Large Thai retailers to stop handing out plastic bags from 2020
Large retailers and convenience stores in Thailand have pledged to stop giving plastic bags to customers from next year to reduce plastic waste, the country’s environment minister announced.
Plastic bags are popularly used in supermarkets in Thailand. (Photo: AFP/VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) – Large retailers and convenience stores inThailand have pledged to stop giving plastic bags to customers from next yearto reduce plastic waste, the country’s environment minister announced.
Major stores will stop providing single-useplastic bags, starting January 2020, after signing up to a government programme,Varawut Silpa-archa, the natural resources and environment minister, wrote on hisFacebook page late on September 24.
Varawutsaid 43 department stores and convenience stores around the country have registeredto join the programme and atthe same time, urged the public to usealternatives, such as cloth bags, for shopping.
Companiesin the programme include CPALL Pcl, which operates more than 10,000 7-Elevenconvenience stores in Thailand, and the country’s largest retailer, CentralGroup.
Conveniencewill slightly be reduced to protect the environment, he said.
Environmentalgroup Greenpeace says about 75 billion pieces of plastic bags end up in thewaste each year in Thailand and half of this is from malls, supermarkets andconvenience stores, with the other half coming from traditional markets andstreet vendors.
Thesebags are part of almost 2 million tonnes of plastic waste produced each year byThai consumers.
TaraBuakamsri, Greenpeace’s country director in Thailand, said it is agood start, but added thatthe challenge for theThai government will be tomeasure the progress in detail and ensure the measure is effective in ending the use ofplastic bags.
Manydepartment stores and supermarkets in Thailand already have their own ways to cut down on plastic bags. The Mall Group Co. Ltd, who owns thepopular Siam Paragon mall in Bangkok, has charged 1 baht per plastic bag sinceJuly./.
Thailand’s Department of Marine and Coastal Resources is developing an AI robot to trap debris before it reaches the sea so as to prevent loss of marine life to plastic bags.
The Thai Packaging Association (TPA) has announced that Thailand’s packaging and printing industries are shifting away from plastic and utilising more bio-flexible products in line with the government's policy to ban plastic packaging in the future.
Giant retailers, plastic manufacturing firms and supermarkets in Thailand have reached an agreement to stop supplying single-use plastic bags to customers from early 2010.
Many agencies, units and businesses across the northern province of Phu Tho have been taking specific actions in response to the “no plastic waste” campaign.
In his article, Oscar Sanchez Serra highlighted President Ho Chi Minh’s founding of the Thanh Nien (Young People) newspaper on June 21, 1925, which marked the birth of Vietnam's revolutionary press rooted in a bold and far-sighted vision.
Several ASEAN meetings are scheduled to take place in Port Dickson this September, including the Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM) for ASEAN Plus Three (APT), the East Asia Summit (EAS), the 15th ASEAN Maritime Forum, and the 13th Expanded ASEAN Maritime Forum.
Thailand's Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has ordered the urgent implementation of a national policy to crack down on all forms of call centre scams, online fraud, and illegal gambling, which are now considered threats to national security.
Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto and EAEU Trade Minister Andrey Slepnev jointly declared the conclusion of FTA talks on the sidelines of the 28th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF 2025), according to the statement.
The article stressed that throughout his revolutionary career, the founder of modern Vietnam consistently regarded the revolutionary press as a vital part of the Vietnamese Party’s and nation’s revolutionary struggle.
Pichai said the trade talks with the US are important and need to move forward professionally, without regard for any political changes in Thailand, believing that Thailand has clear principles, guidelines and procedures in place.
The tax adjustment supports the Malaysian Government’s strategy to reduce reliance on foreign food supply chains and to assist domestic farmers, a finance official has said.
The proposed venue is located in the Chatuchak area of Bangkok, featuring eight public sites, including Krungthep Aphiwat Central Terminal and several nearby parks.
Connectivity is expected to improve further with the completion of the fifth Laos–Thailand Friendship Bridge by the end of 2025, facilitating logistics and agricultural exports to Vietnam, Thailand, and China.
Two naval gunboats intercepted a fishing vessel carrying 1.5 tonnes of methamphetamine hydrochloride off the coast of the main island of Luzon just before dawn, in a joint operation with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.
In the today context of socio-economic development and growth, the professionalism of Vietnam’s revolutionary journalists continues to rise, guided by exemplary mastery of new information technologies and the modernisation of their founding principles to preserve the enduring values of revolutionary journalism.
Thai Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce Vuttikrai Leewiraphan Thailand's formal proposal will be substantial enough for the US to consider further detailed negotiations. He hoped for a tariff rate not exceeding 10% and suggested that the US might extend the negotiation period if an agreement is not reached by the July 8 deadline.
Organised by the Ministry of Culture and the Association of Thai Silk & Culture Promotions, the event honors Her Majesty the Queen on her 47th birthday anniversary and promotes Thai craftsmanship on an international stage.
Prensa Latina's recent article on Vietnam’s assurance of smooth and effective transition to a leaner structure highlighted Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s latest directions on implementing 28 resolutions regarding the decentralisation and delegation of authority.
The lab focuses on four key thematic areas: energy transition and green innovation, sustainable agriculture, circular economy and sustainable cities, and nature-based solutions and biodiversity.
The key content of the document titled "Accelerating Innovative Strategies: Addressing the OOSCY Challenges" will be refined further in a seminar preceding the 47th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur this October.
This follows Telegram’s serious failure to address the content that has been repeatedly reported to them, despite various efforts of negotiation and cooperation made by MCMC, it said.
Plastic bags are popularly used in supermarkets in Thailand. (Photo: AFP/VNA)
