PM announces plastic-bag-free campaign on World Environment Day

[Lite Beer]

PM announces plastic-bag-free campaign on World Environment Day

BANGKOK, 6 June 2015 (NNT) – Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha has marked 5 June World Environment Day with the launch of a plastic-bag-free campaign to urge Thai people to help reduce the volume of trash.

Speaking about the campaign, PM Prayut disclosed that the government would seek cooperation from shopping centers and convenience stores not to use plastic bags on the 15th day of each month, so that shoppers would adopt a habit of using cloth bags.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has introduced its 'Green Card' project to persuade buyers and operators to consume and produce more environmentally-friendly products. Holders of the cards will be given points every time they buy eco-friendly products at stores participating in the project, which they may use to get a special deal.

Gen Prayut has also asked education institutions to continue to instill in the youth awareness of trash management and environment

-- NNT 2015-06-06

[billd766]

A good start could be made at every 7/11 where EVERYTHING comes in at least 1 plastic bag and they are cheap and nasty plastic bags too.

[BigBadGeordie]

I don't know why the General goes for all the hard targets, the 80 Baht lottery, Thais not using plastic bags etc, why not go for the easy stuff like corrupion, education, economic stability, democracy etc?

[jerojero]

Is there anything this guy doesn't try to micromanage, Except education reform which is the base of the future for the country!

[Praematura]

Wow! Actually an important issue being addressed. Maybe I've got dear leader all wrong.

300,000 tons of plastic shit floating around already.

https://news.vice.com/article/nearly-300000-tons-of-plastic-is-floating-in-the-worlds-oceans

[PatOngo]

So what will the locals put on their heads now when it rains???

[coulson]

A good start could be made at every 7/11 where EVERYTHING comes in at least 1 plastic bag and they are cheap and nasty plastic bags too.

I get blank stares every time I say I can carry the 300ml bottle of water without a bag and no thanks I don't want a straw!

Education and awareness is vital, but if they want to see real effects, then look at what has been done in other Countries. I saw the streets of my home cleaned of plastic within 6 months when the government brought in a 15c levy on plastic bags.

Introduce a direct hit on everyone's pocket, in no time they suddenly become more environmentally conscious.

[brain150]

A good start could be made at every 7/11 where EVERYTHING comes in at least 1 plastic bag and they are cheap and nasty plastic bags too.

I get blank stares every time I say I can carry the 300ml bottle of water without a bag and no thanks I don't want a straw!

Education and awareness is vital, but if they want to see real effects, then look at what has been done in other Countries. I saw the streets of my home cleaned of plastic within 6 months when the government brought in a 15c levy on plastic bags.

Introduce a direct hit on everyone's pocket, in no time they suddenly become more environmentally conscious.

So you don't need a plastic bag to carry a plastic bottle because one is bad for the environment and the other is not ?

[rebelplatoon]

Ditch the plastic bag?

They already do...all over the place !!!!

[Gandtee]

So what will the locals put on their heads now when it rains???

Go back to a banana leaf?

[BuaBS]

I save all my good plastic bags and take them to Europe. (no free bags over there). So the more they give at the supermarket the better.

[Tchooptip]

A good start could be made at every 7/11 where EVERYTHING comes in at least 1 plastic bag and they are cheap and nasty plastic bags too.

Absolutely, some time I'm afraid they give me back change in plastic bag

[Ombra]

Whenever I have tried to suggest (very politely) to a cashier in a supermarket that I can get by with fewer plastic bags, they always look affronted. My wife says that my comment amounts to a judgment about the Thai way of doing things, so I no longer bother.

[Gsxrnz]

I was taking my wife's cousin on a trip once and we'd accumulated a bunch bags/wrappers/paper cups etc in the car from snacks. We stopped at a low key tourist spot - I think it was a statue or something and I used it as an excuse to stop to stretch my legs.

Cousin is asked to clean out the car. She collects everything in to 2 plastic bags, ties off the ends and then throws them into the bushes where the car is parked. True, she wasn't the first to have done the same as evidenced by several other bags of trash in the same location.

I pointed out to her there was a trash bin not 30 metres from where we were, so take our trash and the other bags and put them in the bin. The look on her face was somewhere between confused and angry. Anyway, she complied despite the fact that she thought I was totally crazy. As we drove away I explained about litter laws and that in NZ it was illegal to litter, and the law is rigidly enforced.

Later, it dawned on me as to why the hell she tied the bags off. Her answer, "stop the rubbish falling out and making a mess".

[White Christmas13]

So does that means everybody in Thailand is on hunger strike?

Every thing you buy here comes in plastic bags just go to the markets

[White Christmas13]

So does that means everybody in Thailand is on hunger strike?

Every thing you buy here comes in plastic bags just go to the markets

[Lupatria]

Tax the bags! However, the dear leader will probably get in trouble with the filthy rich family of the biggest manufacturer...

[alocacoc]

A first step should be to discard the law that every customer who buy something liquid must get a straw.

[ldiablo]

@Brain150. Plastic bottles are recyclable you idiot.

[coulson]

A good start could be made at every 7/11 where EVERYTHING comes in at least 1 plastic bag and they are cheap and nasty plastic bags too.

I get blank stares every time I say I can carry the 300ml bottle of water without a bag and no thanks I don't want a straw!

