

[Rogerde]

Its not an addiction is because most of the population are poor, the drink in a bag thing is not because they want a bag it’s because they want a drink and most of the population cannot afford to buy the whole bottle.

It annoys me when I go into a supermarket and spend equivalent of £30.00 and they have the cheek to charge you 1p. Ok I don’t want a plastic bag its not good for the Earth, but there is such a thing as paper – yer right it’s from trees – so I’m wrong for that as well. But there is a basic need to put my things in something to carry home and not everyone has to opportunity to have a cloth bag on them all the time.

It’s the accountants that lead the march for charging for bags not the save the earth mob (I’m one of those). Veggy bags are the way to go and they should be free and not chargeable, everything is so dear they should not charge for the bags as well. Its just another ways to squeeze more money from you.

[sirchai]

I take my own cloth bags to Tesco, Carrefour, etc. They look at me like I'm crazy! And it's hard to tell the clerks at 7/11, etc., that you don't want a plastic bag. It's only a can of coke! I don't need a bag for it.

My wife says it's a Thai thing...they feel if they don't get a bag, they are getting ripped off...go figure...

Always the same scenario at the 7/11.I always tell them that their country is already full of plastic and plastic people)-=./ Mee au Saitung, Mueng Thai mee plastic maak leo......

Edited June 28, 2010 by sirchai

[bkkjames]

TVF has a new topic to talk bad about Thai people.

Blame the Farang. Where plastic bags and soft drinks came from? Not so long time ago there where no plastic bags and no polystyreen food-containers. Food was packed in banana leaves.

There is a lot of recycling going on for all kinds of material. And believe it or not many plastic products in Thailand are made of biodegradable plastic.

your post is typical xenophobia.

you sound like the taliban leader with 5 mobile phones. 

[anon467367354]

My wife says it's a Thai thing...

God I hate it when people say that "Oh, it's a Thai thing", corruption - "its a Thai thing", lateness, "its a Thai thing" or, my personal favorite, Greng jai (being considerate) "its a Thai thing" - as if no other nation has the concept of being considerate towards other people - 555555

:-)

it is a Thai thing. I have a friend that sells magazines newspapers etc, she said, it adds value, the Thai people want that free bag, and she is Thai. It's a Thai thing, some things are.

[Scorpio1949]

And then in this tread between the reactions an ad via adwords from Google .................................. from a wholeseller for PLASTIC BAGS !!!!!!!!!!!

Edited June 28, 2010 by MeindertB

[Thai at Heart]

Every year, roll out the old story about "Making sure that Thai people learn/try/endeavour/wish/want to........."

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!