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Similar to retailers’ initiative to reduce plastic bag distribution in places like Germany and Holland, major retailers on the tropical Thai island of  Phuket plan to start  charging customers for  bags in hopes of tackling the island’s infamous waist dilemma. Frankly, a ‘start’ is all that such a decree can qualify to be.

While arguably an initiative for some consumers to start developing a sense for reusing, revenue seeking fractions of such two-fold environmentally capitalizing legislation is only starting to tap the tip of this iceberg’s much larger problem. Even more worrisome and urgent than retail packaging waste is an over-neglected burden of food packaging.

Walk into a 7-11, Family Mart, 108 Shop, or any other mini mart or supermarket in any part of the country, and the only way you won’t walk out without at least one bag, no matter how small your purchase was, e.g. a pack of gum, bag of chips-crisps, etc., is if you outright declare to the clerk, “No bag, please! Mai Tawng Sai Tung krup (ka)! ไม่ต้องใส่ถุงครับ (ค่ะ)”

Problem-Solution partially addressed: All globally conscious citizens must cut back on if not eliminate altogether the unnecessary consumption of products and places which require unnecessary single use of plastic bags, straws, condiments, Styrofoam and other non-recyclable wrappings. This could either mean reduce if not stop buying certain unnecessary products, or carrying purchased items in your own pocket or reusable bag-container. The golden R rule: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

In Thailand–a country which streets’ produce tons of mouthwatering, richly spiced and flavored take-home-friendly dishes–tons of single use plastic bags and styrofoam trays and containers are distributed to the masses who leave the burden of wet left-overs of non (contaminating) degradables: Rice, Soups, Curries, Salads, Stir-fried, Sauces, and meats galore all too often wrapped and packed in styrofoam containers and/or double and triple bagged for single consumption by negligent, unconscious and irresponsible citizens on an hourly and daily basis, 365.25 days a year.

The result is unarguably the unjust hampering of environment quality of present and future generations as contaminating land fills expand beyond an acceptable level of any sanitized civility.

In proactive response to the Plastic and Styrofoam Packaging Promotion Problem that many under-civilized parts of the globe are infected with, it finally became time for the original Siamerican, Jao Moragoat to take his own initiative and buy a portable food storing case in aim to reduce personal consumption waste production of one-time-use non-recyclable food wrappings.

Basically a fresh food lunch-box, costing a mere 100 Baht a Tesco Lotus, (about three $USD) not exactly as mesmerizing as the Ghostbusters Lunchbox he had back in elementary school, however rightfully will serve it’s purpose nonetheless.
Interesting enough in Thailand, the traditional way of keeping and containing mobile food is in banana leave wraps and stainless steel containers called Pin-To, mostly only used now by hardcore traditionalists and monks alike. The mass of modern society has become lazy with the advent of mass production-consumption, and its time we use technology to reverse the adverse effects of development and modernization.

In conclusion, the simple reality is we need to stop this lazy chaos of contaminating convenience which has taken over every day life of society! It’s a big problem and action must start immediately from the decree of top of government down to instilled and conscious habits of ordinary individual citizens like you and me. Take this entry as an inspiration, influence and model of yet another simple solution to one of many of this world’s problems.