"These volunteers will act as a good model and alert people to the crisis," the Bangkok Post quoted permanent secretary for natural resources and environment Jatuporn Burutphat as saying.
At a two-day meeting of the volunteer's network, which ended on December 4, Jatuporn said The volunteers will run the campaign in parallel with 75 stores which plan to ban plastic bags across their 24,500 retail distribution channels from January 1 next year.
He admitted the authority has limited manpower to carry on this uphill task.
Apart of volunteers' disseminating environmental messages, the ministry will also use online communication channels such as Line, Facebook and Youtube to get messages across.
Every year Thailand generates up to 45 billion used plastic bags, the paper cited the Pollution Control Department’s data.
About 30 percent, or 13.5 billion of them, come from grocery stores while an equal amount comes from shopping malls, supermarkets and convenience stores.
Thailand has been named the sixth-highest marine polluter in the world.
About 2,172 tonnes of the 24 million tonnes of waste Thailand produces annually finds its way to the sea.
