Thailand big contributor to plastic trash on ocean floors

[lvr181]

BAN plastic bags for starters. Trigger-happy 7-11 is a major contributor. Would you like that bag of chips and bottle of water double-bagged and a couple of straws to go, sir.

A few years ago 7/11 announced with pomp and ceremony it would no longer issue plastic bags. I believe that lasted just one day. The only other outlet which has stuck rigidly to not packing plastic bags is just one Tesco outlet in my main soi. However, every other Tesco outlet packs double. No consistency, much like their stupid banking system.

I had noticed a huge increase in plastic bags floating in the otherwise pristine (no tourists) sea in Rawai Phuket. I do find it odd that Thailand, an innovator in eco friendly packaging in the form of sugar cane bi products, are still unable to replace the mountain of plastic here.

Sorry to say but it is always consistent! We talk about it (keep Thai peoples happy) but we not do anything! So sad really. Foreigner/farang see what is happening but Thai people cannot or will not.

[Basil B]

Lets get the headline correct

Thailand Thai's big contributor to plastic trash on ocean floors

[gawaterman]

Walk around most cities and try to find a bin in which to deposit ones rubbish, almost imposible.

Exactly, spent hours in shopping malls /markets/ streets with an empty plastic bag/bottle trying to find a bin to put it in. No wonder there is so much of it lying around, Thais dont have the patience I do to wait for a bin to appear.

[Gandtee]

There are bins near my house but litter is just discarded onto the grass verge in front of my house. Even used babies diapers. Over the years I have tried to lead by example and made a show of collecting the rubbish and placing it into the bin. Neighbours just looked and smiled, although I don't blame them for the problem. But as the Thai saying goes, my efforts were like 'Playing the violin to the buffalo'. I now ignore it and just feel sorry for the future generation who will exist under a mountain of filth. Thank goodness I wont be around to see it.

[Gandtee]

Perhaps the government should have a National clean up day.

[oneday]

In the country side, people burn their plastic, releasing toxic fumes for all to ingest. Worse is, the public trash collectors haul off the the non-recyclable plastics and burn them in huge piles. Look for black smoke on the horizon, take a whiff. It's not always morning fog or dew in the air. Best part, local authorities do nothing. Oh...and yes, it's cancer causing.

This is one of the most disgusting things for me about Thailand. I live in the heart of Pattaya and some people living close to us think they are still out in the boonies with no garbage pickup and burn everything. It is the most disgusting smell I've ever had the displeasure of smelling. I can understand a little when there is no centralized garbage pickup as is the case in much of Thailand, but to do it in the heart of a major city is shear ignorance on a massive scale. This country is still steeped in 3rd world thinking while having a facade of a 1st world country.

We are almost finished building a house in the boonies in Issan and I told my wife we would not be burning any plastic or anything else you should not burn. I said we would have 3 garbage cans; bottles and stuff the recyclers will come by and pickup, plastics and other nonburnable stuff and then burnable stuff. I said every time we go to town we will take the nonburnable garbage and drop it in a city garbage can.

A truly ignorant and disgusting practice caused by a lack of governmental education and a government that does not provide basic services to all citizens.

[Mcffee]

Too bad so many thais are not true Buddhists but only think they are ...

Exactly and that's one of the backbone issues of Thailand.

[MrBrad]

Perhaps the government should have a National clean up day.

Weekly.

[lonewolf99]

I am in China right now at the mouth of the Pearl River. The level of plastic and polystyrene is jaw dropping.

The supermarkets here charge for plastic bags. So I doubt if that is the solution.

The locals here do not even break stride when they drop crap at their <deleted>.

99.9% of chinese males smoke and drop butts everywhere whilst spitting fried egg size lumps of green phlegm all over the place.

Ban plastic bags and also polystyrene food boxes. Cardboard would be better. Good old British Fish and Chips came in newspaper. Totally bio-degradable. We were way ahead of ourselves in those days.

