National Park Mails Trash Back to Tourists

Some visitors to Thailand's beautiful Khao Yai National Park will be receiving a memento of their trip—all the trash they left behind. In a series of Facebook posts, Environment Minister Varawut Silpa-archa slammed campers who left garbage strewn around a campsite over the weekend and said officials should take it to the post office and send it back to them, the Bangkok Post reports. He added a photo of a package of trash that was being returned to the tourists. "You forgot these things at Khao Yai National Park," says a note with the package.

Authorities say the trash is a hazard for the park's wildlife, which includes numerous endangered species and some of the country's only remaining herds of wild elephants. Visitors to the 770-square-mile park near Bangkok are required to register with their names and addresses, which has made it easy for authorities to track litterbugs down, the BBC reports. Park officials have also lodged a complaint with police, meaning the offenders could face a fine of up to $16,000 and a possible prison sentence for littering in a national park. (More Thailand stories.)