Popular Post cranberry Posted March 9, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted March 9, 2015 It's another sunny day in Thailand. The birds are cheeping and the breeze gently wafts the daily tide of plastic carrier bags, iced drink cups and poly-foam food bowls down the road. Thailand is one of the world's biggest polluters with plastic waste. It blocks drains and coats coral reefs - just ask any diver. Time for a change. Formalise the recycling of waste paper and either charge for disposable plastic bags (as in Europe), encouraging re-use, or ban them completely as in Bangladesh. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Crazy chef 1 Posted March 9, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted March 9, 2015 Education...it's starts all with education though still a long way to go here... 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post opalred Posted March 9, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted March 9, 2015 it will take yrs to happen i can remember when i was young it was a 6pack to drive some where and bottles out of window in oz after 50yrs we have clean country now a small step at time my wife now gets angry to see people throw stuff out of car 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brit_Doggie Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 What have all the thai folks who hoard such waste dissapeared all of a sudden not to menton the cheap charlie farangs who i see daily rumaging through our waste bins and collecting rubbish that has oveflowed from said bins, and has subsequenly ben carried away by gusts of wind. Maybe times are changing,doubtful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post marko kok prong Posted March 9, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted March 9, 2015 Totally agree Brit,can replace with recycled paper,should be banned world wide,i mean until probably the 1970's they were almost unknown,so why the hell do we need them now. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmptyHead Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 But i love the little bags they give me with my chewing gum and cigarettes and small cartons of soy milk and small bottles of water. I really need those bags for such items. And i need a bag of Fanta too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhamBam Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Yes, education. I remember a trip out for the day. On the way back to the house in the car, about 2 miles from home, the lady with me gathered all the rubbish up bit by bit and threw it out of the window. No amount of protestation from me would get her to stop. It could all have gone in the bin at the house too! Maybe more rubbish bins everywhere would also help with keeping the levels down. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leo202 Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Those plastic bags come in handy for us when the wife sells our fish, I pop down to the local shop 3 or 4 times a day to buy a beer or a can of coke and give the dog a bit of exercise every time returning with a good quality plastic bag that can hold a good few kilo of fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDGRUEN Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Time for Thailand to establish a proper recycling / repurposing of plastic bags... Many countries - including the USA have enterprising businesses that shred millions of plastic bags weekly to make a hybrid construction product of ground up plastic bags and sawdust with epoxy to extrude 'lumber' ... boards that will last 30 years, that will not rot, will hold added coloring for years and is useful in constructing dozens of different aspects of a house or in commercial construction... In America these 'boards' are used in decking for patios, porches and for many other projects. Thailand just need to encourage this.... And no - the non wood cladding your see on housing in Thailand is not this product .. what you see is just 'boards' made from plastic - made from standard petroleum fractions. Over 10 years billions of plastic bags could be turned into construction materials... Thailand has many by products that could substitute for sawdust in the manufacturing process - such as coconut coir and other cellulosic products. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post 96tehtarp Posted March 9, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted March 9, 2015 We need education like this in Thailand. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marko kok prong Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Those plastic bags come in handy for us when the wife sells our fish, I pop down to the local shop 3 or 4 times a day to buy a beer or a can of coke and give the dog a bit of exercise every time returning with a good quality plastic bag that can hold a good few kilo of fish. Mate,that's fine,but i am sure you do not just throw away the bag,that is the problem with most Thai's they just toss rubbish left and right with no thought of the enviroment,it needs a massive education programme,but sadly the powers that be seem,along with the horrific road toll,not to deem it a problem,i mean my Gaf would be an absolute filth pit.if i were not constantly on their backs about it,they have started to come around,except the father in law,but it is too late for him,he grew up surrounded by <deleted>,so he wants to die that way too,i only hope it is soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leo202 Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Agree, point taken. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aussieroaming Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Firstly Thais need a viable alternative e.g. A good municipal waste management system that includes adequate garbage disposal options like public bins. As for places like Australia...go to a public venue after a big night and see how many people just dumped their rubbish on the ground. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post mesquite Posted March 9, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted March 9, 2015 The Thais really don't care about what we think should be done on this or any other issue. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Somtam Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Firstly Thais need a viable alternative e.g. A good municipal waste management system that includes adequate garbage disposal options like public bins. As for places like Australia...go to a public venue after a big night and see how many people just dumped their rubbish on the ground. And the next day it is all gone, otherwise there are fines for the organisation... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 (edited) Someone told me a few years ago that 7/ll alone were getting through something like 90,000,000 plastic bags a day. Now that is one big figure, 32,850,000,000 a year! I questioned those figures and personally don't think they are far off ..... but then I have never been good at maths! Edited March 9, 2015 by South Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angiolo Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Thainess,well not just Thailand,its a global problem. Lets go back to using paper bags. