Bangkok officers in Phuket to stamp out public butts
Phuket Gazette

PHUKET: -- Flagrant disregard for non-smoking laws in Phuket has prompted officers from the Bureau of Tobacco Control in Bangkok to plaster Phuket International Airport, Phuket Bus Terminal 2 and a variety of private businesses across the island with no-smoking stickers.

“Most public areas are smoke-free areas by law, yet we still have found many tourists and local business operators disobeying the signs, despite having seen them,” Tobacco Control Bureau Legal officer Kanet Wongsa told the Phuket Gazette.

In addition to putting up no-smoking stickers, officers spoke with guards and staff to enlist their help in monitoring and preventing people from smoking in prohibited areas.

“It is possible that some people might not understand the law clearly or they do not take the law seriously. Either way, we are here to make sure there is change,” Mr Kanet said.

After an initial warning from a guard or staffer, a person can be reported to police and fined up to 2,000 baht.

“We have assigned the Phuket Provincial Health Office and the regional Public Health Office for all of Southern Thailand to survey public areas weekly and report to us,” Mr Kanet said.

Mr Kanet and his team will return to Phuket in two weeks to follow what progress, if any, is being made.

Source: http://www.phuketgazette.net/phuket_news/2013/Bangkok-officers-in-Phuket-to-stamp-out-public-butts-21059.html


-- Phuket Gazette 2013-05-16

Good idea, gotta start somewhere.

Small steps get you there eventually....

Good.

Yes, that's the most serious crime in Phuket isn't it. Well done bringing outside resources in to stamp it out.

There are a bunch of off-duty pollicemen who regularly use the local bar/restaurant that I frequent, and there isn't one of them who leaves the table to go outside to use the public smoking area, so what kind of hypocrisy is this?

Good idea, gotta start somewhere.

Small steps get you there eventually....

Like the 100% motorbike helmet law? Thats worked...

Sounds like a nice junket for the BKK based officers!

Good idea, gotta start somewhere.

Small steps get you there eventually....

Like the 100% motorbike helmet law? Thats worked...

But you see many more people in cities wearing them.

Remember how long it took to enforce in the UK?

Give it time, increase the fines and it will get there.

At least the fine here is a reasonable deterrent!

Chatuchak market is non smoking. Go in to the art section by the front. Isle after isle of Thai guys drinking and smoking. Cops seem to be afraid to say anything, they do look nefarious.

There are a bunch of off-duty pollicemen who regularly use the local bar/restaurant that I frequent, and there isn't one of them who leaves the table to go outside to use the public smoking area, so what kind of hypocrisy is this?

Kind? Standard Phuket kind.

Good idea, gotta start somewhere.

Small steps get you there eventually....

Like the 100% motorbike helmet law? Thats worked...

It's very nearly there in Chiang Mai, persistence does pay.

Good idea, gotta start somewhere.

Small steps get you there eventually....

Like the 100% motorbike helmet law? Thats worked...

But you see many more people in cities wearing them.

Remember how long it took to enforce in the UK?

Give it time, increase the fines and it will get there.

At least the fine here is a reasonable deterrent!

Your right about the fines. But also the attitude of the Police, notice a lot of police not wearing helmets. Plus none of the muslim people wear them with them things on their heads on the way to the mosque. I think it could take many years.

Haha... Good luck. That is a nice idea though. But it will not make a dent in the No smoking law in Phuket or Any where in Thailand.... Really

They can send down meters for taxis next....

Good idea, gotta start somewhere.

Small steps get you there eventually....

Like the 100% motorbike helmet law? Thats worked...

But you see many more people in cities wearing them.

Remember how long it took to enforce in the UK?

Give it time, increase the fines and it will get there.

At least the fine here is a reasonable deterrent!

Your right about the fines. But also the attitude of the Police, notice a lot of police not wearing helmets. Plus none of the muslim people wear them with them things on their heads on the way to the mosque. I think it could take many years.

Really? Why do you stay here? It seems to me you don't like the people who have lived here way before you ever arrived... I have no problem with most Thais, no matter what their religion. There are good and bad, it doesn't matter from where or what you or they may believe in...

Good idea, gotta start somewhere.

Small steps get you there eventually....

Get you where exactly? Back to farangnannyland?

But you see many more people in cities wearing them.

Remember how long it took to enforce in the UK?

Give it time, increase the fines and it will get there.

At least the fine here is a reasonable deterrent!

Sounds like you're missing your home mate. To me it sounds like a giant step backward to where I came from, and the very reasons I left where I came from!

When I saw the headline my first thought was the culture ministry had sent the police here to stamp out those guys who wear their pants halfway down their backsides.

After an initial warning from a guard or staffer, a person can be reported to police and fined up to 2,000 baht.

