One of the most disturbing things to many eco-conscious travelers arriving in Thailand is the poor standards for combating pollution. I remember when I first arrived by boat at the small island of Koh Tao and watched an island boy walking out onto a boat finish his last gulp of water and carelessly throw the bottle over his shoulder into the incoming surf.

In any heavy populated area, you’ll find litter strewn across the beaches and floating in the water. Even waterfalls and other beautiful natural wonders are strewn with litter.

And before you start thinking the tourists are contributing, think again. In most Western countries there are high standards of ecological preservation and they wouldn’t dream of littering a place like that. There are exceptions, of course, but many Thais who work in the tourist industry will admit that it is rarely the tourists.

From my experience, and I’m no expert, a big part of the problem is that environmental problems are implemented from the top down. What I mean by this is that the average citizen in Thailand has very little education about what pollution does to the planet besides make it ugly. If you doubt this at all, have a conversation with an English-speaking Thai about the problem and ask them about global warming. It is unnerving how up-to-date most locals are about this issue.

One big problem is that you won’t find containers for rubbish anywhere. Even in the biggest cities, it is often impossible to find a trash can—let alone recycling containers. In some places, this is starting to change, but for the most part when I find myself stuck with trash (which is very often), I have to walk into a store and ask someone to throw it away for me.

When my Thai friends are with me, they look at me in shock when I do this, so I can only imagine what they do when I’m not there.
To make matters worse, plastic bags are used in Thailand as if they are going out of style. Every time you buy something, it will be placed in a plastic bag—even if you only have one item that is small enough to fit in your hand. If you have 3 or 4 or more items, you can guarantee you will get more than one bag to put in.

What is really needed is a change from the top-down implementation of environmental concepts. Citizens need to be educated from the bottom up. Instead of just being encouraged to recycle plastic bottles just because they can get money, everyone needs to be educated on how the pollution problem is killing the country, environmentally and economically. The monetary compensation certainly helps too, but Thais need to learn on every level how important this issue is.

As guests of Thailand and citizens of the world, we need to do our part. When traveling here, turn down plastic bags as often as possible. Take your own backpack to the markets and stores, and you can use that instead of a plastic bag in most cases. When ordering foods you can eat out of your hands, refuse the plastic bag as well.

I always try to give a reason for turning down bags if I can—partly because people tend to look at me like I’m nuts. “Less plastic is good for Thailand.” People tend to be happy to hear you say this if they understand why, and I find that inspiration is often contagious in Thai culture—a culture that strongly believes in the power of doing the right thing.

Spread the word about why this is the right thing to do whenever you have the chance.

You’ll find that plastic is so ingrained in modern Thailand that is impossible to always turn down bags, which hold everything from an apple to a piece of fried chicken to green curry to juice. In the case of curry or juice, you’re only options are take the bag, don’t buy it, or have something else with you (not likely when traveling).

This is a huge problem in Thailand that you need to be aware of. Enjoy your travels, but do your part to make the world a better place so future locals and travelers alike can enjoy this beautiful country as well.