All cigarettes in Thailand sold in drab packaging starting September 12

[webfact]

All cigarettes in Thailand sold in drab packaging starting September 12

By The Thaiger

 

 

Noting that tobacco companies have started complying with Thailand’s Standardised Packaging Regulation two weeks ahead of the required deadline, the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance is commending Thailand being the first country in the ASEAN Region and Asia to usher in standardised tobacco packaging.

 

Starting September 12, 2019 with a 90 day full phase-out of old cigarette stocks by December 12, 2019, all cigarettes in Thailand must be sold in drab brown-coloured packs with cigarette brand names printed in a standardised font type, size, colour, and location, without brand colours or logos.

 

The new standardised packaging complements Thailand’s pictorial health warnings, which occupy the upper 85% of the front and back panels of packs, currently the largest in ASEAN.

 

“We congratulate the Thai government for this important public health milestone and urge the Ministry of Public Health to strictly monitor compliance and impose penalties on tobacco companies that do not abide by the new law,” said Dr. Ulysses Dorotheo, Executive Director of SEATCA.

 

Standardised packaging reduces the attractiveness of tobacco products, eliminates tobacco packaging as a form of advertising, and increases the noticeability and effectiveness of pictorial health warnings. More importantly, this also reduces youth initiation to tobacco use by restricting the tobacco industry’s ability to market to young people, encourages quitting among current tobacco users, and helps prevent ex-users from relapsing.

 

Thailand joins 15 other countries that already require standardised tobacco packaging, namely Australia, France, the United Kingdom, Norway, Ireland, Hungary, New Zealand, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Canada, Uruguay, Slovenia, Belgium, and Israel. At least 13 other countries are in varying stages of introducing standardized packaging laws.

 

Singapore will be the second ASEAN country to implement this important tobacco control measure. Its Tobacco Regulations 2019 require that all tobacco products (including cigarettes, cigarillos, cigars, beedies, ang hoon and other roll-your-own tobacco products) must fully comply with standardised packaging starting July 1,2020.

 

“Implementing this life-saving measure contained in the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, Singapore and Thailand have blazed a path that neighbouring ASEAN countries must follow,” said Dorotheo.

 

Source: https://thethaiger.com/news/national/all-cigarettes-in-thailand-sold-in-drab-packaging-starting-september-12

 

 

-- © Copyright The Thaiger 2019-08-30

Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking Thailand news and visa info

[Thechook]

All started in Australia years ago.   The big tobacco companies tried to sue the aussiee government and lost.  Now everyone is following Australia.

[TopDeadSenter]

The world has gone mad. Should I look forward to plain packaging on the much more hazardous for health alcohol containers? Then we can roll the plain packaging out to sugar containing soft drinks, then any food containing fats etc etc. Should never let the loons get a foot in the door, it never ends there.

[Denim]

Condoms up next to make copulation less appealing.

[nasa123]

In Norway, all smoke packages are the same color, with lowercase letters.

[ChipButty]

The place is going mad, ok gone

[Skallywag]

Personally have never seen any cigarette advertising in LOS.  7-11 keeps them hidden behind the counter unseen on shelves with roll up metal covers

[madmen]

The world has gone mad. Should I look forward to plain packaging on the much more hazardous for health alcohol containers? Then we can roll the plain packaging out to sugar containing soft drinks, then any food containing fats etc etc. Should never let the loons get a foot in the door, it never ends there.

Didn't take long for first TV bash to arrive

[Orton Rd]

This filthy poison should be either banned of priced at 500 baht a packet

[petedk]

Personally have never seen any cigarette advertising in LOS.  7-11 keeps them hidden behind the counter unseen on shelves with roll up metal covers

You mean they are supposed to keep them covered.
The seven that I use ALWAYS has the metal covers open and cigarettes on full display.

Sent from my SM-C710F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[RotBenz8888]

Why can't cigarette sales just be banned? 

[RotBenz8888]

Why not take the step and ban cigarette sales once for all instead of this ridiculous tiptoeing? 

[Tippaporn]

Standardised packaging reduces the attractiveness of tobacco products, eliminates tobacco packaging as a form of advertising, and increases the noticeability and effectiveness of pictorial health warnings. More importantly, this also reduces youth initiation to tobacco use by restricting the tobacco industry’s ability to market to young people, encourages quitting among current tobacco users, and helps prevent ex-users from relapsing.

 

Rationals that only a fool could make.

 

“Implementing this life-saving measure contained in the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, Singapore and Thailand have blazed a path that neighbouring ASEAN countries must follow,” said Dorotheo.

 

Yes, standardizing the packaging most definitely saves lives.  These political hacks may not smoke cigarettes but they're definitely smoking something else.

 

Why not just simply illegalize cigarettes?  Follow the money.

[sammieuk1]

Great news for the Chinese fag fakers and no copyrights to infringe????

[glennb6]

why not ban cigys? why not ban cigars? why not ban alcohol? why not ban talking rudely? why not ban high fructose sodas? why not ban greasy sugary donuts?

 

some people don't get it and never will.

