2 hours ago, ThomasThBKK said:

Every country should at this point issue warnings to their citizens when it comes to traveling to thailand. 

 

The only way thailand ever learns is to go broke again... 

Well the UK Government certainly does.

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/thailand/local-laws-and-customs

 

 

31 minutes ago, Virt said:

Hopefully Thailand will lift the ban on E-cigs after they find a way to tax them properly.

It's not right to ban a tool that helps so many people move from normally cigarettes to a somewhat less dangerous product.

 

As a non smoker i prefer people to use E cigs compared to normal cigarettes.

 

No nasty smell of cigarettes in the clothes after visiting friends that use E cigs.

E-cig users don't throw cigarette buds all over the streets/beaches.

E-Cigs used with no flavour practially smells of nothing when used.

 

Off course it's not healthy to smoke E-cigs but it surely is better than regular cigarettes.

 

If not lifting the ban, why not sell a license that gives tourists an option to bring and use their own e-cigs.

 

 

They won't lift the ban as they (currently) derive no income from  it. Thats how I understand it anyhow.  Much better to ban it until some brown envelopes are passed around by the vape companies.

 

 

Col Prasarn flatly denied Cornu’s claim that his officers demanded a B40,000 bribe. “Karon Police had nothing to do with that,” he asserted.
 

Hands up anyone who believes this?

2 minutes ago, madmitch said:

Col Prasarn flatly denied Cornu’s claim that his officers demanded a B40,000 bribe. “Karon Police had nothing to do with that,” he asserted.
 

Hands up anyone who believes this?

As Forest Gump said, "stupid is as stupid does".

34 minutes ago, SammyT said:

I've been patiently waiting for them to lift the ban on shisha/turkish tobacco as well, but all I've ended up with are a bunch of places that are able to serve it in plain sight, presumably because of a favourable arrangement with local authorities. It's not perfect, but I'll take it in the absence of anything better!

Funny you should mention shisha as I often have a look on webcam taxi of various locations around Thailand and they seam to be on full view in use in a bar that only seams to open at weekends opposite a club full of Russian looking hookers obviously with work permits ????

3 minutes ago, Bugsy777 said:

As Forest Gump said, "stupid is as stupid does".

That’s your best attempt at being a smart arse??????

 

Come on... up your game, we deserve better....

2 hours ago, phuketrichard said:

NOTE;  

SHE CLAIMS

 

please tell me when thailand was broke or when ( expect year after Tsunami) the tourists stopped coming here?

Ah, the rub. Follow the money, if you dare.

13 minutes ago, sammieuk1 said:

Funny you should mention shisha as I often have a look on webcam taxi of various locations around Thailand and they seam to be on full view in use in a bar that only seams to open at weekends opposite a club full of Russian looking hookers obviously with work permits ????

They were also in plain sight on Samui a couple of years back too. Being sold on the beach and the bars/clubs with little regard for the ban, so I presume something favourable has been decided there too. 

 

Used to love going to "Little Arabia" and people-watching for a couple of hours with a shisha and a beer.

3 hours ago, KhaoTan said:

Ridiculous!  Haven't they bigger fish to fry than a e-cigarette?

 

 nothing to do with the ecig it's all about the 40k!!!

3 hours ago, KhaoTan said:

Ridiculous!  Haven't they bigger fish to fry than a e-cigarette?

 

These are the big fish
Who always try to eat down the small fish,
just the small fish.
I tell you what: they would do anything
To materialize their every wish. Oh yeah-eah-eah-eah.

Thailand is out of control. Is this the progress the govt can brag about? 

4 minutes ago, tlandtday said:

Thailand is out of control. Is this the progress the govt can brag about? 

Yes. It is exactly what the reforms were all about.

Everyday things seam to be worse than the previous in crackdown paradise keep calm and carry on vaping ???? 

18 minutes ago, SammyT said:

They were also in plain sight on Samui a couple of years back too. Being sold on the beach and the bars/clubs with little regard for the ban, so I presume something favourable has been decided there too. 

 

Used to love going to "Little Arabia" and people-watching for a couple of hours with a shisha and a beer.

I'm talking about said place but 4 days ago ????

Sounds like Phuket, the standard is 40,000 baht by the corrupt cops there.

48 minutes ago, Bugsy777 said:

As Forest Gump said, "stupid is as stupid does".

 

If you're going to invoke "stupid", you should at least spell it right.  It's 2 r's.

