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Measures needed for sea tragedy to lead to plastic clean-up


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Measures needed for sea tragedy to lead to plastic clean-up

By The Nation
Ornvipa Rumroy

 

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The sea tragedy of Marium, the beloved orphaned female baby dugong of Thailand that died from eating plastic, reveals the awkward truth about the serious threat of ocean debris.

 

The orphaned dugong was found by marine biologists in April in southern Thailand.

 

She became an internet star after her caretakers released videos of her nuzzling up to human babysitters. A little later, the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources had to post on their Facebook page that Marium was sick and refusing food. She died as August 17 began, aged eight months.

 

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An autopsy revealed that pieces of plastic blocked the young mammal’s intestines, which later became inflamed and caused gas in her digestive system, followed by blood infection and lung abscesses, which caused shock leading to death.

 

Dugongs are listed as “vulnerable” on the IUCN Red List, as their population continues a slide caused by environmental threats including pollution, habitat destruction, fishing nets and hunting.

 

After the death of Marium, officials announced a “Marium Project” with the goal of reducing ocean plastic in order to conserve the remaining dugong population in Thailand.

 

Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha on August 20 called on all Thais to help the government achieve its goal of keeping the seas clean of plastic.

 

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“I regret not having visited Mariam as I heard her condition [after being washed ashore in late April] was improving, but then she fell sick,” the Prime Minister said. “It’s a real pity that Mariam’s stomach was found filled with plastic, which is the kind of garbage that takes 450 years to disintegrate.” 

 

Thon Thamrongnawasawat, the vice dean of the Faculty of Fisheries at Kasetsart University, posted on his personal Facebook that he will propose that August 17 be declared Dugong Day in remembrance of Marium and to raise awareness of pollution in Thai waters.

 

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The Marium Project aimed to increase the dugong population by 50 per cent within a decade to 375 dugongs from the current estimated 275. Thorn said that 90 per cent of dugong deaths were caused by fishing gear.

 

This project will become active first around Libong island and later expand to 11 other dugong habitats that boast abundant seagrass growth, including Phra Thong island, the Prasae River delta and Bandon Bay 

 

He said during a live Facebook interview with Suthichai Yoon that the national government already has the proper tools available, including a marine protected area law. The regulators just need more staff to be able to address the problems in all dugong habitats.

 

Thorn suggested the government should focus on speeding up their measure to ban single-use plastic, which Prayut said would be in place for 2022.

 

By the end of this year, Thailand will be free from producing three types of plastic – microbeads, cap seals and oxo-degradable plastics – and from four other types of single-use plastics by 2022, under the Plastic Waste Management Road Map 2018-2030.

 

While the government has begun efforts to raise awareness among Thai people, the private sector has launched promotion campaigns to decrease plastic waste and debris in Thailand.

 

Nanyang Industry company cooperated with Trash hero – a sea waste-collecting volunteer group – to promote the KHYA project that uses sea debris, especially plastic and old shoes, as the key component of flip-fops. Recycled KHYA flip-fops use 5 kilograms of sea debris per pair. That campaign will end on August 23, with the company expecting approximately 200 pre-ordered purchases, which will decrease sea waste by about 1 tonne.

 

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As well, SCG Chemical has donated 20 garbage-collecting buoys to the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources. The buoys will be installed in 13 provinces including Phetchaburi, Rayong, Samut Songkhram, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phang Nga, and Phuket for the pilot sea debris collecting project.

 

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However, after the announcement of the “Marium Project”, another dugong body was found in Krabi a day later – the 16th dead dugong found on the Andaman coast.

 

Despite the beauty of Thailand’s sea, which attracts tourists from all over the world, this is the world’s sixth-largest contributor of plastic waste flowing to the oceans – at more than 1 million tonnes yearly.

 

According to a Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment report, most marine waste comes from tourist areas and includes plastic water bottles, glass bottles and foam food containers. That is followed by fishery waste such as rope and nets, along with other kinds of waste such as plastic bags, water lids and cigarettes butts. There is also waste from various activities involving individual, household or industrial actions. These wastes are released into various waterways, from canals to rivers, and end up in the oceans.

