The one-two gut punch of dead, adorable sea creatures may be met with calls of action, but a young Thai climate crusader worries it won’t shock society into sustained action.
Nanticha “Lynn” Ocharoenchai, who is organizing Bangkok’s third Climate Strike rally next month, said it’s high time for all Thais to consider the source, production and disposal of every product they consume, plastic or not.
“We shouldn’t only give attention to cute animals – all species play an important role in the ecosystem, and humans impact all of them one way or the other,” she told Coconuts Bangkok. “Regardless, it is at least a good start to see how social media is being used to raise this awareness. I hope that awareness turns to actual action and changes in lifestyle, instead of being just another hyped trend that will soon die off.”
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Nanticha, 21, was a Chulalongkorn University student when she organized Bangkok’s first Climate Strike event in March, importing a campaign that started with Swedish teen Greta Thunberg that has spread to cities around the world in the past year.
The Sept. 20 event will focus on “concrete demands” for the government to declare a climate emergency and set a goal of switching to 100% renewable energy sources by 2050, she said. Those demands will be delivered along with a petition signed at a previous Climate Strike event to the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry in time for a UN Climate Change Summit on Sept. 23.
Still, she understands there may not be a mass outpouring of public support but considers it “a powerful demonstration of people power and voice demanding climate justice and action from the Thai government.”
A majority of people who showed up for the first event in March were foreign-born; Nanticha said more Thais turned out for the follow-up in May.
“It shows that a portion of the public really cares, and many have tried to make individual lifestyle changes, which definitely helps to create collective impact, but at the end of the day, the biggest impact will have to come from decision-makers in the government and corporations, and it is their responsibility to fulfill that duty,” she said.
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She cited events such as the recent Trash Hero cleanup in Bangkok’s Bang Kachao green lung, which saw hundreds of volunteers clear tons of trash as a cause for hope.
For the Sept. 20 event, the public is invited to start out in the morning from the Capital Mansion near BTS Saphan Kwai. Find more information online.
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