Education and awareness is vital, but if they want to see real effects, then look at what has been done in other Countries. I saw the streets of my home cleaned of plastic within 6 months when the government brought in a 15c levy on plastic bags.

Introduce a direct hit on everyone's pocket, in no time they suddenly become more environmentally conscious.

So you don't need a plastic bag to carry a plastic bottle because one is bad for the environment and the other is not ?

Who said it was a plastic bottle?

[White Christmas13]

@Brain150. Plastic bottles are recyclable you idiot.

well maybe you do not know a lot about recycling but it cost less

to make plastic bottle then recycling

[cooked]

You guys seem to have missed the point that this would be on the 15th of every month ONLY. Maybe I am being niggly but this seems, how shall I put it, absolutely POINTLESS?

Anyway one of the first things I did when I came to Thailand was to get two Tshirts printed : I don't like plastic. It reduces the struggle with brain dead cashiers a bit.

[EnglishJohn]

A good start could be made at every 7/11 where EVERYTHING comes in at least 1 plastic bag and they are cheap and nasty plastic bags too.

I get blank stares every time I say I can carry the 300ml bottle of water without a bag and no thanks I don't want a straw!

Education and awareness is vital, but if they want to see real effects, then look at what has been done in other Countries. I saw the streets of my home cleaned of plastic within 6 months when the government brought in a 15c levy on plastic bags.

Introduce a direct hit on everyone's pocket, in no time they suddenly become more environmentally conscious.

So you don't need a plastic bag to carry a plastic bottle because one is bad for the environment and the other is not ?

Another smartass TVF comment from someone with nothing better to do.

If I put a water bottle in my bin, it won't be there by the time the garbage men come : someone local will have fished it out for recycling.

[Colabamumbai]

Thais need something to put their garbage in, I do not see them buying garbage bags. For 20 years I have carried a cloth bag to do my shopping, and occasionally I do take a plastic bag also for my garbage here in Thailand.

As another poster suggested charge them, charge them 5 Baht for a plastic bag and see how few there will be.

And hand out cloth bags free.

[Praematura]

So does that means everybody in Thailand is on hunger strike?

Every thing you buy here comes in plastic bags just go to the markets

This is a Thai answer definitely. Meh, think forward instead of what's directly in front of you. I don't think I'll get a Nobel prize for this but TiT, but how about buying your own cloth bag and taking it to the market?

[coulson]

A good start could be made at every 7/11 where EVERYTHING comes in at least 1 plastic bag and they are cheap and nasty plastic bags too.

I get blank stares every time I say I can carry the 300ml bottle of water without a bag and no thanks I don't want a straw!

Education and awareness is vital, but if they want to see real effects, then look at what has been done in other Countries. I saw the streets of my home cleaned of plastic within 6 months when the government brought in a 15c levy on plastic bags.

Introduce a direct hit on everyone's pocket, in no time they suddenly become more environmentally conscious.

So you don't need a plastic bag to carry a plastic bottle because one is bad for the environment and the other is not ?

Another smartass TVF comment from someone with nothing better to do.

If I put a water bottle in my bin, it won't be there by the time the garbage men come : someone local will have fished it out for recycling.

This is exactly correct.

In China all the household trash from my apartment block was screened by the security guards every week, sorted into material groups and either sold on or re-used for domestic purposes. Junk like steel/ wood/ glass whatever it may be - one mans trash is another's gold.

[mikemac]

So what will the locals put on their heads now when it rains???

My wife and I were driving home to Chiang Mai one day along the river road south of Rimping, in the rain, and we saw a lady running up the road wearing a shower cap !

[lostmebike]

So what will the locals put on their heads now when it rains???

Or what will my t*t of a neighbour find to set ablaze now then??

[eliotness]

Tesco (and other supermarkets) in the UK sell reusable bags and give you extra points on your loyalty card if you use an old bag or a reusable one (usually cotton mix). Tesco in Thailand started selling multi-use bags (strong plastic ones, not quite the same) but my local store no longer has them on display. As I've never seen a local Thai using these bags I guess they weren't selling.

To say that the extensive use of plastic bags is part of Thai culture is really not true. Plastic only appeared post WW2 and plastic bags only really appeared when supermarkets mushroomed in every city, town and village, say from the early 60s onwards( Thailand would have been much later ). So before plastic bags flooded the market, what did Thai shoppers actually use ? As the PM wants to return to Thai traditional values, why not use this as a starter !!!!!!!

[brain150]

Isn't it interesting that people complain about plastic bags as being environmentally BAD but don't

complain about plastic bottles that are actually killing people ?

The softeners in the plastic actually go into whatever food/water is stored in them !

Proven fact that Nestle's baby food in plastic packing for microwaves had to be taken off the market

after it was found to make the babies seriously sick [pretty much uncovered from the brainwashing media]

We basically eat and drink plastic that builds up in our bodies [can be proven with urine test: results show nearly

100% of the tested persons have plastic in their urin] that will finally make us sick.

But all this is not important ... better complain about plastic bags that are just [harmful] garbage.

How stupid is this whole discussion as it completely misses the point.

NO plastic packing at all for food and education about the dangers of plastic for the people would be a good starting point.

Now you can call me an idiot or what ever you like ... it's the usual defense system of the brainwashed know-nothing folks !

Edited June 6, 2015 by brain150