Samut Prakan becomes first province to ban cigarette ads

SAMUT PRAKAN: -- A downtown road in this province near Bangkok has become Thailand's first place where cigarette advertising is prohibited, while the country's nationwide campaign will take effect on September 24.

Deputy Disease Control Department Director General Dr. Narong Sahamethapat, who along with provincial and health officials visited 18 grocery stores in Narai Prapsuek Road in Muang District on Wednesday, said that those retail shops are good example for 500,000 others throughout the country to follow suit.

Seven-Eleven convenience stores pledged to join the campaign by taking all packs of cigarettes off their shelves behind the cashiers after the midnight of September 23, while those at major gas stations had also agreed to take them off their showcases.

US tobacco firms are believed to pour as much as Bt 250 billion (US$ 6 billion) on cigarette ads each year, while the average grocery store in Thailand is known to have been paid Bt 30,000-40,000 annually (US$750-$1000) for displaying cigarette ads.

Dr. Narong quoted a recent survey as saying that 60 per cent of adolescents, aged under18, wanted to buy cigarettes due to the ads at selling points, 9 per cent of whom admitting that they just wanted to try, compared to 49 per cent of adults who did so for similar reasons.

Shop-owners who keep cigarette ads at their selling points will be first given a verbal warning and then a written warning.

Those failing to withdraw advertising thereafter will be legally punished with a maximum Bt 200,000 fine (US$5,000).

The campaign will be evaluated at one-to three-month intervals.

--TNA 2005-09-22

Samut Prakan becomes first province to ban cigarette ads 

SAMUT PRAKAN: -- A downtown road in this province near Bangkok has become Thailand's first place where cigarette advertising is prohibited, while the country's nationwide campaign will take effect on September 24.

Deputy Disease Control Department Director General Dr. Narong Sahamethapat, who along with provincial and health officials visited 18 grocery stores in Narai Prapsuek Road in Muang District on Wednesday, said that those retail shops are good example for 500,000 others throughout the country to follow suit.

Seven-Eleven convenience stores pledged to join the campaign by taking all packs of cigarettes off their shelves behind the cashiers after the midnight of September 23, while those at major gas stations had also agreed to take them off their showcases.

US tobacco firms are believed to pour as much as Bt 250 billion (US$ 6 billion) on cigarette ads each year, while the average grocery store in Thailand is known to have been paid Bt 30,000-40,000 annually (US$750-$1000) for displaying cigarette ads.

Dr. Narong quoted a recent survey as saying that 60 per cent of adolescents, aged under18, wanted to buy cigarettes due to the ads at selling points, 9 per cent of whom admitting that they just wanted to try, compared to 49 per cent of adults who did so for similar reasons.

Shop-owners who keep cigarette ads at their selling points will be first given a verbal warning and then a written warning.

Those failing to withdraw advertising thereafter will be legally punished with a maximum Bt 200,000 fine (US$5,000).

The campaign will be evaluated at one-to three-month intervals.

--TNA 2005-09-22

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Paying 30-40 thousand baht for ads that they will give you ? Doesnt make sense !

while the average grocery store in Thailand is known to have been paid Bt 30,000-40,000 annually (US$750-$1000) for displaying cigarette ads.

Paying 30-40 thousand baht for ads that they will give you ? Doesnt make sense !

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

turn it around jr... the stores are paid to have the ads, not vice versa