WHY ?

[Curt1591]

Back when I was a kid, smoking was not only accepted, it was promoted. There were ads everywhere. You could smoke everywhere. Free smokes were handed out. All the people on TV and in movies smoked. No one was told it was bad, let alone deadly.

Now, with all the information, bans, and taxes, why would anyone take up smoking ?

[OneMoreFarang]

Because it's the opposite of what the formal and informal authorities want. I guess that is reason enough.

 

[Curt1591]

I assume it's still the "cool" factor.

After all, we're dealing with a generation that will eat Tide Pods! 

[Tayaout]

It feels semi-good. I smoked for about 1 year, 3 times in my life. I like the high but since I do also a lot of sport I did not enjoy the noticeable decrease in performance. 

[Puchaiyank]

Unsophisticated people around the world buy into the "it is so cool to smoke"...especially young people in 3rd world countries...

 

Their governments are not protecting them from this healthcare hazard...????

[4MyEgo]

I think you will find most that do smoke, or are just starting out to smoke are uneducated on the addiction side of it, and it's long term effects, oh he/she smokes so must be cool. No mention of cancer, heart attack, stroke, the effects of the nicotine being stronger than the effects of heroin.

 

All of our kids (5), one now an adult, have never smoked and never will while we are alive, they have been told of the effects and know better.

 

When I was growing up, both mum & dad smoked, 4 out of the 3 brothers smoked, the youngest came 10 years late and by then it was all over the place as to the effects of smoking on people, so fortunately for him he never smoked. I suffered a heart attack at 47 years of age, that was after stopping for 7 years, I started smoking when I was about 12, increasing the amount of cigarettes as I grew older, the arteries do narrow due to all of the chemicals in them, add the crap in food and well, if you make it in life to a reasonable age, your doing well.

[Guderian]

Desperation due to their hopeless financial situation caused by the strong Thai Baht, maybe? Smoking is the cheapest of the major 'sins' in Thailand, after all. If you genuinely feel that you've got nothing left to lose as your retirement plans have gone down the toilet through no real fault of your own then why not take it up?

[giddyup]

Everyone knows the dangers of hard drugs like heroin, meth and crack as well, but people still keep getting addicted.

[Time Traveller]

5 hours ago, Curt1591 said:

Now, with all the information, bans, and taxes, why would anyone take up smoking ?

To be cool and distinguish themselves from people like you.

 

[madmen]

ahh the good old days when you could smoke on a 747 and drink the bar dry and Pat the hostess on the backside if you we're Young and handsome without fear of arrest at destination

[marc651]

Like with all drugs, it is the environment that drives people to a large extent. When you have many friends that smoke, as an adolescent, you tend to feel it is normalized and get curious, want to try it after a while.   Nobody decides on his/her own to start smoking.  Same goes for other drugs, from coffee to heroin - we usually copy people we look up to and that are close to us. You need to be very informed and mature to resist.

[weegee]

I smoke to keep the appetite in check...That way i dont have to pay for all that high priced Foreign Food....

[dotpoom]

5 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Because it's the opposite of what the formal and informal authorities want. I guess that is reason enough.

 

Indeed...and...they probably will start like most of us did..."Experimenting"...leading to getting hooked.

[Beggar]

"Now, with all the information, bans, and taxes, why would anyone take up smoking ?" 

 

You are right. This is why I switched to drinking. Whenever I look into the mirror I see the Singha advertisement on my T-shirt and I feel thirsty. 

[CygnusX1]

9 hours ago, Curt1591 said:

No one was told it was bad, let alone deadly

Don’t know how old you are, but I’m 61, and when I was a kid it was universally known that smoking was terrible for your health. Parents and teachers reinforced this. Agree with the rest of your comment though, and have fond memories of chocolate and candy cigarettes (which never caused me to take up smoking).

[Curt1591]

1 hour ago, CygnusX1 said:

Don’t know how old you are, but I’m 61, and when I was a kid it was universally known that smoking was terrible for your health. Parents and teachers reinforced this. Agree with the rest of your comment though, and have fond memories of chocolate and candy cigarettes (which never caused me to take up smoking).

It was known, but it was not only played down, the product was promoted.  

[1FinickyOne]

How old? I think at about 80 you indulge as many bad habits as you can tolerate... facilitate the exit before dementia... 

[metisdead]

Troll posts have been removed. 

[IAMHERE]

Why not start smoking now; the world is gonna end soon anyway. Doomsday alarmist are all around us every day, go ahead and smoke, eat bacon, and drink wine if you are somewhere other than Thailand.

[shy coconut]

9 hours ago, Beggar said:

"Now, with all the information, bans, and taxes, why would anyone take up smoking ?" 

 

You are right. This is why I switched to drinking. Whenever I look into the mirror I see the Singha advertisement on my T-shirt and I feel thirsty. 

Is your shirt free of that cumbersome material that covers your arms and most of

your shoulders? ????

[Nemises]

0

16 hours ago, Puchaiyank said:

Unsophisticated people around the world buy into the "it is so cool to smoke"...especially young people in 3rd world countries...

 

I recently walked past the Darlinghurst Supreme Courts in Sydney, Australia on a number of occasions. I always saw barristers (still wearing robes) leaning against their late model Beamers & Mercs, all puffing away whilst making phone calls and drinking coffee during Court recesses. 

