Joining the meeting, held on Tuesday (Aug 15), were Wattanapong Suksai, Director of the Phuket Natural Resources and Environment Office; Tiwat Seedokbuap, Deputy President of the Phuket Provincial Administrative Organisation (PPAO); and Witthaya Ketchu, Director of the Phuket Vocational College.
Mr Bhummikitti, at this meeting described as President of the Sustainable Tourism Development Foundation (มูลนิธิพัฒนาการท่องเที่ยวยั่งยืน), announced that a digital platform for collecting data on food waste and excess food in Phuket will be developed.
Phuket already has a ‘Participatory Food Waste Management Model’ pilot project underway, Mr Bhummikitti explained.
The project focuses on reducing the volume of food waste and individual and organisational planning for purchasing food and produce, but still aiming to provide the right amount of food and to see people consuming the right amount of food, while changing consumers’ behaviour as well.
The PPAO has a project underway that allows schools operated under the PPAO to use food sorting to reduce food waste, and to each have a waste management system that generates fertiliser.
The Sustainable Tourism Development Foundation is moving to expand these projects to drive Phuket towards a ‘sustainable and continuous low-carbon city’, said a report of the meeting.
A ‘food management centres’ will be set up in each of Phuket’s three districts: Mueang District (Phuket Town, Wichit, Chalong, Rawai, Kata, Karon); Thalang District (covering the centre and north of the island); and Kathu (including Patong and Kamala).
“Food waste will be brought from hotels participating in the project to be provided to people in need at reasonable prices but with quality,” Mr Bhummikitti said.
“The project will be operated in conjunction with the Phuket Vocational College and local administrative organisations (OrBorTor and municipalities), and have goals set to let Phuket move forward towards a sustainable and continuous low-carbon city,” he added.
SOS HOTELS
The meeting on Tuesday followed Mr Bhummikitti late last month joining the announcement by the Phuket Tourist Association that it had partnered with the well-respected Scholars of Sustenance Thailand (SOS), the first food rescue foundation in Thailand, established in 2016.
Scholars of Sustenance became renowned for the efforts to provide food to the poor throughout the COVID-19 crisis.
Joining the Phuket Tourist Association announcement last month was Lertchai Wangtrakuldee, Director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand Phuket Office, and a host of leading hoteliers on the island. The Phuket Tourist Association has had more than 500 member organisations since its founding in 1978. Today, the PTA has 281 members, mostly hotels and resorts across the island.
The launch of the PTA-SOS ‘Phuket Food (Before) Waste’ project invited operators of hotels, restaurants and other tourism-related businesses to join the project to create a management system to better manage food waste and reduce waste production. Among the examples cited were leftover food from hotel breakfast buffets.
“Climate change is a story that is coming closer and closer, and affecting the overall economy, especially tourism,” the PTA said in its announcement.
“Regarding SDGs [Social Development Goals], tourism should meet all aspects of the goals… adjusting from maximising profit to balancing ‘People Planet Profit’, because climate change is something that is close to us and affects us all the time.
“Thailand promises that it will be carbon neutral by 2065, with zero net greenhouse gas emissions. How can business owners help to achieve this goal, when the world does not turn over a new leaf,” it added.
The Sustainable Tourism Development Foundation is aiming to host the ‘GSTC 2026’ meeting of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council,” the announcement said. In order to do so, “Phuket must be a Green Destination by 2026.”
The foundation will bring the criteria to local government organisations to help work together, it added, which was done on Tuesday (Aug 15). The foundation will also work with the Mae Fah Luang Foundation. The Mae Fah Luang Foundation is a private, non‐profit organisation established to improve the quality of life of people in poverty and deprived of opportunities.
“What we can start doing is addressing food waste, which is the second largest carbon emitter after transport. The partner agency is SOS, which will focus on organic waste generated from the tourism sector,” the PTA said.
The foundation aims to become a centre of sustainable tourism development through three main projects: 1) Food Waste; 2) Individual Carbon Offset for Travelers; and 3) Low Carbon Destination.
The ‘Metta Kitchen Project for Sustainable Gastronomy’ is a food waste management project that will see food that is going to spoil to be reorganised under the control of a ‘Chef Care’ group and using students as staff from business operators, with the food sold at the three centres to be set up in each district at very low prices.
“It is a collaboration with all sectors to make this management goal come true with the cooperation of all departments. This project will achieve 7 SDGs (Zero Hunger / Reduced Inequalities / Sustainable Cities and Communities / Responsible Consumption / Climate Action / Life Below Water / Life on Land) and will successfully make Phuket a Sustainable Tourism Destination in the future,” the PTA added.
The project by the PTA adds to existing projects already in effect on the island. The Phuket Hotels Association and Scholars of Sustenance Thailand (SOS) in June signed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate on a variety of projects including the distribution of food donated by hotels to those in need in the community.
The Phuket Hotels Association has more than 91 members, comprising small boutique hotels to large international chains who have joined together to promote the island as Brand Phuket, to raise money to educate local Phuket residents though the association’s scholarship fund, and also assist and educate with the environmental best practices to reduce any harmful impact that tourism has on the island.
Meanwhile, Scholars of Sustenance Thailand continues to take great strides in managing food waste in order to bring food to the poor. The SOS last month partnered with the Thai Chamber of Commerce to provide 900,000 meals to people in need.
The Scholars of Sustenance Thailand - Phuket Office (เอสโอเอส สาขาภูเก็ต) is based at 98 Soi Wat Pa Aram Rattanaram in Ratsada. Visit their Thailand website or Facebook page for more information.