File photo for reference only

 

Bangkok authorities have announced a stricter enforcement of public smoking laws to safeguard residents and tourists from secondhand smoke. Health advocate Dr. Prakit Vathesatogkit and Chayanan Sithibusaya of the Tobacco Products Control Office met with Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt to address indoor air pollution caused by cigarette smoke. The move responds to long-standing gaps in enforcement of anti-smoking laws first enacted in 1992.

 

Bangkok, hosting over 1.2 million smokers and attracting 32.4 million tourists annually, faces significant risks from secondhand smoke exposure. Governor Chadchart emphasized the importance of these measures following Bangkok's designation as a Healthy City by the WHO in October 2024. The title reflects the city's progress in disease prevention and health promotion.

 

The BMA will intensify enforcement of the Tobacco Products Control Act 2017 and 2018 regulations on smoke-free zones. Violators risk fines of up to 5,000 baht. To bolster efforts, Bangkok officials plan to collaborate with Iloilo City, Philippines, a regional leader in tobacco control, to draft ordinances and establish a 20-officer enforcement unit.

 

Dr. Prakit highlighted Article 8 of the WHO Tobacco Control Convention, noting that secondhand smoke is carcinogenic with no safe exposure level. Emphasizing smoke-free air as a basic human right, he urged authorities to prioritize health, particularly for vulnerable populations.

 

Key Takeaways

• Bangkok to enforce stricter public smoking laws, aiming for health protection.
• Collaboration with Iloilo City to enhance tobacco control efforts.
• Smoke-free air emphasized as a fundamental human right by health experts.

 

Related Stories

Air Quality Action: Bangkok Designated Pollution Control Zone

Bangkok Joins Global ‘Breathe Cities’ Drive to Tackle Pollution

 

  Adapted by ASEAN Now from The Thaiger 2025-10-10

 

 

If only there was a safer alternative to smoking tobacco. Something that still gave the pleasure without the toxic second hand smoke, maybe exhaling just water vapor instead, then Thailand could ban it so the tobacco monopoly can make the most money possible.  555

Better kill all those 1-teeth Isaan arsonists ....

Yes refuse the vaping to be legal and let million cars and motorcycles drive with many of them blacksmoke.. the few cigarettes will make the difference

Some thai thinking creatively again !!!!   best stop or they will hurt themselves 

+1 ...

18 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

Yes refuse the vaping to be legal and let million cars and motorcycles drive with many of them blacksmoke.. the few cigarettes will make the difference

+1 ... After seeing the headline I hoped it to be about "smoking vehicles". 🤷🏼‍♂️

19 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

 

Bangkok authorities have announced a stricter enforcement of public smoking laws to safeguard residents and tourists from secondhand smoke

Hahaha yet another clueless statement another one in the endless list of unenforced laws

When will they crackdown on the yearly  upcoming burning of the fields and forests  which causes much more harm.

3 minutes ago, jwl53 said:

Hahaha yet another clueless statement another one in the endless list of unenforced laws

you can still smoke under water !

"Bangkok...faces significant risks from secondhand smoke exposure."

But the buses and trucks are totally ok?

20 hours ago, Trippy said:

If only there was a safer alternative to smoking tobacco. Something that still gave the pleasure without the toxic second hand smoke, maybe exhaling just water vapor instead, then Thailand could ban it so the tobacco monopoly can make the most money possible.  555

Vaping?

Maybe stop allowing 30 year old buses and trucks on the roads and in the city center 

Cigarette smoking contributing to pollution is another Thai brain joke analysis.
Motorcycle no mufflers and old vehicles are majority of the problem cause 

Not a bad idea, if it is enforced. I think most smokers have no idea how obnoxious their second hand smoke really is. 

 

And it is the filthiest of habits. Anything to discourage it is a good thing. 

Oh again 10 yrs later  they tried to do it in 2015  lasted 1 month. 

