Before it spawns the next pandemic, should Thailand stamp out the wildlife trade?

I was excited to see this article published by Bangkok Coconuts. I feel it highlighted the connections between the human exploitation of nature and emerging new diseases - crucial to understanding the Coronavirus pandemic. 

Experts consider bats to be high risk species when it comes to the emergence of new diseases.
Photo: Freeland

I was grateful to Steven Galster of the Bangkok based Freeland Foundation for taking the time to talk to me. 

Here’s the lowdown: With wild animals smuggled through Bangkok’s Khlong Toei port, sold at Chatuchak Weekend Market and exported for sale onward; Thailand is a nexus for the global wildlife trade, and Galster thinks a law banning the commercial trade in wild animals may protect us from the next viral disaster.

Galster has been interviewed by a number of news organizations  about Freeland's campaign to ban the  commercial trade in wild animals. Image: Freeland. 

Not everyone agrees with Freeland and backs a blanket ban. Richard Thomas, spokesman for trade monitoring group Traffic, says total bans are a knee-jerk reaction that are extremely difficult to implement and enforce. He cites the drug trade as an example.

“If the underlying demand persists, it’ll be supplied,” Thomas said.  Big players like the UN Environment Programme, or UNEP look to governments to manage things instead. 

I certainly learned a lot about this troubling situation and received some great comment from readers both on and offline: 'Fascinating, terrifying and superbly written.'

I concluded the article by making the point that: we need to recognize the link between our commercial use of wild animals and new pandemics; to safeguard humanity's future health we should rethink our relationships with our fellow species. 

Of course, reducing the risk of future pandemics is not the only reason we should follow this advice! 

The original article is here, and it also appeared on Singapore's Yahoo Lifestyle site. Please take a look at the full piece. 

 

Did Thailand's plastic bag ban solve our problem?

I started this article before the virus hit and was feeling Thailand's celebratory backslapping over its plastic bag ban needed looking into. 

I wanted to hear from the people who called for the initiative and ask them what more needed to be done. 

It became apparent that the pandemic was creating vast amounts of single use plastic waste so I re-angled the piece, just before publication on regional news site Coconuts, to reflect this. 

During lockdown Bangkok city authorities reported an explosion in levels of plastic waste as people relied on home deliveries and huge numbers of contaminated face masks piled up. 

When the country re-opened, it became obvious the economy and society's wasteful attitude to plastic had not gone away. 

I met with six grassroots environmental change-makers to hear how the battle against single-use plastic has gone and what’s next to protect our environment from plastic peril. 

Photo: Warawat Sabhavasu

Warawat "Bibb" Sabhavasu of Trash Hero Bangkok volunteered to care for Mariam the Dugong, who won and then broke Thai hearts with her internet videos showing cute antics and her subsequent death from ingesting plastic waste.

Photo: Baramee Temboonkiat / Greenpeace 

Tara Buakamsri, Country Director for Greenpeace helps orchestrate campaigns on plastic pollution in Thailand and wants the public to connect their use of throwaway plastic to the bigger environmental picture.

Photo: Grin Green International 

Almost done with school, Marlena Wilson runs Grin Green International - a school based NGO with a mission to rid Thailand of single use plastic. Here she is at a climate strike.

Photo: Biel Calderon / Greenpeace

Bored in class, Nanticha “Lynn” Ocharoenchai was inspired by Greta Thunberg to found the group Climate Strike Thailand and feels people need to understand that climate change is about much more than plastic bags. 

Photo: Ewen Mcleish 

Chanin “Nammon” Srisuma is one of the faces behind Refill Station, the shop-cum-cafe which allows customers to purchase toiletries and household products in pre-loved containers brought from home. 

Photo: Prasopsuk Lerdviriyapiti

Prasopsuk Lerdviriyapiti, aka Eco-Artist Pom, has spent the last 15 years creating art to highlight the plastic tide engulfing Thailand’s seas. She uses plastic waste from Phuket's beaches to put together her masterpieces.

It was a real pleasure to meet and virtually meet all these lovely people and find out their thoughts on the plastic issue and dreams for a brighter, greener future. Thank you to everyone for your time. 

I concluded the article with a call for real government actions on plastic pollution and our wider environmental crisis, and the hope that green strategies will be central to the new policies needed to move Thailand on from the disruption caused by Covid 19. 

The full article is available here on Bangkok Coconuts. 

8 life hacks for greener Bangkok living - now and after the pandemic.

As the world shut down and the Coronavirus pandemic spread across national borders, I noted how the news media was (rightly so) packed with stories and information on this incredible crisis.  

But I wondered how to keep sustainability and the changes we need to support it on the agenda. After all, we couldn't (and still can't) afford to put our environmental crisis 'on the back burner.'  

My Coconuts feature article, highlighting ways to live greener under lockdown, was my response. 

I wanted to showcase some things Bangkok people could do while living under quarantine or in self isolation that may help repair our world if maintained in the long run. 

The 8 ideas for living green and making a difference under lockdown were: 

1. Home working

2. Cycling more

3. Being an armchair activist 

4. Growing your own

5. Going plant-based diet 

6. Becoming a citizen scientist 

7. Eating what you have (a response to panic buying)

8. Finishing those abandoned projects 

Each idea contained a little explanation of the problems to be tackled and why the idea would be beneficial for the planet. 

I was also pleased to give a shout out to the MARsCI citizen science project where Facebook users can upload photos of their marine biology 'spots' to aid research and to Grow Learning Gardens, who produce wooden planters especially designed for Bangkok balconies. 

I end the article by concluding: 

'Cynics may ask, why bother with all these efforts as health care systems struggle and the economy tanks? While 2020’s COVID-19 crisis is extremely challenging, it pales in comparison to our environmental crisis. From crisis comes opportunity, and positive steps like those above are not only good for the soul, adding hope and value to our lives, but they may translate into some of the big changes needed to solve the planetary peril we face.'

It's a fresher piece, with more of my own 'voice' and opinion in it than usual.  I wrote it with more urgency than normal. 

I hope it was inspiring in the dark times we were experiencing. To read the full article: click here. 

International School Awards 2020 - Winners!

My work as environmental sustainability coordinator at the school where I teach and my writing came together as 2019 came to a close and 2020 began:

International Schools Awards Ceremony in London. Photo: ICSREARCH.COM 

Our school was nominated for the International School Awards organized by International School Leader Magazine in the environmental initiative category.

The initiative in question was Bangkok based environmental education group Eco Beasts, which started life at our school but now stands as a fully independent project of its own. The school maintains an active Eco Beasts after school club, which I help run.

This lead to two opportunities to tell the story:

Firstly, the school asked me to write a promo piece announcing our nomination, published in Expat Life in Thailand. 

We then won, not only the environmental category but also international school of the year! 

So my second article told the Eco Beast story, as it unravelled in our school for a global audience of educators, appearing in International School Leader Magazine. Find the PDF here.

It was nice to be able to bring together my interests in both sustainability and education, as well as write about a considerable success!