Environmentalism in Thailand takes a very different form to in Australia – they are not a high-greenhouse emitting nation, they have amazing natural places now being explored by tourism (to great economic benefit), and fertile earth to grow the abundance of food, which is affordable even for society’s poorest.
The political situation and culture (as across much of south-east Asia) is such that open, public criticism of government decisions is not widespread, and in some cases is even physically dangerous for the person issuing the critique.
Environmental issues in South-East Asia include flooding (resulting from rapidly melting Himalayan glacier
s and increased downfalls in the wet season – such as when we arrived), sanitation (the water is nowhere near safe to drink), energy efficiency, future water shortage (when those rapidly melting Himalayan glaciers disappear, which would be in only a few decades under business-as-usual scenarios) and material waste.
On waste:
The Malay-Thai area is the original home of the banana leaf-wrapped rice-cake (Mmmm! Delicious!), but ‘modern’ foods are packaged in amazing amounts of one-use, disposable plastic – especially in the tourist areas. A bottle of freshly-pressed mandarin juice will come in not only a bottle, but in a small plastic bag so you can carry it more easily, and with a straw. With a grasp on the language that is limited to even less than a standard phrasebook (‘Sawadi-Ka’ = Hello, ‘Kawp-Khun-Ka’ = Thank You), it is beyond my reach to explain that excess packaging is not necessary. This being said, the average amount of plastic waste embodied in the average Australian’s shopping patterns is still probably greater than here in Thailand. The availability of advanced recycling facilities in Australia just makes us feel less guilty about it – regardless of whether or not these facilities are used. At home, I consider myself a low consumer, intentionally avoiding packaging wherever possible. Here, however, I am unable to purchase my food in the more sustainable, thoughtful way that I like to at home. My material ‘eco-footprint’ has easily quadrupled during this time on the trip due to the packaging effect.
It is important to remember that every piece of plastic ever produced still exists today. Even if plastics break down into ever-smaller pieces, their chemical composition remains stable for hundreds of thousands of years. Small, algae-sized pieces of plastic are now more abundant in the temperate ocean ecosystems than algae itself (See Alan Weisman’s ‘The World Without Us for a graphic depiction of this), and we have no idea what the effects are.
Long live the banana-leaf wrapped rice cake – a completely sanitary, biodegradable, sustainable, convenient and interesting packaging option, rich with local culture. More of it!
