E-cigarettes: Shop selling vaping equipment worth 300,000 baht busted

[webfact]

Picture: Thai Rath

 

Thai Rath reported that officials in Amnat Charoen, in central NE Thailand, were taking decisive action against electronic cigarettes.

 

The issue is a hot topic in the country following the extortion of a Taiwanese actress in Bangkok and the transfer of a traffic policeman in Pattaya after devices were found. 

 

A shop in Muang district of Amnat Charoen was raided. One thousand items were taken into evidence.

 

Two young men in charge of the shop said they had been averaging income of 6-7,000 baht a day. 

 

Picture: Thai Rath

 

DOPA officials, the military and police took part in the operation at the Apollo shop.

 

Pheerapong, 21, and Chaiyaporn 28, were managing the establishment.

 

They were making no secret of their illegal business in the brightly lit shop with display cases and a neon "Open" sign outside.

 

Eight categories of items including 308 vaping devices and 437 bottles of vaping fluid and 5,536 baht in cash were taken into evidence. 

 

Goods were imported from China regularly; the owner was from Ubon Ratchathani whose real name they were not sure of. 

 

Picture: Thai Rath

 

They admitted four charges:

 

These in essence were for selling, importing illegal products, breaking commerce ministry rules and contravening a 2017 order. 

 

The evidence and the two men were taken away to the Muang district police station. 

 

Fines of up to a million baht and lengthy jail terms are in place for this activity, notes ASEAN NOW.

 

Yet shops selling E-cigarette merchandise are operating openly throughout Thailand. 

 

-- © Copyright  ASEAN NOW 2023-02-01

 

- Cigna offers a range of visa-compliant plans that meet the minimum requirement of medical treatment, including COVID-19, up to THB 3m. For more information on all expat health insurance plans click here.

 

The most versatile and flexible rental investment and holiday home solution in Thailand - click for more information.

 

Get your business in front of millions of customers who read ASEAN NOW with an interest in Thailand every month - email [email protected] for more information

[2baht]

Will it be 27,000 for each vape? Or is that only for tourists???

[Mickeymaus]

Why was this one raided and not all others too? I just googled Pattaya vape shop and... 

[pedro01]

1 hour ago, Mickeymaus said:

Why was this one raided and not all others too? I just googled Pattaya vape shop and... 

For show, I guess. Seems like a knee jerk reaction to the Taiwanese actress fiasco.

[Henryford]

Will they be raiding the thousands of weed shops that are now open in every town?

[Lucky Bones]

I am just so glad I quit ciggies in 2009.????????

[PremiumLane]

They lost face, so they are lashing out 

[hotchilli]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

A shop in Muang district of Amnat Charoen was raided. One thousand items were taken into evidence.

I said in a post yesterday a crackdown on shops would soon follow.

And here we go.

[sammieuk1]

Now you will have to smoke your skunk in a pipe available legally just next door two doors down from the nuthouse opposite the RTP asylum ????  

[n00dle]

2 hours ago, Henryford said:

Will they be raiding the thousands of weed shops that are now open in every town?

What does that have to do with e cigarettes?

 

[RedArmy]

It's incredible that Cannabis is now legal in Thailand but Vaping is not.

 

My guess, is that when they find a way to tax E- Cigarettes, they too will become legal.

[ikke1959]

talking about loosing face...... This is whta Thailand is.. double standards, as shops with vapers can operate but foreigners are fined... a result we raid a shop somewhere and the other shops continue business as usual..But why is the Government allowing normal cigarettes, but vaping( less unhealthy) forbidden...But weed can be used in soups, food, and free available.. And no comunication as you almost nowhere read for tourists that vaping is forbidden in Thailand... Incredible country

[JonnyF]

The war on a healthier alternative to cigarettes has begun.

 

Meanwhile, weed and tobacco can be smoked legally.

 

 

[BritScot]

3 hours ago, PremiumLane said:

They lost face, so they are lashing out 

Just like toddlers....

[stoner]

i heard a certain tourist not to be named snitched on this shop. 

[n00dle]

Just now, stoner said:

i heard a certain tourist not to be named snitched on this shop. 

<deleted>? they let Voldemort into Thailand?

[n00dle]

3 hours ago, Lucky Bones said:

I am just so glad I quit ciggies in 2009.????????

congratulations on living long enough to be smug

[Lucky Bones]

25 minutes ago, n00dle said:

congratulations on living long enough to be smug

Sorry. Didn't mean to be smug.

It was just a factual comment.????????

[richard_smith237]

4 hours ago, pedro01 said:

For show, I guess. Seems like a knee jerk reaction to the Taiwanese actress fiasco.

Yup... for the same reason they painted a handful of pedestrian crossings last year... 

[richard_smith237]

4 hours ago, PremiumLane said:

They lost face, so they are lashing out 

Exactly that....   

 

They may also start making an utter nuisance of themselves and start fining people in the streets etc...  

this could easily grow arms and legs and the potential ‘face saving’ measures used will impact tourism further.

 

The only sensible option  - just legalise vaping...  that it isn’t already is ridiculous.  

 

 

[Dave0206]

2 hours ago, sammieuk1 said:

Now you will have to smoke your skunk in a pipe available legally just next door two doors down from the nuthouse opposite the RTP asylum ????  

Exactly find it difficult to equate the logic. If you had asked all of the readers on here 2 years ago weed shops would be legal but vaping not I think the majority of us would not believe it .Even though its reality I still find it hard to believe 

[PETERTHEEATER]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

Two young men in charge of the shop said they had been averaging income of 6-7,000 baht a day.

I hope that didnt put them in a higher tax bracket.......

[Thingamabob]

Thai cigarette monopoly hard at work protecting its' interests.

[DJ54]

Don’t remember how but… late 60s .. early 70s smoke shops could sell bongs etc. for awhile.

 

read a few years back on of the U.S. states had a law that marijuana can’t be sold but the article 

said you could go to shop order snacks, cookies etc. and get a free bag of weed. … 

[Guitar God]

On 2/1/2023 at 11:59 AM, Henryford said:

Will they be raiding the thousands of weed shops that are now open in every town?

Cannabis is legal, selling cannabis is legal with the proper license . It’s only vapes containing nicotine that are illegal.