Photo: TOP Varawut – ท็อป วราวุธ ศิลปอาชา/Facebook
After some work tracking down the offenders, park employees packed up the litter and sent it with a note saying, “You have forgotten some of your belongings at the Khao Yai National Park. Please let us return these to you.”
Photo: TOP Varawut – ท็อป วราวุธ ศิลปอาชา/Facebook
The practice was supported by Varawut Silpa-archa, Thailand’s minister of natural resources and environment, who reminded people via Facebook to take their trash with them upon departure, and threatened to send it to them as a souvenir if they did not. He added that campers who break the park rules will be reported to the police.
Litterers in Thai national parks face fines of up to $16,000 and five years in prison. The campers responsible for this particular incident were blacklisted and banned from returning to the park for overnight stays. 