Charging for plastic bags in Thailand?

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hhinner
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Re: Charging for plastic bags in Thailand?

Post by hhinner »

Big Boy wrote:I would love to take my own bags into Tesco, but it isn't allowed - you have to leave them at customer service.

As for the rest of it, I have tried, but I'm considered a trouble maker if I do - I think I'm at the Stage 4 of Cultural Shock in this matter.
We take our cloth bags into Tesco all the time with no problem. How else could you get club card points for not taking their plastic bags?
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Re: Charging for plastic bags in Thailand?

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Stopped once - will never try again.
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Re: Charging for plastic bags in Thailand?

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Thais have a love affair with plastic bags, they can't live without them, damn they even get their soup from road stalls in plastic bags. They are all over the place, this must be the most plastic bag and plastic bottle polluted country I have ever been to. The Thai government has no will to make changes so it will not change.

I am presently in Uganda, an extremely poor country. Plastic bags were banned years ago and the place is clean unlike Thailand
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Re: Charging for plastic bags in Thailand?

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I havea cloth shopping bag, I take it into TESCO whenever I remember, thats most of the time. It is folded and in my hand and I go in thru the turnstyles. I have never been stopped and the cashiers often make positive remarks or nod approvingly.In 7/11 as they reach for the bag I just shake my head and make a wave away signal. But even if all wefarang did that the impact would be small.
In other countries when the govt takes action there is usually a feeling that this is a good measure and it becomes socially unacceptable to buy bags--never happen here.
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Re: Charging for plastic bags in Thailand?

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Big Boy wrote:Stopped once - will never try again.
This from the man who still hasn't given up on Hua Hin FC? :)
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Re: Charging for plastic bags in Thailand?

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Have you read yesterday's post on that thread :cry: ?
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hhinner
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Re: Charging for plastic bags in Thailand?

Post by hhinner »

StevePIraq wrote:Thais have a love affair with plastic bags, they can't live without them, damn they even get their soup from road stalls in plastic bags. They are all over the place, this must be the most plastic bag and plastic bottle polluted country I have ever been to. The Thai government has no will to make changes so it will not change.

I am presently in Uganda, an extremely poor country. Plastic bags were banned years ago and the place is clean unlike Thailand
The plastics industry here is pretty big I guess, and banning plastic shopping bags (or even just discouraging them) would probably hit some influential person's source of wealth.

And why are cloth bags so expensive here? The same bags I bought in Australian supermarkets for AU$1 (3 years ago) cost 100 baht here.
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Re: Charging for plastic bags in Thailand?

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Big Boy wrote:Have you read yesterday's post on that thread :cry: ?
Yes. You're considering giving up on away games. So not totally over it yet.
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Re: Charging for plastic bags in Thailand?

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For me, that is a serious withdrawal - mind you, it's not Saturday yet :wink:

Anyway :offtopic: before the boss tells me off :D
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Re: Charging for plastic bags in Thailand?

Post by Nereus »

To me the plastic shopping bags are not the main problem, although still not acceptable. It is the insane use of the heavier material used for all the ready to eat foods and drinks. Villa Market use bio-degradable shopping bags, so it only comes down to cost with rest of them.

For a long time Big C were selling cooked rice in small polypropylene type bowls, which MAY be recyclable, but at least they have other uses. Now they have gone to the usual small plastic bags which will never be recycled. I asked the local manager why, and just got the usual Thai blank look.

There are also concerns about just what some types of material does to the food contained in the bags. But for sure that does not come into their logic here.

https://www.choice.com.au/food-and-drin ... s-and-food
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Re: Charging for plastic bags in Thailand?

Post by buksida »

When we do the Trash Hero beach cleanups the most common thing we see are these styrofoam food cartons, followed by plastic water bottles, followed by plastic bags and straws. All mass produced and handed out daily to excess in Thailand and across Asia.
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Re: Charging for plastic bags in Thailand?

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How comea so called hard line military dictator ship cannot pass and enforce any law that effects Thai behavior/ This is not a comment it is a serious question. How cant they enforce a helmet law,a stop at red lights law a stop giving out plastic bag law.
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Re: Charging for plastic bags in Thailand?

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oakdale160 wrote:How comea so called hard line military dictator ship cannot pass and enforce any law that effects Thai behavior/ This is not a comment it is a serious question. How cant they enforce a helmet law,a stop at red lights law a stop giving out plastic bag law.
I think they can but they do not want to get on the wrong side of public opinion. While it may be relatively easy to clamp down on helmets and traffic lights, as someone else said Thai plastic contributes a lot to the economy. Even in the UK they have not banned plastic bags completely it is s slow process with ever more stringent requirements, that is the only way it could be done here.

Rather than just banning or imposing laws there needs to be a concerted public and school education campaign. I have tried discussing this with my Thai family but I find it impossible to get anywhere with them. They love plastic bags, cups, straws, the whole toot.

What's that saying "slowly slowly catchy monkey" which means that "eventually you will achieve your goal".
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Re: Charging for plastic bags in Thailand?

Post by HHTel »

Plastic manufacturing in Thailand does contribute to the economy. Thailand is one of the biggest manufacturers of plastic. However, when it comes to plastic bags, the cost of disposal far outstrips any income gained. It cost Bangkok alone 600 million baht annually to dispose of this waste. That was back in 2010 and is growing at 20% annually. There have been campaigns to reduce the issue of plastic bags but they are short term ventures with no long term effect. As Steve says above, any campaign needs to be maintained. They have done the 'No bag, no baht' campaigns but only for short periods. It takes time for something like this to sink in, especially in Thailand where plastic bags have become the norm with every purchase. Even the tiniest of purchases will be put into a microscopic plastic bag!!
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Re: Charging for plastic bags in Thailand?

Post by pharvey »

HHTel wrote: Even in the UK they have not banned plastic bags completely
No they haven't been, but since the introduction of a 5 pence charge per bag, it's been reported that the reduction has been something like 6 billion (from around 7.5 billion) last year. Still a huge amount being used, but you have to say the reduction has been somewhat significant.
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