Thai Government’s Plastic Bag Ban Forces Shoppers to Get Creative

All major stores in the country have participated in the effort, including CP All (owner of 7-Eleven’s local franchise), the Big C Supercentre, Siam Makro, Robinsons, Central Group and The Mall Group.

As some viral images suggest, the Thai customers have been responding well to the campaign, with many shoppers going beyond recycled bags.

An album on Facebook compiled 80 photos, in which many shoppers are shown using an assortment of containers.

“I have been avoiding plastic bags for a while already,” a Thai office worker carrying a tote bag at the Big C supermarket chain was quoted by Yahoo as saying.

Innovative buyers can be seen making use of tote bags, buckets, laundry baskets and luggage bags among others.

 

Quirky standouts include a shopper using a birdcage, a woman carrying a vase and another pushing a wheelbarrow to carry his goods.

The national effort, which is a part of the government’s campaign to eliminate plastic use by 2022, comes after Thailand was named among the world’s largest contributors to ocean pollution.

While environmentalists commended the campaign as an important first step, they point out that there is still much to be done in the effort to curbing plastic pollution.

Feature Image via Framook_ek_ek and ROV ไหมละ