I have also worked in West Africa and you aint seen rubbish until you see an African storm drain flood and push that kind of crap into the sea.

The African way to dump local garbage is to put it in 20 foot metal skips and set it alight. Then the kids climb in to try and retrieve anything they might find useful when it is still smouldering pungent toxic fumes.

The planet is wrecked. But they still have massive moratoriums about global warming. Lets get back to basics. This is not warming it is plain simple pollution on a massive scale that has got out of hand.

A previous post on this thread hit the nail on the head. All the worst nations have their heads screwed on backwards and believe fervently they are going to a better place when they snuff it. But why oh why wreck the only real place we have now with their pig ignorant behaviour?

How many of us still remember beig told to tidy up our bedrooms when we were kids. Well....

We ALL have to tidy up our place first, coz Mama Earth is not going to do it her self.

But nothing is going to change soon unless a global pandemic gets a hold and eliminates the vast majority of us. Otherwise, the planets is heading for total ruin.

The end is nigh..................................and it comes in a plastic bag.

[MaiChai]

Must admit UK beaches are much cleaner than Thai ones. Which begs the question: why do Brits come here for a beach holidays?

[DLock]

Must admit UK beaches are much cleaner than Thai ones. Which begs the question: why do Brits come here for a beach holidays?

Funny you say that.

My parents just updated their Facebook with pictures of the beaches they are vacationing at on the southern NSW coast - Merimbula area.

Beautiful pristine sand and water, very few people on the beach and wonderful weather. Water's probably a lot cooler, but they rarely go in the water.

I asked them exactly that...why come to Thailand for the beaches. They are not a patch on any average Australian beach.

I guess it's a combination of the weather, food, people, nightlife and freedom to do stuff they don't do back home...but many of my friends and family are no longer coming to Thailand. Expensive, dirty, dangerous and the people have changed for the worse.

...but they love Chiang Mai.

[louse1953]

A few years ago I sailed across the Atlantic from Cape Verde to the Caribbean - it took 22 days at sea without seeing another boat, ship or aeroplane.

And yet, not just every day but all the time, we passed plastic bags and other floating plastic debris. It was truly shocking to see.

Plastic and other waste does not just sit out of sight on the sea bed - much of it is highly visible. The damage it does to sealife is immeasurable.

IMHO, they should ban plastic bags altogether and make all packaging bio-degradeable.

Wishful thinking I know but if we don't do something soon we will drown in a sea of plastic, along with all the other species we are killing off.

No probs with plastic out my way,we just burn it.

[michael888]

Living in the dirtiest city in the Kingdom, it is clear to see the reason for so much plastic finding its way into the sea. They have run out of clear land space to dump it. Also the typical Thai attitude of, 'Not on my land', so it is thrown over the wall. Walk around most cities and try to find a bin in which to deposit ones rubbish, almost imposible.

true, and 0 recycling also....i have talked to many long time residents of bangkok and they say: even if they separate into - glass, plastic , paper.....the garbage men just throw it into the same area in the truck....there is absolutl;ey no recycling in this country, its an absolute disgrace

[rotorbreeze]

Plastic...yes Thai's use it..some package items in store only once outside now find the bin..already full of plastic...straws, plastic spoons one for every item..as you know no use educating the Thai's or give them any insight on logic...no..Thainess..we as foreigners must to fit in some like myself, bring along my Environmental made cotton shopping bag...oh yes Vancouver Canucks logo on side...and reduce the plastic bags that some how reproduce themselves in my kitchen..I now have control on my plastic consumption...I also separate my waste.. glass, plastic, and paper cardboard into a large PLASTIC bag..again plastic..I make the separation for garbage men easy..I see them balancing in waste deep garbage separating tins and used Teddy Bears, the bears are side ornaments, along with other items that can be recycled. You see just keep your own self aware on use of plastics..no use changing the world..it starts with me first let the rest follow..