 

The huge volume of debris from Thailand highlights the poor waste management and environmental protection measures now in place.

 

Inefficient waste management is the result of a series of causes acting together. Some say the biggest problem is people’s lack of awareness, resulting in 1.1 kilograms of waste being generated every day by each person in Thailand as they choose single-use plastics instead of bringing their own containers. Most plastic containers are made of non-degradable plastic which takes more than 450 years to break down. Some Thai people don’t see any personal benefit in household waste management and recycling, which is reflected in the lack of sorting of waste before it is put out. The majority of people still consider littering as the easiest way to get rid of waste.

 

Moreover, the government’s lack of legal measures to reduce the amount of waste produced, such as prohibiting the use of plastic bags or putting a plastics tax on the manufacture and import of plastic packaging.

 

Achieving a sustainable solution requires the cooperation of many parties. The solution includes a systems approach in order to change attitudes and behaviours at the individual level, such as improving sorting of household waste and using reusable containers to avoid throwing away plastic. Increasing the public’s awareness of the need to reduce and avoid using plastic is an approach to problem-solving that digs to the root of the problem.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30375292

 

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-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2019-08-24

 

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Lazy dirty selfish  Thais ( as we're  in Thailand)  is the cause with zero education and its  not going to change anytime soon, local  villagers  couldnt  give  a <deleted> about where their  rubbish  goes and until the govt takes it seriously with large  fines ( enforced) and down to head of  village  level  nothing will change.

Then  on top of that they have to  build  places to deal with the <deleted> + make sure EVERY  village  has a  rubbish collection service which mine  only got about 2  years  ago................even then some of  the  villagers  refuse to pay the paltry 20 baht a  month and  still burn their  junk.

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8 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

horn said that 90 per cent of dugong deaths were caused by fishing gear.

Thats  your  biggest  killer and whilst  your  at it  tell the "fishermen"  to stop throwing their <deleted> everywhere also.

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1 hour ago, rooster59 said:

Some Thai people don’t see any personal benefit in household waste management and recycling, which is reflected in the lack of sorting of waste before it is put out. The majority of people still consider littering as the easiest way to get rid of waste.

I'm glad this had been written by a Thai, so there's no chance of any claims of Thai-bashing.

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We can only blame the government of Thailand, who are not building proper waste and recycling plants. It doesnt help a hoot, to ask people to take action, when their garbage ends up in the same landfill anyway, only to be washed ashore by the next heavy rainfall. 

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4 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha on August 20 called on all Thais to help the government achieve its goal of keeping the seas clean of plastic.

The people will do "diddly squat" about plastic use while it's available.... he has the power to change things!

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Throwing trash in the water is like a sport in Thailand.  They have over crowded jails and a trash collecting problem.   Civilized governments offer inmates for two days of work, one day knocked off your sentence.  This is really embarrassing. 

 

“I regret not having visited Mariam....."

A missed photo op, and I have an aqua marine colored suit just like this one that would have been perfect.

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20 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Measures needed for sea tragedy to lead to plastic clean-up

Seems to be the only way to wake up officials to the reality of things is for a tragedy to happen..

but then we all know pro-activeness takes intelligence.

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I know I am repeating myself, and apologies for that, but one of the biggest problems I see is the greedy oil and plastic industry who seem to control so much.

There are dozens of eco friendly sustainable products out there to replace plastic, Corn, Seaweed, Cassava, to name but three. These products are totally degradable, and can even be consumed by animals without any harm.

Production of these could help farmers, provide jobs in manufacture, etc. However, and this is where the real problem lays, it will affect the profits of the oil giants and their cronies.

Thailand is banning the plastic seal on bottles, a start at least, but why are we not going back to the old days of paper straws, wood spoons and forks, bamboo chopsticks, brown paper grocery bags, the list is endless.

