Thai media says three levels of authority will be able to fine smokers on Thai beaches

[webfact]

Thai media says three levels of authority will be able to fine smokers on Thai beaches

 

Picture: Daily News

 

The Thai authorities are pushing ahead with plans to ban smoking from 24 Thai beaches with jail terms of one year or 100,000 baht fines - or both - in place from February 1st.

 

Before then campaigns to inform the Thai public and tourists will be carried out.

 

Text messages will be sent after all mobile phone operators agreed to join in the campaign organised by the department of marine and coastal resources.

 

In addition there will be sticker and leaflet distribution to make sure everyone knows what awaits those that flout the law.

 

Daily News reported that local authorities, tesakit officers and tourist police will be able to arrest people for smoking.

 

Meanwhile in Hua Hin tents have been set up for smokers in two locations - near the Centara Grand and in the area near the ferry in Hua Don.

 

Picture: Daily News

 

Signage is also going up along a large swathe of Cha Am and Hua Hin beaches totaling 8 kilometers.

 

The man behind the scheme - Jatuporn Burutphat - was in the area yesterday surveying the work so far.

 

SourceL Daily News

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2017-11-17

[Dexlowe]

There could be a fourth level -- vigilante gangs with power to flog offenders on the spot. Scouts could be secreted in disguised pits in the sand, ready to leap out at the first whiff of smoke. Specially trained dogs could also be employed -- after detecting a criminal trying to smoke discretely, the dogs would bite the offender in the groin. US drone experts could also be brought in to train locals on how to use heat-seeking drones. But the best weapon against smoking on the beach would be the Navy SEALS -- they could lie in wait off the beach ready to storm ashore at the first sign of smoking. 

Ahh Thailand. Where no crime goes unpunished. 

[Thechook]

Millions of tourists coming so they had better start building more prisons or bank vaults

[ezzra]

Only 3 levels ???? nah, make it 10 levels, and throw in few ' crackdowns'

and couple of ' swoops' and 'blitzes' just to make sure that god forbid,

there will no smoking on the beach...way to go Thailand.....

[JAG]

There could be a fourth level -- vigilante gangs with power to flog offenders on the spot. Scouts could be secreted in disguised pits in the sand, ready to leap out at the first whiff of smoke. Specially trained dogs could also be employed -- after detecting a criminal trying to smoke discretely, the dogs would bite the offender in the groin. US drone experts could also be brought in to train locals on how to use heat-seeking drones. But the best weapon against smoking on the beach would be the Navy SEALS -- they could lie in wait off the beach ready to storm ashore at the first sign of smoking. 

Ahh Thailand. Where no crime goes unpunished. 

Millions of tourists coming so they had better start building more prisons or bank vaults

Don't worry, once the first couple of tourists have been fined and imprisoned for having a smoke the problem will go away.

As will the tourists...


Sent from my KENNY using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[djayz]

Am all in favour of banning smoking on the beaches - am sick and tired of seeing disgarded cigarette butts strewn around in the sand - but I wonder which is the bigger eyesore: 1) cigarette butts 2) "stickers and leaflets" dumped on the beach because there are no bins or 3) all the signs they're going to put up? 

[Samui Bodoh]

While I am okay with banning smoking on the beaches, I am deeply concerned with the management of this policy; nowhere in the story did it mention a committee to implement the policy!

 

How can you have a policy without a committee? 

 

Anarchy... Madness... Chaos... What the hell is happening???

[stanleycoin]

All this effort,  all this money,  all these people.

threats of Jail terms, 100,000 baht fines,  why ? over smoking on the beach.

 

Thousands of men , women, and children die of the roads here every year.

and you do nothing.

The Authorities of Thailand<deleted>  you should all be be removed from office today.  You care not about your people, 

 

 

 

 

[crazygreg44]

i want to see the first tourist who gets charged 100,000 Baht for smoking

 

better . .gets thrown in jail for one year and his wife can fly back home alone

 

I want to see what the embassy of said tourist is going to do about it.

 

and I want to see how long it takes for the world media to make Thailand laughing stock, laughing out so loud it will rock the moon

 

so much stupidity and fail on addressing the REAL problems on these beaches, on the infrastructure of their resorts and all that really matters,  leaves me speechless

Edited November 16, 2017 by crazygreg44

[stephen tracy]

A jail term for smoking?  This wont be abused for bribes at all... nope.  The moment they throw the first tourist in jail (because no Thai will face that punishment), it will hit the media and you can say goodbye to a lot of tourists.  I wonder if they'll be even-handed when dealing with Chinese and non-Chinese tourists.  

[RotMahKid]

Is it also possible to put the offender on video with your phone, run to the police and get half of the fine?

[crazygreg44]

Thailand's governing bodies, you better come over by a given weekend and watch how Thai people behave when they hoard on the beaches  . . they throw cigarette butts to the ground, they flip crown caps away, they will leave the remains of their somtam and their whisky bottles and tens of thousands of plastic bags on their clean (???) beaches. 

 

If you would take a shovel and dig 10 centimeters deep at any Thai Beach, you would find all the litter and trash Thai people left there over the recent years

 

How are you going to deal with the littering of millions of thai people ?

 

Neglect it?

 

Look in the other direction as usual ?

 

Make foreign tourists responsible for you home made problems?

