Smoking Ban

[esprit]

Just a reminder for those going to the UK in the Summer and that is a smoking ban is due to come into force on 1 July. It covers virtually all enclosed public places including offices, factories, pubs and bars. But neither outdoor space nor private homes will be affected.

When or will it happen here do you think?

[luckyluke]

Just a reminder for those going to the UK in the Summer and that is a smoking ban is due to come into force on 1 July. It covers virtually all enclosed public places including offices, factories, pubs and bars. But neither outdoor space nor private homes will be affected.

When or will it happen here do you think?

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

As non smoker i hope as soon as possible ,

[richard10365]

Just a reminder for those going to the UK in the Summer and that is a smoking ban is due to come into force on 1 July. It covers virtually all enclosed public places including offices, factories, pubs and bars. But neither outdoor space nor private homes will be affected.

When or will it happen here do you think?

When Thailand gets warp drive engine.

[garro]

They introduced the smoking ban in the Irish Republic a few years ago and from what I have heard and seen on my visits it has been a great success. When it was first introduced a lot of smokers thought the world was going to end but it didn't.

I think anything that discourages people from smoking or encourages them to smoke less is a great idea. I hope it is fully introduced in Thailand soon.

[kmart]

In Thailand? Hmm,.. Dunno. There is usually more smoke outside the restaurant / pub you might be sitting in anyway. Ten-wheelers belching fumes out; people burning <deleted>, because they can't be arsed to dispose of it any other way; factories spewing out illegal filth; etc.

Smoke from cigarettes is annoying to non-smokers, but let's get some priorities first. The ban will be adopted and only selectively enforced here. Laws here are sometimes copied wholesale from Western edicts, just to try and make Thailand seem "developed."

Enforcement will only be in Western tourist areas, I imagine.

[dumspero]

Not a smoker, but it will happen the day before I leave... Then off to waters less infested with the behavior police. Fortunately, it looks like a long time before those well-intended evil doers will have success with such a move in Thailand. Hopefully they'll enjoy the same failures as Christian missionaries.

I just can't fathom how second hand smoke is sufficiently infringing on the rest of us to curb the activity by law. What next? Monthly bad-fats quotas (since our own bad health costs the 'system,' and thus others, money)?

[Phil Conners]

buh bye dumspero.

Another misguided hit at "freedom".

Freedom to pollute the air I am going to breathe huh? Will you pay my hospital bill when I am in with one of the many illnesses you get from second hand smoke?

Stop using general pollution as an excuse, two wrongs does not make a right.

[dumspero]

Phil- Just the kind of squishy thinking that's led so many Western countries down the road to not being free. Tocqueville and others correctly noted that the biggest threat to freedom in a democracy is not from the right, but instead from the left--i.e. not from a fascist takeover (obviously possible, but an obvious threat), but instead from the subtle, creeping tide of regulation. And of course each new law is made with the best of intentions, and generally justified as protecting people from others.

Of course each should have the right to live reasonably free from the interference of others, and so the issue is of course where to draw the line. I believe that we should draw the line conservatively in the sense that we allow more rather than less, that we require people to be tolerant of others' smoking, music, talking, speech, etc. more liberally than we restrict the behavior of people.

Second hand smoke is not substantially more dangerous, I suspect (although admittedly without any sound surveys to quote), than many other dangers caused by other activities in which people engage that put others at risk (cell phones and other distractions while driving; new drivers; old drivers) or by other things people do that can harm others (involvement in businesses that market unsafe drugs, involvement in the medical industry that pushes long term use of drugs, etc.)

So you go live in a country that regulates as much as possible pursuant to what the elites say is right for everyone else and I'll go live in a country where people are more free to live their lives as they choose.

[dave111223]

I think it should be up to the business owners to decide. If the pub owner does not want people smoking in his pub, then he has to right to stop people smoking in his pub.

If more people prefer to sit in a smokeless pub then wouldn't the pub owners have already banned smoking?

(same goes for the business owners of all kind)

Edited February 16, 2007 by dave111223

[Pink Mist]

Smokers are the social lepers of today, ban it

[Chang_paarp]

Thialand does have a ban on smoking in pubs, retraunts and government offices.

Did you miss the signs?

A mate was told to put the signs up in his bar, when asked where, the official pointed to just above the ash tray. Did he have to stop smoking? No different.

[Jeffery Stanthorpe]

I can rememeber my grandmother ( god rest her dear old soul) had a saying .. which she was fond off.

" if you don't like the smell in the kitchen get out "

i use that as a kinda mantra if i get stressed at something as u usually have a choice ..

[PhilHarries]

I think it should be up to the business owners to decide. If the pub owner does not want people smoking in his pub, then he has to right to stop people smoking in his pub.