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post NeverSure Posted March 9, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted March 9, 2015 (edited) There isn't enough wood waste for everyone to have paper bags. Japan buys wood waste (sawdust, bark) from Canada and the US by the shipload. As UG said, that wood waste is valuable in construction and other places. I have no idea why people think that paper grows on trees, LOL. Manufacturing paper is a dirty process that uses a lot of minerals and chemicals. It's hard on the environment. The US has enough land to have tree farms solely for the purpose of growing pulp for paper, and they are profitable. These are fast growing poplars. I'll attach a pic of one in E. Oregon along the Columbia River. This is private for-profit industry, owned by a large paper manufacturing company. This is 25,000 acres - (about 60,000 rai?) Used plastic bags are valuable and are bought by recyclers to make many plastic consumer items. The problem is the Thai culture. There's no culture against litter and no culture of recycling. It takes decades to change that. Edited March 9, 2015 by NeverSure 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoutman360 Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Went shopping today at the supermarket. The staff double-bagged everything. What the...?? I've never had a single bag break, no matter how heavy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeverSure Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Went shopping today at the supermarket. The staff double-bagged everything. What the...?? I've never had a single bag break, no matter how heavy. So, you took the extra bags off and threw them into the street as you walked away, right? No? You saved them with all of your others and put them into your recycling can to be picked up on recycling day, right, LOL? Thailand lacks a culture of stopping waste and litter and doesn't know that collecting used plastics and metals is profitable and becomes a business for someone when the people get sick of litter. It's not the bags. It behavioral. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keesters Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Everybody can make a difference and be involved in the education process. When I buy from my local Tesco express it is never more than a few items that I can hold in my arms. For months now I've been telling the girls I don't want a bag and after some initial confusion they have got used to it. They see me walk out and open my plastic motorcycle box and place the stuff in their. Why do I need a plastic bag. Anyway just the other day I was there and it had a small queue at the checkout. The guy in front of me only bought smokes. The girl looked at him and asked if he wanted a bag. The Thai guy a bit taken back by it thought for a second and said no. He picked up his smokes, got his change and off he went. Have I converted 2 people. I hope so. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooked Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 I have two t-shirts with 'I don't like plastic' printed, as in 7-11 they won't understand when you try to grab your can of beer before they put it in a bag. Had a few laughs with staff about that but it is still a desperate fight to get rid of the plastic bag AND the straw. Anyway, you don't get plastic bags in Makro. You can buy what looks like a decent shopping bag at the till if you want but I never saw anyone buy one. My mum had the same shopping bag for 40 years. We unload our stuff into a small plastic bath in the boot, which finishes up on the kitchen table. Any plastic that does arrive back home gets collected, that's one Baht a kilo and there is always someone that will come and collect it, along with the cans and bottles. We give it to the Thai neighbours to get rid of. Seems easy enough to me. I know two Farangs that burn their plastic like many Thais, including school teachers and policemen do, I would be ashamed. Burning plastic does seem to have diminished in our village recently although quite a bit of it ends up in our garden. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keesters Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 (edited) I have two t-shirts with 'I don't like plastic' printed, as in 7-11 they won't understand when you try to grab your can of beer before they put it in a bag. Had a few laughs with staff about that but it is still a desperate fight to get rid of the plastic bag AND the straw. Anyway, you don't get plastic bags in Makro. You can buy what looks like a decent shopping bag at the till if you want but I never saw anyone buy one. My mum had the same shopping bag for 40 years. We unload our stuff into a small plastic bath in the boot, which finishes up on the kitchen table. Any plastic that does arrive back home gets collected, that's one Baht a kilo and there is always someone that will come and collect it, along with the cans and bottles. We give it to the Thai neighbours to get rid of. Seems easy enough to me. I know two Farangs that burn their plastic like many Thais, including school teachers and policemen do, I would be ashamed. Burning plastic does seem to have diminished in our village recently although quite a bit of it ends up in our garden. You don't really need bags at Macro as you can wheel your shopping trolley right up to the trunk of your car. When you get home how you handle it then depends on what type of accommodation, high rise, bungalow etc you have. Motorcyclists seem to come prepared and load up their stuff in used bags from other places, some cotton type bag or direct into the top box or under the seat before heading home. I've never heard anyone complain about the no bag policy so it seems to be working out OK. Other big supermarkets, Big C, Tesco and the like should follow the same procedure as it seems to be working out OK. Just imagine the difference to the environment if Thailand could stop all of Tesco's and Big C's plastic bags. Edited March 10, 2015 by Keesters 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacko45k Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 Well I doubt the little clear plastic bags and elastic bands could be dispensed with, the locals would die of starvation or thirst! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96tehtarp Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 If Rwanda can do it, why not Thailand? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96tehtarp Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 Well I doubt the little clear plastic bags and elastic bands could be dispensed with, the locals would die of starvation or thirst! True, here we even drink our Pepsi-Cola from a plastic bag, and then toss it every which way on the roadside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgemandm Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 It will never happen it would be the same as tell a thai lady to stop working in the bars you are wasting your time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonaldBattles Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 For years ago China banned plastic bags except the one purchased that are reusable. They estimated that it save them 30 million barrels of oil per year by not making them.' Thailand is bent on killing the environment and notice there is never one comment by the government. Have you ever seen a Thai bend over and pick up a scrap of paper and put it in the trash? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macksview Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 i suggested to the wife when our next holiday we take bags for shopping that we use in aus. she started smiling and chuckleing, asking her why, she pictured the look on checkout girl nong mai ruu's face when presented with bags. temple fairs, travelling markets, rubbish everywhere. education is key on this problem, it wont be quick but it could be done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maidee Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 so many basic things that are illegal in educated countries burning plastics, burning fields / forests / burning trash... education... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.png.3b3332cc2256ad0edbc2fe9404feeef0.png)
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now