BANGKOK, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- A major Thai convenient store on Friday announced that its 137 pilot branches will cease to hand out plastic bags to shoppers starting Nov. 25, before implementing the government's 'no plastic bag' policy nationwide on Jan. 1, 2020.
"We would like to conduct a trial first before the actual implementation of the policy," said Suwit Kingkaew, senior vice president of sustainable development at CP All Pcl, operator of the 7-11 chain in Thailand.
However Suwit said that there are circumstances where plastic bags are still allowed, such as hot foods, wet foods, meats and fruit, which he said was in accordance with Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment's recommendation.
The Ministry since mid this year, has been campaigning for Thais in general and shopping malls to support the government's policy of reducing the use of plastic bags by joining the "Go Green, No Plastic Bag" campaign.
"The branches that will stop giving plastic bags next week will display posters to let customers know that they should bring their own bags when shopping there," said Suwit. "If customers don't have their own bags, 7-11 also sells high-quality fabric bags at a reasonable price."
Suwit further added that as part of the "Go Green, No Plastic Bag" campaign, CP All will donate money that they save from distributing plastic bags to hospitals nationwide to buy medical equipment.