If more people prefer to sit in a smokeless pub then wouldn't the pub owners have already banned smoking?

(same goes for the business owners of all kind)

Exactly, I argued on another thread that the bar/restaurant owner is the business person who makes the decision. A particular section of society is targetted and the rules set accordingly. If smoking is permitted and the trade is insufficient to support the business there are two options. Go under or change to a non-smoking venue, but let that be the decision of the businessman with no government interference. Provided the policy is clearly stated outside the establishment then the choice is up to the customer.

The way it's going in the UK I can forsee a time when smokers will have to have a symbol sewn into their clothing, like a yellow star perhaps?

PS I have never smoked in my life but defend the rights of others to do so.

[luckyluke]

I think it should be up to the business owners to decide. If the pub owner does not want people smoking in his pub, then he has to right to stop people smoking in his pub.

If more people prefer to sit in a smokeless pub then wouldn't the pub owners have already banned smoking?

(same goes for the business owners of all kind)

Exactly, I argued on another thread that the bar/restaurant owner is the business person who makes the decision. A particular section of society is targetted and the rules set accordingly. If smoking is permitted and the trade is insufficient to support the business there are two options. Go under or change to a non-smoking venue, but let that be the decision of the businessman with no government interference. Provided the policy is clearly stated outside the establishment then the choice is up to the customer.

The way it's going in the UK I can forsee a time when smokers will have to have a symbol sewn into their clothing, like a yellow star perhaps?

PS I have never smoked in my life but defend the rights of others to do so.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Why a symbol?,you can detect already a smoker by his bad(for me) smell.

[swerve]

I hope the Kingdom continues to smoke hard. Keep all the choices you can. If you want the PC crap go back to the west and bury yourself in it. I don't smoke and I don't dictate either.

[kmart]

I'm a recent quitter (I hate that word, it denotes lack of willpower, no?) But I don't mind other people smoking. Problem is, what will they think of next? There is always some liberal twit thinking up ways to save us from ourselves. Just piss off already, <deleted>!

[dboy]

i agree, so many do gooders. soon we'll have so many rules that we will end no better than robots

[Mighty Mouse]

The need to introduce legislation to curb any bad, unhealthy habits/practices, is made necessary by the actions of irresponsible and arrogant people....such as smokers, the majority of whom couldn't care less about the comforts/needs of others around them.

It's not just the smoke that makes life miserable for others, it's also the holes in clothing that occur when a drunken smoker brushes the tip of his/her cigarette against another person.

I've had a very expensive wool sweater ruined by burn hole caused by a smoker who walked through a crowded room not being mindful of the lit cigarette in his hand.

Smoking indoors will soon be banned in Australia as well. It can't come soon enough as far as I'm concerned.

Many of our beaches also have a smoking ban. Again, necessary from irresponsible smokers stubbing out and leaving their butts in the sand.

Smokers were dumb enough to take up the habit in the first place and are still too dumb to realize what damage to the environment can be caused by discarded cigarette butts entering storm water facilities that flow into the sea.

Smokers claiming to enjoy a cigarette are usually the ones who are too weak to kick the habit.

Feed your cravings inside your own homes if you must but not in public places....and don't make your own young children victims of your toxic fumes within their home environment.

Edited February 17, 2007 by Mighty Mouse

[Ulysses G.]

Smokers were dumb enough to take up the habit in the first place and are still too dumb to realize what damage to the environment can be caused by discarded cigarette butts entering storm water facilities that flow into the sea.

Smokers claiming to enjoy a cigarette are usually the ones who are too weak to kick the habit.

Feed your cravings inside your own homes if you must but not in public places....and don't make your own young children victims of your toxic fumes within their home environment.

[kmart]

Seems to be quite an emotive subject....

Pity that (at least on a Thailand-related forum) people getting all snippy about the dangers of smoking might not appreciate that the actual road journey to the nearest 7/11 is probably more dangerous than anything you could buy there.

There are tons more interesting ways to die in Thailand than smoking / inhaling cigarette smoke.

Edited February 17, 2007 by kmart

[Jet Gorgon]

I think many folks come to Thailand for the relaxed regulations and the fact that you are responsible for yourself. You can have a beer and walk down the beach, pile five people on a bike, burn leaves in your garden, hang laundry on the balcony, have pets, be nice to other people for the simple reason of wanting to be nice, etc. Most of my Thai time is outdoors and my home's doors and windows are always open. Cigarette smoke wafts away faster than the black exhaust of bikes and lorries or the stink of my neighbour's burning plastic pile and greasy fried food. Turn on the fan!

