Cambodia bans smoking in public places

[geovalin]

Smokers in Cambodia are no longer allowed to light up wherever they want, as the government on Thursday introduced a wide-ranging ordinance banning smoking in public places.

According to a circular released by the Ministry of Health, smoking is now prohibited in all public places, including educational and health institutions, public transport, museums, playgrounds, gas stations, and historical and cultural sites.

Minister of Health Mam Bunheng said that nearly 90 percent of Cambodians are exposed to smoke in restaurants, with 60 percent affected by passive smoking on public transport, and nearly 50 percent inhaling smoke in the work place.

According to him, Cambodians spend roughly $100 million a year on cigarettes.

When asked by reporters if any fines will be imposed on people ignoring the ban, Mam Bunheng merely said it is up to the individual managers of public spaces to ask smokers to leave the premises.

According to the World Health Organization, about 100,000 Cambodians die from tobacco-related diseases every year -- nearly 30 people per day.

In 2012, Cambodia banned smoking at its world famous Angkor temples, a World Heritage site in the northern province of Siem Reap, in order to prevent further deterioration of the monuments.

Smoking is still allowed in some parts of the archeological park, however, but not within the temple compounds.

==Kyodo

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/kyodo-news-international/140213/cambodia-bans-smoking-public-places

[Sheryl]

It's not clear to me from the article whether restaurants are included in the ban, does anyone know?