[Puchaiyank]

41 minutes ago, Nemises said:

0

I recently walked past the Darlinghurst Supreme Courts in Sydney, Australia on a number of occasions. I always saw barristers (still wearing robes) leaning against their late model Beamers & Mercs, all puffing away whilst making phone calls and drinking coffee during Court recesses. 

I might have said impressionable young people and old fools...????

[Naamblar2014]

Why do people do it?  Enjoyment for me and when someone likes something,  no body can tell you otherwise.  I started around 12-13 and have smoked continually till I stopped at 49. No heart attacks no cancer. Just couldn't be bothered anymore.  The enjoyment gone.  In fact if I stop for a while and have a smoke that is when I enjoy it again,  but that is short lived.  So no point. I guess I have been lucky and with all the information available now it would be silly to continue to risk it.  But we have been told it is bad and advertising companies just get creative and put a spin on it that makes us feel good about our habits.  Look at red meat.  Now this had been classed as a class 1 carcinogen,  the same as cigarettes, so why do you continue to consume? In jump the advertising people who then put out a documentary about the way it is cooked.  Cook it this way and your risk is reduced.  Just a spin like low tar,  or light cigarettes,  or low nicotine.  The smokers or meat eaters eagerly looking for a spin that supports their behavior are now able to continue despite the risks. Why do we do it,  I guess free choice and that's fine,  but not when your choice has victims. Victims such as animals slaughtered so we can eat meat,  or victims such as those around you when you smoke.  At least those around you have the free choice to move away from your smoke. Luckily they won't have to pay for your choices.

[NoshowJones]

On 8/8/2019 at 11:49 AM, 4MyEgo said:

I think you will find most that do smoke, or are just starting out to smoke are uneducated on the addiction side of it, and it's long term effects, oh he/she smokes so must be cool. No mention of cancer, heart attack, stroke, the effects of the nicotine being stronger than the effects of heroin.

 

All of our kids (5), one now an adult, have never smoked and never will while we are alive, they have been told of the effects and know better.

 

When I was growing up, both mum & dad smoked, 4 out of the 3 brothers smoked, the youngest came 10 years late and by then it was all over the place as to the effects of smoking on people, so fortunately for him he never smoked. I suffered a heart attack at 47 years of age, that was after stopping for 7 years, I started smoking when I was about 12, increasing the amount of cigarettes as I grew older, the arteries do narrow due to all of the chemicals in them, add the crap in food and well, if you make it in life to a reasonable age, your doing well.

 

22 hours ago, CygnusX1 said:

Don’t know how old you are, but I’m 61, and when I was a kid it was universally known that smoking was terrible for your health. Parents and teachers reinforced this. Agree with the rest of your comment though, and have fond memories of chocolate and candy cigarettes (which never caused me to take up smoking).

My father, sister and five brothers all smoked, I never even started.

[NoshowJones]

On 8/8/2019 at 2:37 PM, marc651 said:

Like with all drugs, it is the environment that drives people to a large extent. When you have many friends that smoke, as an adolescent, you tend to feel it is normalized and get curious, want to try it after a while.   Nobody decides on his/her own to start smoking.  Same goes for other drugs, from coffee to heroin - we usually copy people we look up to and that are close to us. You need to be very informed and mature to resist.

i have never been a sheep at anytime in my life, I never did anything just because other people did, if I did not like anything, I would never take part in it just because other people did, if I did like something, I would do it no matter what anyone else said, as long as I was not harming other people.

[Date Masamune]

On 8/8/2019 at 4:36 PM, madmen said:

ahh the good old days when you could smoke on a 747 and drink the bar dry and Pat the hostess on the backside if you we're Young and handsome without fear of arrest at destination

Yes and it was even posted recently in my country there used to be "Businessmen Only" flights between NYC and Chicago.  There were no women in the cockpits either, and no blacks on the plane at all, unless they were young and skinny in a demeaning stewardess outfit getting their bum pinched!  The "Great America" some wish to make once again...yuk

 

https://viewfromthewing.boardingarea.com/2015/05/27/united-airlines-men-only-executive-service/

[timendres]

Why are people so concerned about what other people chose to do with their lives, as long as it does not cause any problems for them? As Bill Hicks said: I'll smoke, I'll cough, I'll get the tumors, and I will die, is that okay with you?

[Date Masamune]

16 minutes ago, timendres said:

Why are people so concerned about what other people chose to do with their lives, as long as it does not cause any problems for them? As Bill Hicks said: I'll smoke, I'll cough, I'll get the tumors, and I will die, is that okay with you?

My first response is as long as I don't have to pay for it (insurance/medical costs) but the obesity epidemic is probably more expensive. You can't regulate everything.

 

I don't smoke but I think we have gone too far with restrictions like open spaces or public parks, while trucks go by belching huge clouds of smoke, the idea that smoking was allowed on airplanes is unbearable.

 

It had been found a main reason smoking is down with young people in the US is the cost. Maybe Vaping and weed are cheaper.

[BritManToo]

On 8/8/2019 at 8:52 AM, Curt1591 said:

Now, with all the information, bans, and taxes, why would anyone take up smoking ?

Helps the cannabis burn evenly without going out.

[elgenon]

Apparently Japanese and Koreans aren't as susceptible to cancer but why do they seemingly all smoke? These people are educated. Thai girls still want to be with them. Sure ruins my environment but that is not what they are interested in.