All cigarettes in Thailand sold in drab packaging starting September 12

[Happy Grumpy]

Change the name of cigarettes to Death Sticks. 

[Jan Dietz]

Here is a preview of the 2020 packaging:

 

[Don Mega]

1 minute ago, Jan Dietz said:

Here is a preview of the 2020 packaging:

 

Thats awesome.

[55Jay]

3 minutes ago, Jan Dietz said:

Here is a preview of the 2020 packaging:

 

That's pretty cool, going to fly off the shelves.

[Just Weird]

10 hours ago, ChipButty said:

The place is going mad, ok gone

This place?  It's happening worldwide, it is not just Thailand.

[Fred white]

3 hours ago, chang1 said:

Rubbish - check your facts first.

Dr RoengrudeePatanavanich, from Mahidol University’s Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, said. 

"The estimated cost of treatments, she pointed out, was about Bt77.62 billion a year. 

 

The cost of lost income opportunities as a result of illnesses was Bt11.76 billion a year. 

 

The financial cost of untimely deaths was estimated at Bt131 billion a year. 

 

“In total, smoking has caused financial losses of about Bt220 billion a year,” Roengrudee said, emphasising the loss was much higher than the cigarette taxes that the government could collect. 

 

She said cigarette tax revenue for the state was just about Bt68.6 billion"

More deaths= more available jobs

Financial cost of untimely deaths= less people for the govt to rip off

[Fred white]

2 hours ago, chang1 said:

Sounds good to me (apart from the last one) but when setting the taxes (like the UK's sugar tax) bear this fact in mind - 

"Smoking kills more people than alcohol, AIDS, car accidents, illegal drugs, murders, and suicides combined"

from https://www.tobaccofreekids.org/problem/toll-us

Probably not the same in Thailand due to the lethal roads.

Petrol/diesel and alcohol are also heavily taxed in most countries already. Sports injuries will be partly offset by the victim being generally more healthy so not needing as much unrelated treatments. 

Sounds good but we all take some risks with our health. So costs should even out, except smoking is way out ahead of most other risks and as it's unpleasant for others to be near, deserves special measures.

Apart from a few, we all want transport, children and to grow old, the rest is usually a choice which for some people needs restricting.

Gas tax is supposed to be spent on the roads of course where I'm living and the condition of the roads I think it's going somewhere else

[masuk]

11 hours ago, Orton Rd said:

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

I'm told that a packet of 20 is 900 baht in Australia.  Sort of pre-pays the medical care.

[Humpy]

It doesn't matter what packaging these 'coffin nails' are wrapped in because it won't stop this disgusting habit. Smokers couldn't give a hoot for the stench they cause . I timed a smoker lighting up a cigarette, taking drags on it and then stubbing it out. From light up to stub out was 5 mins 10 seconds. Each drag was 2 seconds and total drag time was 18 seconds , the rest of the time was taken up tapping the fag with his forefinger to dislodge the ash. I think it must be something to do with occupying his hands .

[Chazar]

12 hours ago, 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.

They could do the same with world  leaders and politicians, theyre so drab and  dull I never  look at any of them.

How  will they package  nuclear warheads/ land  mines/ fireworks, party  poppers? 

Really "bland  packaging"  does NOTHING to stop anyone smoking less or  starting smoking.

[Schtrick]

12 hours ago, Orton Rd said:

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

Thats what Australia did, Taxed the Jesus out of smokes to make them un-affordable to many

 

Pack of 20 is at least $AUD20+ now (THB400+) I stopped when they were $1.15, best move I ever made. I'd be dead or bankrupt long ago

[chang1]

3 hours ago, BestB said:

Wow, very impressive,safe to assume you could not understand it, but  hopefully she knows the difference between antibiotics and anti-inflammatory.

 

You want evidence, sure, tax on a pack of cigs in Thailand is at least 100 baht(Marlboro), 2 packs per day, makes 200 baht , 6000 per month, 72 000 per year, generally 30-40 years of smoking , 2.5-3 million baht in tax just by 1 smoker, does not include tax paid by shop that sells, it, wholesalers , distributors and manufacturer.

Correct assumption, I can't read Thai. She is obviously well educated and not likely to pull figures out of thin air to prove a point.

Sure if a smoker lasts until retirement after smoking 40 Marlboro a day and dies quickly then there would be no problem. Unfortunately, on average it is not like that. Not only do people not normally smoke that much top branded fags but are unlikely to last that long trouble free. Also many people are affected by passive smoking that also has costs. Add in other costs like sick pay, employers costs and costs collecting the duty and it doesn't look so rosey.

"Officials from the Tobacco Authority of Thailand said the current tax on cigarettes was 1.20 baht per cigarette and 20% of the price of cigarettes not over 60 baht. Cigarettes selling for more than 60 baht a pack are taxed 40% of their price"

Marlboro must be expensive if 100 Baht is the tax on 20.

Can you provide figures that disprove those I quoted from the good doctor, yet alone get anywhere near your figures?

