Officials in
Thailand have an unorthodox approach to deal with visitors who leave litter in
a national park: mail the trash to the offenders.
The country’s environment
minister said that he wanted to call attention to a garbage problem at Khao Yai
National Park that endangers animals that could eat the litter while looking
for food. He promised in a Facebook post last week to track down anyone responsible
for littering in the park.
“I will pick up every
single piece of your trash, pack them well in a box and mail it to your home as
a souvenir,” the minister, Varawut Silpa-archa, said in the post. He also
posted photos of a delivery box filled with used plastic water bottles, soda cans, torn
packs of chips and sunflower seeds.
Thai officials mailed the box of trash to campers who had left the waste in a tent they abandoned. The special package came with a message for the group: “You have forgotten some of your belongings at the Khao Yai National Park. Please let us return these to you.”
Activists are increasingly
sounding the alarm as garbage continues to clog oceans, showing up in the
stomachs of dead whales in countries like Indonesia and Spain.
Several cities have banned
the use of plastic straws and single-use plastic bags. But efforts to eliminate
plastic bags are suffering setbacks during the coronavirus pandemic due to
increased food deliveries at home.
Trash is becoming a
political issue, with some countries in Asia and Africa refusing to continue
accepting trash shipped from countries in the West.
Thailand’s approach,
targeting individuals with a shaming reminder of their misdeed, is unusual.
The message that officials wanted
to send did not end with mailing the trash to the offenders. Citing two
incidents of littering and drunken behavior by different campers, Mr. Varawut,
the environment minister, said in his post that campers who violate park rules
will be reported to the police.
Littering in a Thai
national park can lead to a maximum of five years in prison and a fine of up to
$16,000.
“You can take only two
things from our parks,” Mr. Varawut wrote on Facebook, addressing would-be
campers. “Those are memories and photos. Leave only footprints behind.”
From The New York Times (edited)
