Wishes for 2023: Think hard about plastic, take Thai efforts further

This picture taken on May 24, 2019 shows Mariam the dugong as she is cared for by park officials and veterinarians from the Phuket Marine Biological Centre on Libong island, Trang province in southern Thailand. The orphaned baby dugong rescued off a beach in Krabi province is Thailand's newest star, capturing the hearts of millions on social media and igniting an awarness for ocean conservation as authorities hand-raise the young mammal. She eventually died in August 2019.

A photo taken on May 24, 2019 shows Mariam the dugong. The marine mammal died after ingesting plastic that clogged her stomach.

PHOTO: AFP

Tan Hui Yee

BANGKOK - Thailand started 2020 with a ban on single-use plastic. In the burst of enthusiasm that followed, people turned up at convenience stores with fishing nets, buckets, and even wheelbarrows, to cart away their purchases.

Mariam, the orphaned baby dugong turned national darling,

had died just months earlier.

The marine mammal had ingested plastic that clogged her stomach.

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