[chang1]

2 hours ago, Fred white said:

Gas tax is supposed to be spent on the roads of course where I'm living and the condition of the roads I think it's going somewhere else

Some will go to treat people suffering from pollution related problems and some will be used for treating smokers problems. The rest is swallowed up by welfare payments etc.

[chang1]

3 hours ago, 55Jay said:

What are the metrics to assess whether the photos on cigarette packs have had the intended effect? 

Ask a teenager to choose which packs they dislike the most would be a good one.

[Inn Between]

Does it work, though? Does it reduce tobacco consumption?

 

Here's a bit of info from the end of 2017 about how it's gone in Australia after 5 years of plain packaging:

 

The results are in, December 1st marks five years of Australia’s plain packaging experiment. It’s been a disaster, the long decline in smoking has actually stalled and illicit tobacco, more harmful to human health, has increased.

 

Plain packaging, an unprecedented assault on intellectual property, strips brands and trademarks from cigarette packs and dresses them in the ugliest color known to science. Australia was the first to impose this policy in 2012, followed by UK and France in 2017. The intention was to accelerate the decline in smoking.

Not only did it not work, the status quo got worse, “For the first time in more than two decades,” reports the National Drug Strategy Household Survey “the daily smoking rate did not significantly decline over the most recent 3-year period.” Taking into account the rise in the population of Australia “in actual fact there are more people smoking in Australia today than five years ago when the policy was introduced” according to Professor Sinclair Davidson of RMIT University.

[BestB]

46 minutes ago, Schtrick said:

Thats what Australia did, Taxed the Jesus out of smokes to make them un-affordable to many

 

Pack of 20 is at least $AUD20+ now (THB400+) I stopped when they were $1.15, best move I ever made. I'd be dead or bankrupt long ago

Try $29 and people smoke same as they did before.

[chang1]

1 hour ago, Chazar said:

Really "bland  packaging"  does NOTHING to stop anyone smoking less or  starting smoking.

When I was at school in the 70s, smoking was cool. Anything that changes that perception and shows it for what it is, is all good. If it makes no difference, why do the brands bother with fancy logos? Much harder to promote your brand if it is identical to all the others. Those hooked already will not care but a teenager will and be less likely to want to buy a dull looking pack. Colour them pink will also dissuade boys (maybe not so much in Thailand).

[Inn Between]

49 minutes ago, Schtrick said:

Thats what Australia did, Taxed the Jesus out of smokes to make them un-affordable to many

 

Pack of 20 is at least $AUD20+ now (THB400+) I stopped when they were $1.15, best move I ever made. I'd be dead or bankrupt long ago

In May 2016, the Australian Government announced that it would implement annual increases in tobacco excise of 12.5% up to and including 2020, raising the cost of a pack of cigarettes to $A40. This increase will lead to Australia having one of the highest prices of cigarettes in the world.

[chang1]

31 minutes ago, Inn Between said:

Not only did it not work, the status quo got worse, “For the first time in more than two decades,” reports the National Drug Strategy Household Survey “the daily smoking rate did not significantly decline over the most recent 3-year period.” Taking into account the rise in the population of Australia “in actual fact there are more people smoking in Australia today than five years ago when the policy was introduced” according to Professor Sinclair Davidson of RMIT University.

In the UK students in universities that drunk the most wine obtained the best pass rates. This doesn't mean drinking wine helps your education.

To call the packaging a disaster seems to be ignoring other potentially more influential factors.

The majority of people that would be influenced are the young who may be put off starting smoking. The overall rate is still declining just not as rapidly. Possibly earlier incentives were more effective. Also immigrants may have a higher smoking rate than the general population. Unless you only let in non smokers (should add points for that) the total number is likely to increase if the smoking rate can't be lowered to compensate.

[chang1]

50 minutes ago, BestB said:

Can you not use your own brain and a calculator to do simple maths?

Looks like you shot yourself in the foot. The first was just about the Thailand Tobacco Monopoly being upset by raising taxes but the second included this

"The Royal Thai government sets the excise tax on ex-factory price, not on sale price, therefore importers tend to report lower ex-factory price or CIF price than the real price."

This means even less tax is collected on Marlboro fags. Are you sure they get taxed 100 Baht a pack? I doubt the claimed CIF price is anywhere near 60 Baht a pack but I can't find any figures.

Neither link gave any totals for tax revenue and costs associated with the ill effects of smoking.

1 hour ago, BestB said:

You actually think  someone would be stupid enough to brake the myth that smokers pay for their own treatment ? and publish how much money government makes from taxes?

The good doctor did and she is certainly not stupid.

[chang1]

1 hour ago, BestB said:

So where are you pulling your figures from?

The internet - so I am open to being corrected.

[BestB]

3 minutes ago, chang1 said:

Looks like you shot yourself in the foot. The first was just about the Thailand Tobacco Monopoly being upset by raising taxes but the second included this

"The Royal Thai government sets the excise tax on ex-factory price, not on sale price, therefore importers tend to report lower ex-factory price or CIF price than the real price."

This means even less tax is collected on Marlboro fags. Are you sure they get taxed 100 Baht a pack? I doubt the claimed CIF price is anywhere near 60 Baht a pack but I can't find any figures.

