Other than aroy maak (very delicious) and rot det (flavorsome), the two Thai phrases most commonly associated with dining and eating these days would be “Sai Glong” (put it in a box) and “Ao Glup Baan” (for takeaway).
Arguably one of the most distasteful – figuratively and literally speaking – side-effects of the last 30 years of “modernization” and “development” in Thailand is a narrow-minded and self-destructing mass consumer culture – one infested with landfill mountains of single-use plastic bags, so-called “value adding” wrapping and packaging, and perhaps the most evil of them all, polystyrene takeaway boxes – in Thai “glong foam”.
Such modern monster is seen most anywhere and everywhere you can find food in the kingdom. I challenge you to walk into any supermarket or convenience store and come out with only food and zero waste – a tall order, I know.
Thankfully, it is still possible to eat out at one of the 70,000 restaurants or eateries – with food on a plate at a table – and if careful and conscientious, you can enjoy a guilt-free meal that didn’t generate one piece of plastic waste (mind the straw in your drink).
Still, in this always-on-the-go, never-enough-time, fast-paced society we inhabit, the status quo of the ever-irresponsible rush prevails, an epidemic resulting from the advent of industrial-scale petrochemical plastics production.
Did you know that of all the plastics that can be easily recycled in Phuket, the one type of plastic that isn’t recycled – not one bit – is polystyrene. In central Thailand, some of the polystyrene trash can be recycled by manufacturers, but this is only because transport costs are so low. However, since there are no local polystyrene manufactures near Phuket, the transport costs make recycling of the plastic here in the south nonviable.
Cancerous
Indeed, Thai food preparers and consumers alike – and not to mention the tens of thousands of foreign visitors who conveniently revert to “When in Rome ...” attitude – have completely embraced this lazy consumer convenience, all to the dismay of not only the environment, but public health likewise.
That contemporary cook’s favourite white foam box contains styrene, which has been marked as a suspected human carcinogen by the US-based National Toxicology Program (NTP) and National Research Council. While the exact degree of risk of styrene leaching at room-temperature is widely debatable, most experts agree that any such risk is exemplified by an increase in temperature – hot food or beverages, for example.
Take one Thai study published by researchers Chumaphon Rotsida and Kanika Chatsuntiprapha in the Khon Kaen University Medical Journal, Volume 10, Quarter 2 (April-June, 2010), which found that certain common ingredients in Thai food – fish sauce, vegetable oil, chilli paste, lemon juice, sugar and salt – significantly increase the chemical breakdown of styrene in food containers, which would, according to their study, leach into the food the longer it was kept in the container.
Environmentally-friendly packaging expert and researcher Dr Wirachat Kittirat Paiboon comments:
“Consuming regularly from polystyrene food containers poses many risks for both men and women ... Women face inconsistent menstrual cycles and an increased risk of breast cancer, while men risk prostate cancer, and both men and women face an increased risk of liver cancer, even if they don’t drink alcohol,” he said.
No brainer
Sickened, the earth aches and oceans cry, and yet these single-use plastic products have become a necessity for food culture ... business, just as important as fuel, spices, meat, produce, cuttlery and dishes. Well, perhaps even more important than dishes. After all, dishes need to be washed, and the plastic can conveniently just be thrown away.
But consider this, it doesn’t actually go away! In Phuket most of the polystyrene ends up in the ocean, or if it doesn’t end up poisoning fish and wildlife on/off Phuket’s fragile wetlands, then it ends up at Saphan Hin’s incinerator. And for anyone who believes that there are no environmental repercussions for burning trash due to “ultra-efficient Japanese incineration technology”, I challenge you to hang out in Saphan Hin for a day or two, and take a long whiff when the stack is burning off all your convenience.
A rude awakening
“But I have no alternative,” says helpless food server, echoed by the all-too-busy-to-care consumer.
Wrong! You do have a choice, everyone of us has a choice (at least 70,000), and only excuses stand in the way.
Although traditional eco-friendly food containers – biodegradable, organic bamboo and banana-leaf containers and reusable pinto totes – should be preserved and embraced, instead the kingdom’s landfills are overflowing as compound-rich clouds of smoke hover above. And while some of us are only starting to awaken, make no mistake, it’s those convenient excuses perpetuating this sad reality, that keep the greater mass of “civilization” sleeping. But the alarm clock has long sound.
Time to wake up Phuket, or you’ll miss the bus.
Organic waste management education centre launched
In response to Phuket’s population and the resulting waste increasing by as much as 10 per cent annually, officials recently celebrated the official unveiling of a new learning center dedicated to improving sustainable organic refuse management.
Located at the Phuket Incinerator and landfill – where everyday nearly 700 tonnes of rubbish are brought to burn or bury – the new center was unveiled in a ceremony on September 16 presided over by Governor Maitri Inthusut, with officials and representatives from various government and environmental agencies including the Phuket Environment Foundation, also attending the launch.
The officials also signed an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) agreeing to support and adhere to the new organic waste management plans to drive the island toward becoming a “low-carbon city”. PPAO was represented by Deputy Chief Executive Soratham Jinda.
The learning center provides information on various systems of organic household waste management, with demonstration stations dedicated to the education on the production of liquid fertilizer, worm feed and biogas, for example.
The launch of the learning centre, open to the public, is seen as a concerted effort by Phuket authorities to tackle the increasing amount of waste being sent to the local incinerator each day.
Everyday, Up to 680 tonnes of rubbish from throughout the island reaches the incinerator, which only has a burning capacity of 700 tonnes. However, studies suggest that at least half of the amount of the rubbish is organic household materials which can be recycled. The garbage that isn’t burned is buried in the 291 rai of landfill land, divided into five main pits, three of which are overflowing.
The site of the landfill was previously lush wetlands and mangrove forests donated by the Forestry Department.
While the municipality is also trying to secure a budget to repair the old incinerator and bring it back on line to increase the island’s incinerating capacity by an additional 350 tonnes per day, it has made it clear that there is no more land available for it to expand the landfill.
Even if no more garbage was brought to the landfill and incinerator, it would take some 20 years to burn off the existing heap.
For Thai readers, please refer to this report and this report.