That warning is 200 baht, I guess.

Good idea, gotta start somewhere.

Small steps get you there eventually....

Like the 100% motorbike helmet law? Thats worked...

But you see many more people in cities wearing them.

Remember how long it took to enforce in the UK?

Give it time, increase the fines and it will get there.

At least the fine here is a reasonable deterrent!

How about ENFORCE the law, bit hard when the BIB don't wear helmets !!

There was a police officer I saw 3 days ago riding his bike with only his "base ball cap" on !!

How can people not be contemptuous of the law when they see the people who are supposed to enforce it breaking the law every day?

If you REALLY think second hand smoke is harming you then you should not go outside in places like Bangkok the carcinogens you are breathing there are far worse. Do you whinge about the smell from the drains, when your eyes water from the fumes from passing a stall cooking Thai food?

Yes I am a smoker and try to be as considerate as I can, but I'll be damned if I'm not having a smoke when I'm drinking, it is legal !! FREEDOM OF CHOICE is a 2 way street, instead of me not smoking why don't you drink where there is no smoke?

Harsh, but as much as smoking is the one thing I regret doing in my life IT IS MY CHOICE. As it s yours to leave if you don't like it. One of the reasons I live here is because of the freedoms I have I didn't have back home. Have segregated bars by all means, or make cigarettes illegal.

Plus an ice cream bucket would be just as useful !!

This will just end up another excuse for tea money !!

They can get pointers from the cigarette butt police on Sukhumvit that bust people for throwing imaginary cigarette butts on the sidewalk.

The Marine had just ended a Tour in Afganistan,shot at,roadside Bombs, comes here for a brake and some Hand Flaping P.C goon says No enjoy nice Cold Beer and Smoke. Ah Well,perhaps the Hand Flappers never been in a Firefight,and needed a Smoke afterwards.

One of my most memorable smokes I had in an area with many many NON-smoking signs....

I did not want to smoke a cigaret at that time however, BUT there were 2 police officers in uniform smoking away, right under the signs. So I could not resist myself to stand near them and also smoke... There was nothing they could do

Good idea, gotta start somewhere.

Small steps get you there eventually....

Like the 100% motorbike helmet law? Thats worked...

It's very nearly there in Chiang Mai, persistence does pay.

CM police regularly set up checkpoints at various locations in the city, mainly concentrating on motocyclists, one would expect that the most stubborn ones would eventually get tired of being fined 200baht for not wearing the helmet in the bike basket, and wear it instead.

Why oh why is there not a "Dislike" button for posts?

There are a bunch of off-duty pollicemen who regularly use the local bar/restaurant that I frequent, and there isn't one of them who leaves the table to go outside to use the public smoking area, so what kind of hypocrisy is this?

...and then they ride on with their motorcycles with a hat on, but no helmet at all.

There are a bunch of off-duty pollicemen who regularly use the local bar/restaurant that I frequent, and there isn't one of them who leaves the table to go outside to use the public smoking area, so what kind of hypocrisy is this?

How dare you suggest that it isn't only tourists and business operators, that disobey signs, shame on you. Are you suggesting that the honourable Khun Kanet Wongsa is wrong or worse still.. RACIST. (please people, all said tongue in cheek, except for maybe the racist part)

Nothing gives me a migraine more quickly than men and women wearing perfume. Step into an elevator with someone who bathes in perfume or cologne, or puts on too much deodorant. I have the right to enjoy fresh air and be migraine free. Let's ban all hair sprays, colognes, perfumes and deodorants in public places. (tic)

Good idea, gotta start somewhere.

Small steps get you there eventually....

Like the 100% motorbike helmet law? Thats worked...

It's very nearly there in Chiang Mai, persistence does pay.

CM police regularly set up checkpoints at various locations in the city, mainly concentrating on motocyclists, one would expect that the most stubborn ones would eventually get tired of being fined 200baht for not wearing the helmet in the bike basket, and wear it instead.

Yeah and the ice cream bucket will make all the difference !

There are no standards here and FREEDOM OF CHOICE is one reason I live here, my helmet is DOT approved, I ALWAYS wear boots and jeans on my bike. But if you choose to wear flip flops and no helmet UP2U........

Ace of Pop, on 17 May 2013 - 09:44, said:

The Marine had just ended a Tour in Afganistan,shot at,roadside Bombs, comes here for a brake and some Hand Flaping P.C goon says No enjoy nice Cold Beer and Smoke. Ah Well,perhaps the Hand Flappers never been in a Firefight,and needed a Smoke afterwards.

What a ridiculous comparison....you might as well say that the doctor that has just saved a life, the firefighter that just risked his life, the miner that just finished a shift below ground, etc, etc, etc, an absolutely idiotic post 'AoP'...