I despair sometimes at the type of planet we are going to leave to our descendants.

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3 minutes ago, AhFarangJa said:

I know I am repeating myself, and apologies for that, but one of the biggest problems I see is the greedy oil and plastic industry who seem to control so much.

There are dozens of eco friendly sustainable products out there to replace plastic, Corn, Seaweed, Cassava, to name but three. These products are totally degradable, and can even be consumed by animals without any harm.

Production of these could help farmers, provide jobs in manufacture, etc. However, and this is where the real problem lays, it will affect the profits of the oil giants and their cronies.

Thailand is banning the plastic seal on bottles, a start at least, but why are we not going back to the old days of paper straws, wood spoons and forks, bamboo chopsticks, brown paper grocery bags, the list is endless.

I despair sometimes at the type of planet we are going to leave to our descendants.

Absolutely agree.

I too have posted numerous video clips showing how cassava is being used to manufacture bags, instead of plastic. India appears to be getting into it in a big way, even Uganda is doing the same.

I'm sure Thais wouldn't want to appear to 'lose face' to an African country - I only say that in the dim hope someone may be spurred on to do the same here.

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Sad that it took the death of a “Fish” as a Thai friend of mine called it - but Yeah let’s clean up the beaches and the sea because some dugong died - but never mind the millions of tourists who bring in billions who had to put up with filthy polluted water and beaches since years!

 

One sometimes really wonders who sets the priorities in this country that gets weirder and weirder by the day!

 

 

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6 minutes ago, boonrawdcnx said:

Sad that it took the death of a “Fish” as a Thai friend of mine called it - but Yeah let’s clean up the beaches and the sea because some dugong died - but never mind the millions of tourists who bring in billions who had to put up with filthy polluted water and beaches since years!

 

One sometimes really wonders who sets the priorities in this country that gets weirder and weirder by the day!

The priorities are: lip service and looking good for a photo opportunity. End.

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Every year I have  spent  time  in  Pattaya, it seems that they have a general garbage

issue. When that city gets serious with its garbage pickup, I will start to have

a bit of hope that Garbage and plastic pollution will get dealt with better.

Geezer

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On 8/24/2019 at 12:20 PM, Chazar said:

Thats  your  biggest  killer and whilst  your  at it  tell the "fishermen"  to stop throwing their <deleted> everywhere also.

The fishermen and boat crews in Phuket are appalling polluters.

Not only do they throw overboard every container they use , they dump paint pots and used engine oil , thousands of metres of line , from filament to hawser to net that gathers up and drowns turtles and wildlife....every broken float and basket and styrofoam broken box is tossed overboard.

But worst of all - they pee in plastic bottles and toss them in as well. And it all ends on the beaches and in the mangroves... dozens a day , and nobody wants to pick them up and/or empty them.

Even more difficult to comprehend , is when the tour boat crews jetison all those single shot plastic water cups - thousands a day !

These guys , constantly referred to as 'stakeholders' who are assumed to have a vested interest in a healthy sea ( and dont appear to really give a toss about it )  ,  need immediate and comprehensive re-education and they need it now !

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The mindlessness shamelessness and lack of integrity leads to the action of a plastic bag, into another plastic bag ,yet another ...without a second thought..absolutely no guilt .I doubt their is another nation that abuses plastics on this level with this lack of careing..pathetic

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The mindlessness shamelessness and lack of integrity leads to the action of a plastic bag, into another plastic bag ,yet another ...without a second thought..absolutely no guilt .I doubt their is another nation that abuses plastics on this level with this lack of careing..pathetic

In my opinion, there is nothing wrong by using plastic bags,but it is wrong to throw them in the water. There are different options to recycle plastic.


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45 minutes ago, luk AJ said:


In my opinion, there is nothing wrong by using plastic bags,but it is wrong to throw them in the water. There are different options to recycle plastic.


Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

Not ''single use'' plastic ,used by street food vendors ,everyday, each thai mindlessly uses 8-10 single use plastic bags/day...this .must stop

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