[Dumu Ali]

so sad letting nemo eat all that plastic nemo also said that Thai sea has billions of second hand condoms floating in the ocean and they dont make the best fish food

Enjoy your Fish and Chips - when you see fish on your plate remember those billions of condoms as fish food

[Friendly Stranger]

BAN plastic bags for starters. Trigger-happy 7-11 is a major contributor. Would you like that bag of chips and bottle of water double-bagged and a couple of straws to go, sir.

What. No more soda in a bag!

[Stargeezr]

Besides all of the garbage along the coast lines, there is a huge amount of it out

in the oceans. Why don't the countries around the world, combine their money and

send a few ocean factories to those areas and clean the whole mess up. I forgot

that it would take lots of money for only a little return of, lets say, Cleaner oceans!

I read of people in boats sailing by and seeing this garbage, but do any of them

pick any of it up, or just toss out their stuff overboard to join the garbage that they see.

It does not matter who is the biggest contributor, but it does matter that not one of the countries

in the world will try to get rid of the problem. I guess we are all part of the problem!

We are all Enablers, and that is the real shame.

[SoFarAndNear]

Don't forget the trainloads of plastic rubbish they buy for monks to receive blessings they need for 'good luck', and the huge pollution caused once a year by kratongs carrying plastic flowers and shit that end up in all the rivers.

A true Buddhist does not pollute the earth.

Our condo on the chaopraya river provides krathongs for all residents but it's made of coconut shells, leaves and flowers. I did notice a few staples being used to hold it together, no plastic though.

I am also confused. I only know that these kratongs are made of some kind of wooden plate and wrapped with real leafes and real flowers, this is at least how we buy it for years. You also can buy so kind of bread kratongs which turns into fish food...

[Cake Monster]

This statement comes as no surprise to anybody that lives here.

Its a bit like the analogy " when the ashtray is full up, please feel free to use the floor "

[Mcffee]

Don't forget the trainloads of plastic rubbish they buy for monks to receive blessings they need for 'good luck', and the huge pollution caused once a year by kratongs carrying plastic flowers and shit that end up in all the rivers.

A true Buddhist does not pollute the earth.

Our condo on the chaopraya river provides krathongs for all residents but it's made of coconut shells, leaves and flowers. I did notice a few staples being used to hold it together, no plastic though.

I am also confused. I only know that these kratongs are made of some kind of wooden plate and wrapped with real leafes and real flowers, this is at least how we buy it for years. You also can buy so kind of bread kratongs which turns into fish food...

It's not wood but a slice of a palmtree, most 'commercial' krathongs for sale on markets have plastic Lily-of-the-valleys and other plastic decorations on it. The fish food krathings sound nice.

[Thian]

Thai fishermen litterally throw their foam floaters all over the beach, i have seen it on several spots. Why they don't get fined for that? Oh yeah, this is Thailand, foreigners must have done it.

[Gandtee]

Living in the dirtiest city in the Kingdom, it is clear to see the reason for so much plastic finding its way into the sea. They have run out of clear land space to dump it. Also the typical Thai attitude of, 'Not on my land', so it is thrown over the wall. Walk around most cities and try to find a bin in which to deposit ones rubbish, almost imposible.

true, and 0 recycling also....i have talked to many long time residents of bangkok and they say: even if they separate into - glass, plastic , paper.....the garbage men just throw it into the same area in the truck....there is absolutl;ey no recycling in this country, its an absolute disgrace

Not true! My wife separates our rubbish and takes it to the local rubbish collection yard and sells it. Just for a few baht, but if every household did the same it would make a difference. I do my bit by supplying her with as many bottles as I can handle

[regfrancis]

Africa is not so bad..YET

. The average income in Tanzania is only 10% as much as Thailand. They cant afford to dump millions of tons of plastic in the oceans..YET

Population looks like going from ONE billion to FOUR billion in Africa - on current attitudes and education levels

The Alarming part is that young people don't know or care about the problem (of extreme pollution and damage to the essential Eco systems)