They just are so thick  love to blame but ignore the real culprit 

50 yr old Mitsubishi Buses 

DMAX Pickups 

Trucks 

The pollution from Southern China 

Burning their rubbage on the outskirts. 

Industry 

But oh no it the million smokers.  Beggars believe. 

Coming soon: fart fines.

"You farang!  You fart, you pay now!"

 

Just now, spidermike007 said:

Not a bad idea, if it is enforced. I think most smokers have no idea how obnoxious their second hand smoke really is. 

 

And it is the filthiest of habits. Anything to discourage it is a good thing. 

But you will walk over a klong and smell sewage and sit at a road side Cafe and get poisoned by exhaust fumes but that's OK wtf 

A 20 man enforcement team to cover all of Bagkok? That should work!

5 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Not a bad idea, if it is enforced. I think most smokers have no idea how obnoxious their second hand smoke really is. 

 

And it is the filthiest of habits. Anything to discourage it is a good thing. 

When were you last bothered by second hand cigarette smoke? Do tell. I'd have thought Thailand to have rather strict smoking rules.

1 minute ago, Spock said:

When were you last bothered by second hand cigarette smoke? Do tell.

Often. Usually I will avoid sitting anywhere near smokers. Especially while eating. Yuk! 

This is what you get when people buy their positions of power. Complete empty headed idiots.

5 minutes ago, maddox41 said:

But you will walk over a klong and smell sewage and sit at a road side Cafe and get poisoned by exhaust fumes but that's OK wtf 

There are certain things in life that can be helped, and there are other things that cannot. There are the ones that we can avoid, and the other ones we don't have much of a choice. 

8 minutes ago, maddox41 said:

Oh again 10 yrs later  they tried to do it in 2015  lasted 1 month. 

They just are so thick  love to blame but ignore the real culprit 

50 yr old Mitsubishi Buses 

DMAX Pickups 

Trucks 

The pollution from Southern China 

Burning their rubbage on the outskirts. 

Industry 

But oh no it the million smokers.  Beggars believe. 

Hehe , leave DMAX out of it.

My 18 years old doesn't have black smoke coming out.

And the traffic pollution is very good for you seemingly 🙄

You simply cannot make up all that stuff. 

So now some 20 Bangkok officials are to collaborate with the mother-of-all-tobacco-control-capitals in Iloilo City, Philippines? Who, on Earth, came up with this splendid idea (not disregarding/disrespecting whatever there is in Iloilo - apart from the tobacco boys)?

I also take it, that all domestic endeavours, i.e.:
- having stopped, for good, the slash-and-burn attitude by Thai farmers
- no more burning-off fields of sugar cane, corn, etc. 
- harsh punishment with five or six digit amounts of land lords who, in turn, can take eventual lessees into equation about breaking the laws
- the belching public transport, on the road for decades with millions of monthly maintenance costs to keep the smog burping once Somchai is leaving the bus stop in the middle of the road
- fine all those better-than-others who let their car engines running on the car park of shopping centres and department stores

Well done, congratulations, keep up the good work then! 

20 hours ago, Trippy said:

If only there was a safer alternative to smoking tobacco. Something that still gave the pleasure without the toxic second hand smoke, maybe exhaling just water vapor instead, then Thailand could ban it so the tobacco monopoly can make the most money possible.  555

Not sure what you're trying to say, I assume you are a smoker, and don't give a rat's about others around you, please correct me if wrong.

"The move responds to long-standing gaps in enforcement of anti-smoking laws first enacted in 1992," along with gaps in law enforcement period.

 

I'm sure that this measure, along with cutting down on joss stick burning will make a lot more sense when Thai officially becomes the World language, as previously intimated by a similarly minded counterpart...

I don't know about you guys, but this is the funniest thing I've read all day

I'm not a fan of smoking cigs or vaping, but I expect enforcing existing Laws relating to vehicles non conforming to pollution emissions (eg. billowing black smoke) would be much more effective immediately. This could be done during inspection for registration and by police observation and legal action.