Thailand Plans To Raise Tax On Cigarettes

[qwertz]

With the domino trend of banning smoking in public places, plus prohibitive taxation, what views have the BMs?

How many smokers are now determined to quit?

Edited July 6, 2007 by qwertz

[samran]

probably very little effect in and of itself, given that they are still quite cheap here. A lot more needs to be done, including education and other things such as banning smoking in public places, bars and restuarants.

It is a revenue raiser, purely and simply. One though, I happen to agree with so long as it doesn't force activities even more underground than they are now, which is a danger here in LOS.

[Mid]

Experts target cigarette smuggling

(dpa) - Annual tobacco-related deaths are expected to reach 8.3 million by the year 2030, with 80 per cent of them occurring in Asia, unless more is done to tighten trans-border controls on the trade, international health experts warned on Monday.

"The only two epidemics that are encountering a major increase in the next 20 years are the tobacco epidemic and the HIV/Aids epidemics," said Douglas Bettcher, director of the World Health Organisation's Tobacco Free Initiative.

The Post Publishing Public Co

[qwertz]

probably very little effect in and of itself, given that they are still quite cheap here. A lot more needs to be done, including education and other things such as banning smoking in public places, bars and restuarants.

It is a revenue raiser, purely and simply. One though, I happen to agree with so long as it doesn't force activities even more underground than they are now, which is a danger here in LOS.

Good point.

A big tobacco retailer in my town had a minor legal skirmish over the sticker on his car.

He won the right to keep it.

It reads "Non smokers are tax evaders".

A judge agreed it was fair comment on the ambivalent attitude of the government to smoking.

[jingjoe]

Along with food & fortune, Thai's I've met seem very centred on health issues.

They're far more pedantic about pointing out my flilthy habit is mai dee, then I've encountered ANYWHERE.

If Thai stats should manage to mirror Queenslands since smoking in pubs was banned a year ago, then a similar plan in Thailand is an overwhelming win-win.

I can't help thinking that it's only the rural poor that will miss the positive message that public space smoking bans deliver, which is a shame when they are the least likely to have appropriate health services delivered affordably into the future.

Perhaps the most rapid way to educate this demographic is to run an educational TV and Radio media blitz in conjunction with a compulsory School based programme promoted by a cross section of respected Thai icons.

Edited July 6, 2007 by jingjoe

[samran]

probably very little effect in and of itself, given that they are still quite cheap here. A lot more needs to be done, including education and other things such as banning smoking in public places, bars and restuarants.

It is a revenue raiser, purely and simply. One though, I happen to agree with so long as it doesn't force activities even more underground than they are now, which is a danger here in LOS.

Good point.

A big tobacco retailer in my town had a minor legal skirmish over the sticker on his car.

He won the right to keep it.

It reads "Non smokers are tax evaders".

A judge agreed it was fair comment on the ambivalent attitude of the government to smoking.

at the highest levels, there is probably a well understood concern between the linkages and the potential health costs, loss of economic productivty etc, etc. But, as Jing Joe points out, given that the level of coverage out in the sticks is minimal, the governments current outlays on smoking related illness is also probably minimal as well. Unlike in the west, where due to the wonders of a public health service, sick smokers put a pretty big strain on the health system- a situation which is entirely avoidable - hence the pretty big push there to make smoking as hard as possible habit to take up.