New laws target people in Thailand who smoke at home

[webfact]

New laws target people in Thailand who smoke at home

 

 

Smokers in Thailand may soon be prosecuted for lighting up at home under new laws which will come into force on 20th August 2019.

 

The new laws, which were published in the Royal Gazette on 22nd May, aim to reduce the impact of second hand smoke on family members, particularly children.

 

People who smoke at home face being charged with domestic abuse if found guilty that them smoking has damaged the health of family members living at the same address.

 

Complaints about smokers can be made at Family and Protection Centres which are present in all provinces throughout Thailand. Cases will then be submitted to Juvenile and Family Courts.

 

If, for example, a family member develops a health condition such as asthma, a smoker who lives in the house faces being charged with domestic abuse.

 

The new laws were confirmed to Thairath by Lertpanya Buranabantit, director-general of the Department of Women and Family Affairs.

 

People commenting on a news report posted on YouTube by Spring News said it would be better to just ban smoking in Thailand altogether than attempt to enforce the new law.

 

 

This is the latest in a number of measures announced by the government to curb cigarette smoking in Thailand.

 

In February, it was announced that smokers are no longer allowed to smoke outside public buildings such as condos, offices, hotels, bars, restaurants and shopping malls.

 

Smokers can not light up within 5 metres of the entrances of public buildings. Doing so could mean a fine of up to 5,000 baht.

 

Also in February it was announced that smoking has been banned at six airports in Thailand.

 

Smoking rooms have been removed Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, Phuket, Chiang Mai, Hat Yai and Mae Fah Luang airports, with smokers now only permitted to smoke in special smoking zones located outside terminal buildings.

 

Since February 2018, smoking has been banned at beaches in Thailand. Smokers can only light up dedicated smoking zones and not on the beach.

 

Over 10 million people in Thailand are smokers.

 

Health officials say smokers in Thailand face having their life expectancy cut short by about 18 years and that 72,000 people die from the effects of smoking each year.

 

The financial cost of treating people suffering from smoking related to diseases is about Bt220 billion annually, according to Mahidol University’s Faculty of Medicine.

 

However, tax revenue raised from cigarettes totals just Bt68.6 billion.

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2019-06-21

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[PatOngo]

The sale of cigarettes will remain unchanged! Dealers are immune!

[kevvy]

[zydeco]

Don't drink. Don't smoke. Don't drive. Don't read certain newspapers. And don't forget your TM 28, TM 30, 90 day report, and records that you've kept 400,000 baht in your bank account all year long. You will need the money.

[Reigntax]

1 minute ago, zydeco said:

Don't drink. Don't smoke. Don't drive. Don't read certain newspapers. And don't forget your TM 28, TM 30, 90 day report, and records that you've kept 400,000 baht in your bank account all year long. You will need the money.

 

But go out in the bkk pollution where nothing at all is being done.

[jvs]

Why don't they enforce the anti smoking laws that are already in place but not enforced?More idle talk from a government that doesn't enforce most laws.

[holy cow cm]

Now this is getting far out of control. It is officially in the dictionary so I will write it... Asinine! 

[Eligius]

This hypocritical incursion of government interference into EVERY aspect of people's lives is getting ridiculous.

I am a life-long non-smoker. I hate the smell of cigarette smoke. But to start bossing people around in the privacy of their own homes is - well, there is a banned word for it, and it begins with the letter 'd' !

 

Edited June 21, 2019 by Eligius

[Hayduke]

 

The purpose of creating these laws is not to protect anyone.

 

The purpose is to give the government a broader spectrum of legal options to harass its enemies. For example, does anyone think that some Junta-friendly government functionary will ever face prosecution for smoking at home?

 

On the other hand, selective application of vague, obscure and subjective laws can become, at the very least, low-key but completely legal ways to attack and punish one’s enemies.

 

 

[Eligius]

1 minute ago, Hayduke said:

 

The purpose of creating these laws is not to protect anyone.

 

The purpose is to give the government a broader spectrum of legal options to harass its enemies. For example, does anyone think that some Junta-friendly government functionary will ever face prosecution for smoking at home?

 

On the other hand, selective application of vague, obscure and subjective laws can become, at the very least, low-key but completely legal ways to attack and punish one’s enemies.

 

 

Excellent point (above), Hayduke, which I had not thought of.

You are surely right. It is another weapon in the junta's armoury - to be used against anyone who dissents.

[4675636b596f75]

I'm not a smoker.  I don't like cigarette smoke.  Seems to me, that Thailand is becoming more like America.  They are giving new meaning to the Nanny State.

[Regyai]

8 minutes ago, Samuel Smith said:

"People who smoke at home face being charged with domestic abuse if found guilty that them smoking has damaged the health of family members living at the same address.

 

If, for example, a family member develops a health condition such as asthma, a smoker who lives in the house faces being charged with domestic abuse."

 

Nothing to do with toxic air from burning, that gets inside the house...

