In the midst of living in the concrete jungle, we do need some time out to be surrounded by lush greeneries and fresh air. A day or two in the jungle can really help in destressing and rejuvenating us as a whole. But as humans, we do tend to forget basic common sense and ruin mother nature. We leave our trash everywhere!
In order to combat this, Thailand’s Environment Minister, Varawut Silpa-Archa has recently announced that litterbugs who made a mess during their visit to many of the country’s beautiful national park will receive packages of rubbish that are packed and sent back to them by mail.
Based on the current rules, all national park visitors need to register and provide their details. Hence there are not many issues in tracking them to send the rubbish that they left behind. According to Varawut, the culprits will only get back their rubbish but according to SCMP, their details will also be provided to the local police for violating the National Park Law. Varawut also explained in his Facebook post that the crime against nature is punishable of up to five years in prison or up to 500,000-baht fine (about RM66000) under a law against harming natural environments and officials will carry out the law strictly.
Read his full post here:
ขยะที่นักท่องเที่ยวทิ้งไว้ในอุทยาน ขณะนี้บรรจุลงกล่อง พร้อมส่งคืนถึงบ้านเจ้าของขยะเรียบร้อยครับ…
Posted by TOP Varawut – ท็อป วราวุธ ศิลปอาชา on Selasa, 15 September 2020
We do believe this is actually a good initiative to be adopted by the Malaysian authorities as well. There has been a spike in visitors to local hiking trails and litterbugs have certainly done their damage. But before the authorities are forced to apply this rule, we hope all Malaysians will change their mindset and learn to pick up after themselves during their hike.
Also read: Video: M’sian Comedian Picks Up Litterbug’s Trash, Savagely Tells Her to Use Rubbish Bin