V/Gov Thavornwat led the MoU signing at Lime Light Avenue with the Phuket Marine Office, Phuket Tour Guide Association, Andaman Tour Guide Club, Thai – Chinese Tourism Association, Tourism business, Phuket Tour Guide Registration Office and various businesses in the private sector.
“Phuket is attraction for tourism which means more packaging is used continually. Everyone is responsible, and we have to be responsible also. Packaging for food has to be of high safety. So today, we are signing a three-year MoU to make Phuket 100% free of foam (polystyrene) containers,” said V/Gov Thawornwat.
“We have received great coordination from paper-packaging entrepreneurs, including Thai Paper and Biodegradable Packaging for Environment (BPE). It will help to produce environmentally-friendly packages at a fair price,” he added.
“Then the Phuket Provincial Public Health Office (PPHO) will follow up on the production progress of these organisations,” he said.
Meanwhile, PPHO Chief Dr Jirapan Taepan added, “The foam packages that are used for food are made out of black waste from petroleum refineries. It has long-term health effects.”
“Styrene is a carcinogen that causes three types of cancer, namely prostate cancer, breast cancer and liver cancer. Eating from foam packaging at least once a day for 10 years continuously increases the risk of cancer by six times,” Dr Jirapan warned.