Neither link gave any totals for tax revenue and costs associated with the ill effects of smoking.

The good doctor did and she is certainly not stupid.

No, i did not shoot myself in the foot, i showed you about the "no one pulls figures out of thin air" and how "doctors" and all the rest with MBA's either paid not to have a clue or genuinely that stupid.

Marlboro is not imported, but made at a factory in Bangkok, Sukhumvit soi 10, right in the end of the soi, by mainly,if not all African staff ???? 

 

It does not matter if tax is 100 baht or 60 baht, point is smokers pay for their healthcare well and truly many times over, but blaming smokers is a popular tool to scapegoat for poor medical care and long waits

 

Put Thailand aside, In Cambodia pack of cigs is $1, this is retail price. Same cigs in Australia $29

 

Actual cost is the same, comes from the same factory. So how much tax does an average smoker pays in Australia?

[mok199]

While in related news, packaging for cannabis oil is a 3D phsycadelic rendition of the Beatles Sgt peppers..

[chang1]

3 minutes ago, BestB said:

Put Thailand aside, In Cambodia pack of cigs is $1, this is retail price. Same cigs in Australia $29

 

Actual cost is the same, comes from the same factory. So how much tax does an average smoker pays in Australia?

A lot, so even though costs are higher they should be paying their way there. But maybe not here is the conclusion from this link - https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/28/3/297&ved=2ahUKEwicz5Hf7arkAhUzRxUIHT_RAyIQFjANegQIBRAK&usg=AOvVaw30B99vVcyjP2rKsVccXNsn&cshid=1567177255387

 

"Smoking imposes a very significant burden on the larger economy of Australia, despite that it is a country with a relatively low prevalence of smoking. Potential productivity gains for Australia with expansion of tobacco control measures are compelling. The likely economic benefits arising from productivity gains mean that greater investment in reducing the uptake of smoking is warranted"

 

Now look at Cambodia - do you think smokers pay their way there?

[chang1]

29 minutes ago, mok199 said:

While in related news, packaging for cannabis oil is a 3D phsycadelic rendition of the Beatles Sgt peppers..

Should fly off the shelves.

[BestB]

16 minutes ago, chang1 said:

A lot, so even though costs are higher they should be paying their way there. But maybe not here is the conclusion from this link - https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/28/3/297&ved=2ahUKEwicz5Hf7arkAhUzRxUIHT_RAyIQFjANegQIBRAK&usg=AOvVaw30B99vVcyjP2rKsVccXNsn&cshid=1567177255387

 

"Smoking imposes a very significant burden on the larger economy of Australia, despite that it is a country with a relatively low prevalence of smoking. Potential productivity gains for Australia with expansion of tobacco control measures are compelling. The likely economic benefits arising from productivity gains mean that greater investment in reducing the uptake of smoking is warranted"

 

Now look at Cambodia - do you think smokers pay their way there?

Again, nothing but government BS to justify slow and bad public healthcare, AGAIN take a calculator and do the maths of how much tax smoker pays in his life, or let me rephrase that, how much tax government collects from 1 smoker throughout his/her life

[observer90210]

anything to discourage smokers or to make their life harder,  is a good step...btw, I happen to be a smoker...

[chang1]

2 minutes ago, BestB said:

Again, nothing but government BS to justify slow and bad public healthcare, AGAIN take a calculator and do the maths of how much tax smoker pays in his life, or let me rephrase that, how much tax government collects from 1 smoker throughout his/her life

I see it's all fake news - Trump would be proud of you. Smokers are all different.

Your smoker lasted 40 years and was never ill and payed for top fags.

Mine is 20 been smoking cheap fags for 4 Years and now is dying from lung cancer that will last for 4 years at great expense when he will leave his wife and child distraught and penniless. His son will suffer asthma for the rest of his short life. One of his Co-workers is developing breathing problems from passively smoking the lads smoke and will die early from emphysema. Total bill - high, human cost - immeasurably high.

 

[BestB]

2 minutes ago, chang1 said:

I see it's all fake news - Trump would be proud of you. Smokers are all different.

Your smoker lasted 40 years and was never ill and payed for top fags.

Mine is 20 been smoking cheap fags for 4 Years and now is dying from lung cancer that will last for 4 years at great expense when he will leave his wife and child distraught and penniless. His son will suffer asthma for the rest of his short life. One of his Co-workers is developing breathing problems from passively smoking the lads smoke and will die early from emphysema. Total bill - high, human cost - immeasurably high.

 

Yes using common sense is not a given for some people, so i let you float in your own knowledge and enjoy it

 

No need to create fiction stories to prove  a point, i am sure yours, whatever or whoever that is and no he will not leave his wife or daughter penniless because state pays for it.

 

But as i said, carry on and do not let facts or truth get in a way of a good fiction story

[TheFarangGuy]

17 hours ago, nasa123 said:

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

This has to be the single ugliest piece of package design I have ever seen in my life. But then again, that was probably their intention, so good job, I guess? Lol