 

I don't give a sh*t what you do as long as it doesn't infringe on my freedoms, so stay the *uck out of my life and my addictions, habits, and enjoyments!

[fxe1200]

13 minutes ago, RotBenz8888 said:

Why not take the step and ban cigarette sales once for all instead of this ridiculous tiptoeing? 

Way too many government officials and parliament members still smoke.

[RotBenz8888]

Just now, fxe1200 said:

Way too many government officials and parliament members still smoke.

And have "friends" in the industry...

[Benmart]

40 minutes ago, Orton Rd said:

This filthy poison should be either banned of priced at 500 baht a packet

Don't forget alcohol.

[Crusader]

This will not do anything to reduce the sales of these killers.  I often think to myself...do the smokers actually realise how disgusting the smell is?  I do like a beer, but when the smokers come into the pub to order or use the toilet - the stink is overpowering...cannot begin to imagine what their homes must smell like. 

[ezzra]

No amount of drab packaging will stop people smoking, You want to stop people smoking? make cigarettes very expensive and out of reach for the ordinary person, but will the money grabbing Tobacco monopoly of Thailand will let go of this gold mine? not very likely...

[Shiver]

Next time I get some weed/cocaine/heroin/meth/Krocodil, I'm going to warn the supplier about their packaging and how it should be drab.

 

Is there even one person here who buys cigarettes, that does so because of the pictures on the packing?

 

As for banning, I very much doubt it while it's such a tax revenue earner.  It is only dried leaves after all.  For non smokers they should be petitioning for the legalisation of vaping so they don't have to risk any possibility of breathing second hand smoke, and that ain't happening yet, which is quite telling about whether its peoples health or the revenues they're interested in.

[GalaxyMan]

It still blows my mind, the hypocrisy of countries allowing and profiting via taxation the sale and use of tobacco, which will and does kill you, as they constantly tell you these days, yet ganja is illegal, a substance that will only improve your life, as they are constantly re-discovering again.

Edited August 30, 2019 by GalaxyMan

[Tyrant]

Just now, TopDeadSenter said:

The world has gone mad. Should I look forward to plain packaging on the much more hazardous for health alcohol containers? Then we can roll the plain packaging out to sugar containing soft drinks, then any food containing fats etc etc. Should never let the loons get a foot in the door, it never ends there.

You die alone by alcohol or sugar drinks, so it's up to you, now with tobacco you are killing those around you, people should be forbidden to smoke in the streets as well, not only on closed public places, forbidden smokers from smoke inside the house was already a very good step sadly can't be fully controlled. Screw smokers.

[AsiaCheese]

41 minutes ago, RotBenz8888 said:

Why can't cigarette sales just be banned? 

Because states make a sh-load of tax on smokes, is why.

[RotBenz8888]

15 minutes ago, AsiaCheese said:

Because states make a sh-load of tax on smokes, is why.

All the diseases it causes is probably more expensive, but it's easier for them to see the profits.

[Tyrant]

Just now, AsiaCheese said:

Because states make a sh-load of tax on smokes, is why.

What would happen if you take out a dependency to a couple million people all at once? It's easier and safer for everyone to just keep adding laws and rising it's price slowly, with luck in a couple more generations there will be no more tobacco.

[The Deerhunter]

1 hour ago, Denim said:

Condoms up next to make copulation less appealing.

I already only buy the plain latex coloured ones, unflavoured, but in big sizes of course.  No ribs or ticklers for me.  That would be gilding the lily (so to speak). 555

[MJKT2014]

55 minutes ago, glennb6 said:

I don't give a sh*t what you do as long as it doesn't infringe on my freedoms, so stay the *uck out of my life and my addictions, habits, and enjoyments!

With pleasure as long as I am not inflicted with the putrid stench of second hand smoke from the addicted. Ain't gonna happen, so bans are they way to go.

[kevden]

49 minutes ago, Crusader said:

This will not do anything to reduce the sales of these killers.  I often think to myself...do the smokers actually realise how disgusting the smell is?  I do like a beer, but when the smokers come into the pub to order or use the toilet - the stink is overpowering...cannot begin to imagine what their homes must smell like. 

I'd rather they enforcee the existing non-smoking laws (in and around restaurants, etc) . 

I accept smoking is often an addiction that is difficult to recover from. I believe many smokers have no idea the odour is very unpleasant to many non-smokers. 

If a person a couple of metres from me has an unmarked packet of cigarettes, rather than a colourful one makes no difference to me. I just want to have a smoke free area (of reasonable size) around me. 

[TKDfella]

1 hour ago, vinniekintana said:

How about alcohol?

A nicotine-addicted society is a safe society albeit with a few health issues

An alcoholic society is zombie apocalypse.

...and I better be in the company of cigar smokers than loonie alcoholics itching for a fight.

There.

To some degree, I agree with your sentiments the tasks are a little different. Smokers, as far as I know, are always addicted to cigarettes whereas the same is not so of alcohol. I don't know what the proportion is between those addicted, intoxicated and 'social' alcohol consumption is but I think it safe to say that not all consumers are addicts of alcohol. Also, I don't think there is a counterpart in alcohol consumption to 'passive smoking'.