Real courts of Law & Real Law practitioners

would piss themselves laughing at pursuing a conviction on such nebulous cause & effect assumptions

 

 

But hey don't let that stand in the way of a headlining Thai knee-jerk proclamation

[ThomasThBKK]

i don't recall reading anything about this nonsense before, did it come out of nothing?!

 

[Eligius]

Next, it will be: 'You may not, in any circumstances, breathe one word against the junta when at home. This is bad for the nation's health.'

Oh, I forgot: that is already effectively the law!

 

Edited June 21, 2019 by Eligius

[holy cow cm]

I would hope they will soon ban nose picking in public especially restaurants. They are definitely getting way too intrusive with the new internet laws, the tell on your neighbor policy, the act too primp and proper at temples or else, on the internet if you show cleavage, and then you can only guess to name what next will be coming out of their twisted little pea brains telling everyone what to do. What I do in my house is my own business and they can A,B,C,D,E,_,G off.

[Misterwhisper]

I never married or founded a family.... because I saw it all coming. Thank goodness that I had so much foresight! Decades of foresight, actually.

[Moti24]

42 minutes ago, webfact said:

 

The financial cost of treating people suffering from smoking related to diseases is about Bt220 billion annually.....

So, it's not really about family members' passive smoking risks!  The Thai Baht raises its ugly head, yet again!

Edited June 21, 2019 by Moti24

[ThomasThBKK]

2 minutes ago, Moti24 said:

So, it's not really about family members' passive smoking risks!  The Thai Baht raises its ugly head, yet again!

and how much taxes do they earn from selling cigs? ...

 

Ecigs might help reducing that healtcare cost while still bringing in taxes..

[Vacuum]

47 minutes ago, webfact said:

This is the latest in a number of measures announced by the government to curb cigarette smoking in Thailand.

How about just make it illegal to smoke tobacco? And while they're at it, include alcohol in the ban.

Edited June 21, 2019 by Vacuum

[potless]

a friend of mine lives in a condo where smoking is banned not only in the room but also even the balcony.

[nikmar]

so where can I go to smoke a doobie??

 

[Bert got kinky]

2 minutes ago, nikmar said:

so where can I go to smoke a doobie??

 

 

You can pop round to my house if you want.

I operate a full on 'smoke filled zone' and I haven't touched a cigarette for over 4 years now. 

[Just1Voice]

I smoke less than half a pack a day, and half of those out on my front porch with coffee or something.  My Thai wife smokes maybe 5 a day, if that. When I had her listen to the video, her comment was - "They can kiss my Lanna Thai ass. This is our house, bought and paid for, and no one is going to tell me what I can or can not do in it!"

Edited June 21, 2019 by Just1Voice

[RotMahKid]

31 minutes ago, Samuel Smith said:

Nothing to do with toxic air from burning, that gets inside the house...

I don't know where this writer lives, but I can assure you that smoke, better says those pm 2.5 particles come into your house.

The normal windows in northern Thailand don't close so well that it keeps the pm 2.5 outside the house.

I could read that time every morning on the pm 2.5 meter how worse the situation was.

So don't tell me that it does not come into the houses.

[meand]

Stuff like this should have been happening 20 or more years ago. Awesome. 

 

The big one is condos. It will be difficult to impossible to enforce all of this, but cigarette smoke really has a way of permeating every crevice of all units in the vicinity. To me it is fine to cook strong food and the like, but sending a carcinogen into people's homes should be prohibited by law no doubt. 

[Samuel Smith]

Just now, RotMahKid said:

I don't know where this writer lives, but I can assure you that smoke, better says those pm 2.5 particles come into your house.

The normal windows in northern Thailand don't close so well that it keeps the pm 2.5 outside the house.

I could read that time every morning on the pm 2.5 meter how worse the situation was.

So don't tell me that it does not come into the houses.

What have you been smoking?  That's exactly what I was implying with my sarcastic comment ????

Hence the ... at the end of my comment

[Classic Ray]

This is just a response to pressure from the anti smoking lobby and the UN and related health bodies who control aid money.

 

The Government can now claim to have addressed the issue without needing to spend any money on enforcement or closing down the Government tobacco monopoly, 

 

The hands will be held out again for aid money. Same tactic as when the Western nations threatened to refuse Thai seafood until something was done about the slave labour and trafficking used to produce it.

 

The real attitude of Thai Government and industry, eg the canned fruit company, can be shown in their pursuit of journalists who report on thes issues.

[Berkshire]

57 minutes ago, webfact said:

If, for example, a family member develops a health condition such as asthma, a smoker who lives in the house faces being charged with domestic abuse.

Just wonder how they can prove that the health condition (e.g., asthma) was caused by the smoker. 

[Common asthma triggers include: tobacco smoke, dust mites, air pollution, pollen, mold, respiratory infections, physical activity, cold air and allergic reactions to some foods.]   Bizarro law. 

[johng]

Another ridiculous unworkable dictate !!!

[GeorgeCross]

uh oh astray police raids in 3..2..1..