 

Shame to whom earns the shame and leave tourists alone, please

 

 

[Thian]

Yes smoking on the beach is much much worse than driving against traffic....

[ignis]

many years ago back in the 70's &

80's used to live in the South of France, every morning tractors with big racks would go along the beaches behind them would be tractors with like a big wire mesh collecting the little bits, at the end of the beaches a dumper would load trailers with all the rubbish. 

 

The beaches would look great every single day...... Moved further south, was the same on beaches in Portugal but much smaller scale [ lived in the Algarve 13 years]

 

How often are the beaches cleaned here ?

[wgdanson]

So we shall ALL get text messages saying not to smoke on the beach. How about texts saying DRIVE ON THE LEFT, DO NOT SPEED, WEAR HELMETS, etc etc. 

[impulse]

Does anyone else see any irony in the smoking areas of the OP photo being sponsored by a hospital?

 

Or that the cigarette in the "smoking area" signs look pretty much identical to the universally accepted "no smoking" signs, except with no diagonal slash across the circle?

Edited November 17, 2017 by impulse

[DavisH]

1 hour ago, stephen tracy said:

A jail term for smoking?  This wont be abused for bribes at all... nope.  The moment they throw the first tourist in jail (because no Thai will face that punishment), it will hit the media and you can say goodbye to a lot of tourists.  I wonder if they'll be even-handed when dealing with Chinese and non-Chinese tourists.  

A large proportion of Europeans smoke. I' sure they will be thrilled with these new rules. 

 

And how exactly does smoking affect health in an open area, especially on a beach? Don't tell me it's about littering....the beaches here are a  mess as it is. 

 

Let's try 100K fines for not wearing a helmet on a bike first....surely vehicular accidents cause much more death and disablement in this country (and not tourists smoking on beaches).  

[JonnyF]

They should really be focusing on all forms of littering (bags, polystyrene, beer cans, bottles etc.) and provide bins that are emptied daily.

 

However, I can't say I'm really sad about the smoking ban. Having someone's smoke (and ashtray contents on a windy day) blow all over me just as a beer and seafood arrives on my beach table is pretty annoying. When I smoked I'd take it upon myself to move away from other people (especially if they were eating) if I wanted to spark up, but unfortunately a lot of smokers don't have the same consideration for others. I just hope they implement it properly, I suspect it will just be used to extort cash from tourists.

[flyingdoc]

I am against smoking in many areas, particularly restaurants, but surely this is getting priorities completely wrong?

[Barbarossa0309]

First level should be to inform all tourist companies in the world, so that they can include it in their brochures and catalogues, which beaches are smoke and booze free. This helps the people to choose their holiday destination before they board an airplane.

[Emster23]

Only three levels? Happened to be chatting with friend who owns restaurant here in Patts. He has to pay off five levels of authority every month. And now Bangkok police have been brought in to help ensure whatever service it is these authorities supposedly provide.

[klauskunkel]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Daily News reported that local authorities, tesakit officers and tourist police will be able to arrest people for smoking.

For a fine of 100,000 baht, I demand to be arrested by the military!

[Thian]

26 minutes ago, DavisH said:

Let's try 100K fines for not wearing a helmet on a bike first....surely vehicular accidents cause much more death and disablement in this country (and not tourists smoking on beaches).  

I don't care if drivers wear a helmet or not, it doesn't hurt me at all.

 

But when they drive against traffic while the police told me several times to dlive lept i sure have an issue with that. I do wear my helmet and my bike is 100% original and maintained by the dealer.

 

And of course it doesn't matter that all the littered plastic crap floats into the sea after a flooding...they are not going to do anything about that.

[upena]

No littering would be a better campaign. Tons of bottles and plastic bags do far more damage than cigarette butts.

[AhFarangJa]

Where are the ashtray bins in the photo. Or will they use the flowerpots....?

[Cadbury]

10 minutes ago, klauskunkel said:

For a fine of 100,000 baht, I demand to be arrested by the military!

I can't help being cynical but perhaps the fine has been set high for a particular reason. In normal circumstances the amount of the bribe (extortion) is directly proportional to the amount of the fine. It appears the local authorities, tesakit officers and tourist police will make a motza out of this new law. Of course a percentage of their collections will have to go to the RTP and others further up the food chain. Plenty for all to go around! 

[sammieuk1]

Great to see the full weight of the law will be metered out for such a heinous crime of open air smoking  it will feel so much safer on the roads now.  

[sharpjwe]

No sympathy for the filthy smokers

have been littering the world for years 

i have picked up fag ends daily on the 20 meter stretch in front of my property 

never one smoker owned up

fine them and give them a 200 bag to fill with tab ends .

only justice for their careless littering 

[sharpjwe]

18 minutes ago, AhFarangJa said:

Where are the ashtray bins in the photo. Or will they use the flowerpots....?

Smokers use flower pots already.

carry your own ashtray !

along with your death packet of stinky smokes.

 

[sharpjwe]

5 minutes ago, sammieuk1 said:

Great to see the full weight of the law will be metered out for such a heinous crime of open air smoking  it will feel so much safer on the roads now.  

Do not go out of the subject at hand 

I agree road problems need to be taken care of.

responsablity to all 

own up to what are yours

do not spill out in all directions