 

2 hours ago, buick said:

as a reminder to all, if you are at a police station in thailand and are offered the opportunity to pay a fine and leave the station, pay the fine.  no matter how outrageous it might seem.  you may feel you've done nothing wrong but you are in the police station and likely are not leaving unless the fine is paid. 

  

How do we know if we're being set up for an even bigger fall for bribery?  To a long stay expat, it may seem simple enough.  The place is corrupt to the core.  But to a normal tourist from a country run under the rule of law, it may seem like a trap.

 

Be honest...  Which offense do you think is more likely to get you deported?  Vaping, or bribing a local official.  Your answer depends on how long you've been in country...

 

 

1 minute ago, impulse said:

  

How do we know if we're being set up for an even bigger fall for bribery?  To a long stay expat, it may seem simple enough.  The place is corrupt to the core.  But to a normal tourist from a country run under the rule of law, it may seem like a trap.

 

Maybe the other EU countries will also report it in their newspapers...

 

This is something very outrageous in the EU, being deported for vaping....Thailand only krab!

its not just Thailand but its banned in several countries including Singapore and Hong kong

https://travelwireasia.com/2018/07/did-you-know-vaping-is-illegal-in-these-asian-countries/

 

Its hilarious how breaking the law in Thailand will be yet another nail in the Tourist coffin 

You guys may wish for it or even pray for it on your knees before bedy byes but.. AINT gonna happen !

 

As Yule Brenner said on tv before dying of lung cancer " what ever you do DOOONT smoke"

 

1 hour ago, bluesofa said:

Our survey says 

 

 

Just now, Chelseafan said:

They won't lift the ban as they (currently) derive no income from  it. Thats how I understand it anyhow.  Much better to ban it until some brown envelopes are passed around by the vape companies.

I've read the Thai Commerce Ministry, who implemented the ban in 2014, is working on adding e-cigs/vape gear to the excise tax schedule, which will make it "not illegal" anymore. 

 

Which is interesting because that was always the No-Brainer thing you would expect a Commerce Ministry (Excise Department) to do if they came across a product line being imported without collecting tax duty.  But it wasn't really about that at all. 

4 hours ago, fruitman said:

Welcome to Thailand!

Welcome out of Thailand. 

 

Deported. 

5 hours ago, darksidedog said:

And yet there are still vendors of them in markets all across the country. I understand that the law is the law, but this seems ridiculously excessive. Paying a nominal fine to the court, should have been the end of the matter, the deportation being to my mind unnecessary and over the top. I am pretty sure that will be another large number of potential tourists now going somewhere else instead. Amazing work Thailand! Shot yourself in the foot again.

Do not hold me to it, but from my understanding , she would have been on overstay by the time trial finished.

 

Police kept her passport, so she did not extend her visa making her overstay by more than 30 days.

 

You would think being detained would give some kind of allowance for visa but not in Thailand

4 hours ago, fruitman said:

Maybe the other EU countries will also report it in their newspapers...

 

This is something very outrageous in the EU, being deported for vaping....Thailand only krab!

However stupid we think this law is, she broke it. Whether this is a heavy-handed reaction by the Thai police is only based on her account. We are mistaking the fact that our laws and values carry weight in other countries. They don't!

 

 

E cigs are legal in many countries and probably used by millions.  Many people around the world aren't aware that it is a serious major crime in Thailand which carries a prison sentence.  Travel agents don't tell you, Thai immigration don't tell you and there are no warning signs.   They could be welcoming and give tourists the open tuning to declare and dump them on arrival.  Also don't sell them in markets that cater to tourism.

Sold on the street and other shops, people vaping in public, so what's going on, selective sampling? 

13 hours ago, chickenslegs said:

A cynical person might think that she was deported to prevent her from spreading further "false allegations" about the attempted bribary.

 

 

i think after you've been to court and found guilty of a crime its standard procedure to be deported back to your owe country. 

13 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

I've always maintained... smoking can be dangerous to your health and welfare.... especially in Thailand!

 

Especially in Chiang Mai/Lampang area where every citizen is "smoking" 24/7.

12 hours ago, billd766 said:

In all my visits to Thailand since 1993 and the fact that I have lived here since 2001 I have actually never been to Phuket.

 

From the reports that I read here and in the BKK Post I shan't bother to go there either. I am quite happy living in Nakhon Nowhere where the people are friendly and the smiles are genuine.

You keep dreaming mate!