Sure, in enclosed spaces, I do not smoke. But I hate aircon so avoid indoor spaces. Have you ever had to sit beside a hungover, unbathed farang who has gas on a visa run minibus? Gimme a smoke.

And the last time I went to immigration, a nice aircon room and no smoking signs everywhere, the kind official was leaning back in his chair enjoying a mighty fine Marlboro Dang.

Tolerance and no stress. That's the Thai way.

BTW, Dumspero, nice reference to Alexis! Democracy in America, 555

[Mighty Mouse]

I think many folks come to Thailand for the relaxed regulations and the fact that you are responsible for yourself.

Not taking responsibility for your own actions is the reason for the introduction of prohibitive, controlling government laws.

You are not only "responsible for yourself", you are also responsible for those around you. This is what most smokers fail to accept.

I can think back to the early days of air travel when smoking was permitted during flights. Flying to and from Thailand was misery for we non-smokers, irrespective of being seated in the non-smoking sections of the aircraft.

The airline companies realized that they couldn't protect non-smokers from second hand tobacco smoke so rather than face legal action they banned smoking altogether.

This same reasoning is the driving factor behind prohibiting smoking in certain areas, both indoors and outdoors.

The next step will to ban smoking on all public streets. Smokers seem to love lighting up whilst walking along busy footpaths. Non-smokers are forced to walk through plumes of their second hand smoke.

Again, this all boils down to smokers inflicting others with the spoils of their unhealthy habits.

[Jet Gorgon]

I think many folks come to Thailand for the relaxed regulations and the fact that you are responsible for yourself.

Not taking responsibility for your own actions is the reason for the introduction of prohibitive, controlling government laws.

You are not only "responsible for yourself", you are also responsible for those around you.

Thank you, Might Moe, that is the one of the most assinine comments I have every heard. And it gave me a heartier laugh than anything on the joke forum today. If I was a non-smoking guttersnipe that happened to fall down convulsing on the street from a brain seizure, I bet you would be the first to run the other way (can't be late now and not my problem). You probably kick stray dogs for being stray dogs and blame George W for every woe in the world, too.

[Pink Mist]

I think many folks come to Thailand for the relaxed regulations and the fact that you are responsible for yourself.

Not taking responsibility for your own actions is the reason for the introduction of prohibitive, controlling government laws.

You are not only "responsible for yourself", you are also responsible for those around you.

Thank you, Might Moe, that is the one of the most assinine comments I have every heard. And it gave me a heartier laugh than anything on the joke forum today. If I was a non-smoking guttersnipe that happened to fall down convulsing on the street from a brain seizure, I bet you would be the first to run the other way (can't be late now and not my problem). You probably kick stray dogs for being stray dogs and blame George W for every woe in the world, too.

I happen to agree with mouse and your comments don't address any of the issues in his post.

[Jet Gorgon]

I think many folks come to Thailand for the relaxed regulations and the fact that you are responsible for yourself.

Not taking responsibility for your own actions is the reason for the introduction of prohibitive, controlling government laws.

You are not only "responsible for yourself", you are also responsible for those around you.

Thank you, Might Moe, that is the one of the most assinine comments I have every heard. And it gave me a heartier laugh than anything on the joke forum today. If I was a non-smoking guttersnipe that happened to fall down convulsing on the street from a brain seizure, I bet you would be the first to run the other way (can't be late now and not my problem). You probably kick stray dogs for being stray dogs and blame George W for every woe in the world, too.

I happen to agree with mouse and your post doesn't address any of the issues in his post.

Sure it does, Bronco. I said initially that in Thailand, we are responsible for each of ourselves. Keep the peace because you want to keep the peace with neighbours. As I said previously, I do not smoke in confined rooms and frankly, non-smokers sit with me regardless because they like the conversation. Stress and so much judgement is what makes people go sick, in my opinion. "Why don't people do things the way I want?" "This is wrong!" "Get me the manager!" "Look at this research!" I do not believe everything I read, and I do not believe everything some person says, just because they have a document to wave that espouts their theory. The sky is always falling. I have sat with a sick child on a HK street, I have sheltered unknown backpackers, taken in stray dogs with numerous illnesses...maybe the tobacco fumes stood guard. I'm still alive.

[Ulysses G.]

Mighty Mouse is correct that smoking is a stupid, disgusting habit and should be banned altogether in the future, however, for years, society brainwashed people into thinking that that inhaling this poisonous, foul stench was somehow "cool" and attractive.

I feel that we need to slow down on prohibiting them in bars and and give the folks who bought the company line time to die off and the younger ones time to adjust to reality.

Cigarettes are not stylish; they are a dirty, nasty, waste of money and a waste of lives, but a lot of people are hooked already. We can't just expect them to stop cold turkey.

