“The data are unambiguous,” said Anond Snidvongs, director of START, a global climate research body and lead scientist on the project. “Thailand’s efforts to fight global warming have not only failed miserably, they’ve made things worse.” He specifically cited the retail industry, which has been responsible for over 300 different anti-global-warming products since environmentalism became trendy among Bangkok’s middle class in 2002. “T-shirts, jackets, caps, and those stupid cloth bags,” he explained, “all of them are made from non-renewable imported cotton, manufactured in Chinese factories, shipped by diesel-burning trucks and boats, and worn by people who don’t need any more clothes or accessories. Basically, just more consumption by those who consume too much already.”

The report also found that the cloth tote bags which advertise their own non-plasticity, and which were supposed to discourage the use of plastic bags, actually increased the carbon footprint of their owners on average. According to Vichien Kerdsuk, a collaborating researcher, the ubiquitous bags had no effect where they were really needed. “Users still consumed about nine (plastic) bags a day at convenience stores and food stalls,” he said, “and just used the cloth totes on weekends to show off at Central World. Worse, many started buying plastic garbage bags to replace the grocery bags they used to re-use at home.”

Additional pollution came from the numerous non-recyclable peripherals generated by global warming awareness campaigns paid for by the marketing departments of corporations that wanted to appear earth-friendly. The report calculated that these campaigns alone created 4500 tons of carbon emissions through their sheer wastefulness and irrelevance. Last winter’s Emporium Grand Sale was cited as a particularly egregious example. “The theme was The Green Planet, for which they brought in 12,000 large plants to turn the lobby and pavilion into some kind of vivarium,” explained Anond. “By our estimates, that alone required the burning of 5,000 liters of diesel for transport, not to mention the eventual disposal of 12,000 living, oxygen-giving plants.”

Other corporations that ran so-called “green campaigns” since 2005 include Mercedes-Benz, Unilever, P&G, PTT, Siam Cement, and Thai Airways, generating some 20 million tons of paper waste through brochures, calendars, and throw-away invitations to air-conditioned, brightly illuminated gala events or launch parties that had global-warming themes. “These are some of the worst offenders when it comes to environmentalism,” noted Vichien. “I mean THAI telling us to save the earth by packing less luggage? How about by not flying at all? Or PTT with their E85, which will  require us to buy new cars. And don’t even get me started on how many disposable, non bio-degradable packages Unilever produces in a single month. It’s sickening.”

The report recommends an immediate moratorium on global-warming awareness campaigns and a strict ban on global-warning products that “don’t actually do anything functional.” Suggested regulations include legal restrictions on the use of the terms “global warming,” “earth-friendly,” and “environmentally conscious” to corporations which can demonstrate a measurable reduction in net pollution or carbon emissions, and a complete ban on the attachment of any green theme to a party that provides parking for 100 cars or more.

Spokespersons for the corporations cited declined comment for this report, but the press office for Siam Cement, the country’s largest producer of paper, petrochemical plastics, and construction materials, issued a statement saying in part that “Siam Cement remains committed to a greener future for the nation and its children,” while Thai Airways responded with a free copy of its 2009 calendar “The Beauty of our Planet.”