Customers' unusual methods of coping with Thailand's plastic bag ban

by Pierre To 11 February 2023

By Pierre To 11 February 2023 3 minutes to read

Instead of buying reusable bags, but also to create buzz on social networks, Thais are not lacking in imagination to replace plastic bags.

Shoppers are filling up their T-shirts, luggage, laundry baskets and buckets in anticipation of the January 1 ban on plastic bags at some retailers across the country.

Creative shoppers brought wheelbarrows, fishing nets and even a large, heavy pottery to carry their supplies home.

As of 1 January 2020, Thailand no longer allows large shopping malls to offer single-use plastic bags to customers, and by 2021 they will not be allowed in any shop.

This decision has encouraged shoppers to reuse everyday household items for shopping, which is arguably more environmentally friendly than buying a new reusable bag.

A reusable polyester bag has to be used 35 times and a cotton tote 7,100 times before their environmental impact (in terms of water and energy consumption) is less than that of a typical flimsy plastic grocery bag, according to a study by the Danish Ministry of Environment and Food.

Social media are full of photos of customers using original containers to do their shopping.

Other people use less environmentally friendly alternatives to plastic grocery bags, including rubbish bags.

All single-use plastics, such as rubbish bags and grocery bags, contribute to the current crisis.

The deadly toll of plastic waste helped raise concerns about pollution in Thailand last year, after a deer and a dugong (a marine mammal) died after gorging on plastic.

See : Baby dugong Marium dies in Thailand after ingesting plastic