Edited February 18, 2007 by Ulysses G.

[Pink Mist]

I think many folks come to Thailand for the relaxed regulations and the fact that you are responsible for yourself.

Not taking responsibility for your own actions is the reason for the introduction of prohibitive, controlling government laws.

You are not only "responsible for yourself", you are also responsible for those around you.

Thank you, Might Moe, that is the one of the most assinine comments I have every heard. And it gave me a heartier laugh than anything on the joke forum today. If I was a non-smoking guttersnipe that happened to fall down convulsing on the street from a brain seizure, I bet you would be the first to run the other way (can't be late now and not my problem). You probably kick stray dogs for being stray dogs and blame George W for every woe in the world, too.

I happen to agree with mouse and your post doesn't address any of the issues in his post.

Sure it does, Bronco. I said initially that in Thailand, we are responsible for each of ourselves. Keep the peace because you want to keep the peace with neighbours. As I said previously, I do not smoke in confined rooms and frankly, non-smokers sit with me regardless because they like the conversation. Stress and so much judgement is what makes people go sick, in my opinion. "Why don't people do things the way I want?" "This is wrong!" "Get me the manager!" "Look at this research!" I do not believe everything I read, and I do not believe everything some person says, just because they have a document to wave that espouts their theory. The sky is always falling. I have sat with a sick child on a HK street, I have sheltered unknown backpackers, taken in stray dogs with numerous illnesses...maybe the tobacco fumes stood guard. I'm still alive.

kicking stray dogs and blaming gyy was sensible.

we are responsible for each of us is also sensless, some things are beyond our control, his example of aeroplane travel was a good one, captive evironment, breathing second hand smoke, lets get a grip.

[Jet Gorgon]

kicking stray dogs and blaming gyy was sensible.

we are responsible for each of us is also sensless, some things are beyond our control, his example of aeroplane travel was a good one, captive evironment, breathing second hand smoke, lets get a grip.

Smoking on airlines, public spaces, etc, are a thing of the past. My initial point of difference in logic with Might Mouse was on the point that "you are also responsible for those around you". So, is that not smoking and giving all my wages to take care of the poor people around me?"

Actually, his argument said nothing of supporting folks, but only of judging and criticising.

In my view, life is learning about tolerance and how to cohabitate peacefully and forgiving others' weaknesses as you hope they will forgive your own. Enjoy!

Start judging, you whinge, you stress, and then you get an ulcer or cancer, and mebbe you will get crabby and cheap enough to blame your illnesses on toxins coming from a smoker or whatever you can dream up to blame on from ten years ago. Get over it.

Maybe try to enjoy things as they are. I don't think the gods put us here to fight.

As I light up a dam fine cheroot to complement my dam fine glass of cheap wine while patting the head of a dam fine mangey one-eyed mutt, I say to y'all, give an anonymous helping hand to a stranger in need instead of judging, spitting and walking away.

[dave111223]

You are not only "responsible for yourself", you are also responsible for those around you. This is what most smokers fail to accept.

Very interesting how you try to play off the philosophy that you believe to be correct as the one that is infact correct.

If you are responsible for those around you, where do you draw the line? If you truly believe this should you not dedicate your every waking minute to ensuring those around you are doing "the right thing" as you are responsible for them.

P.S i take you travel ever where by bike or walking?

Edited February 18, 2007 by dave111223

[Pink Mist]

kicking stray dogs and blaming gyy was sensible.

we are responsible for each of us is also sensless, some things are beyond our control, his example of aeroplane travel was a good one, captive evironment, breathing second hand smoke, lets get a grip.

Smoking on airlines, public spaces, etc, are a thing of the past. My initial point of difference in logic with Might Mouse was on the point that "you are also responsible for those around you". So, is that not smoking and giving all my wages to take care of the poor people around me?"

Actually, his argument said nothing of supporting folks, but only of judging and criticising.

In my view, life is learning about tolerance and how to cohabitate peacefully and forgiving others' weaknesses as you hope they will forgive your own. Enjoy!

Start judging, you whinge, you stress, and then you get an ulcer or cancer, and mebbe you will get crabby and cheap enough to blame your illnesses on toxins coming from a smoker or whatever you can dream up to blame on from ten years ago. Get over it.

Maybe try to enjoy things as they are. I don't think the gods put us here to fight.

As I light up a dam fine cheroot to complement my dam fine glass of cheap wine while patting the head of a dam fine mangey one-eyed mutt, I say to y'all, give an anonymous helping hand to a stranger in need instead of judging, spitting and walking away.

you dont have to blame people for second hand smoke it's a proven fact in law, let's not worry about medicine

typical smoker I guess, no consideration for the air you pollute