Smoking in Chiang Mai

[laislica]

We are off to Chiang Mai ourselves for a spot of R&R following a family tradgedy here in Thailand.

We shall stay in a nice hotel with two swimming pools.

The rooms are quiet, non-smoking, have windows that can be opened.

The aircon is personal to each room.

The firdge is huge and quiet.

The staff are friendly.

We pay about 700b per night and really enjoy ourselves.

The hotel does not have a restaurant but that's no big deal, loads of them within a few steps.

Places not too many mins walk and you can have a full English or American style breakfast, crispy bacon, runny eggs - yum yum.

Warrarot market is a few mins walk away.

Loads of Temples nearby, shops, fruit n veg stalls, a big flower market, the river,

the night market is also close by, etc, etc.

Not too far to walk to the old town - Bliss!!

We would normally time our return to Thailand for about mid November, the rainy season is over,

the weather is lovely and there is a lot of exotic fruit to sample.

For Chiang Mai, read up on threads about the timing of jungle burning and the burning off of the rice stubble.

At those times it can be somewhat unpleasent due to the amount of smoke in the air.

Have a great time.

However, if you intend to stay for a few months, may I suggest you get an appropriate visa from the Thai Embassy in Canada before you depart.

There is a 30 day on arrival Visa Waiver for short tourists visits But!

Thailand is having a clamp down on abuses of back to back tourist waiver and visa entries.

There are many threads on this forum that can help you understand visa requirements.

Hope you have a great time when you finally arrive.

[JackJD]

I will never even visit that area because of the poor air quality... if you are that concerned about cigarette smoke, then go to another city!

[pgrahmm]

Many are discreet and move to an area away from the tables.......but quite a few (almost 100% farang) revel in sitting in the middle of places and smoking like a chimney almost openly taunting their right to smoke.....we do not smoke and will not sit amongst those that do.....it's a roll of the dice - you can be half way through your meal and the whole table next to you has just finished theirs and lights up during the afterglow.........we live in CM

In Krabi recently we found one place that put the non-smokers upstairs (tier) with all the fans blowing out across the lower level toward the street - it helped

I'll leave a place before I'll sit next to smokers.....

[daoyai]

Hey JackJD, Why did you even bother to post if you haven't visited? odd but anyway, the air has been quite clear for months now, the smoke season is only a few weeks and the smokers as noted in many posts have been subdued so.... enjoy.

[silent]

I went to a snooker hall the other night. Enjoyed my time there becoz a big sign on the door said 'no smoking'. I did notice ash trays all about but not until 45 mins had passed did anyone light up. I left then but did point out to the service girl the sign on the door.

You mean the guideline sign for toothless law, or the definition of illegal, besides it's just a sick bird unless caught by someone that cares?

[tingtongteesood]

The smokers here are complete a--holes same as everywhere else and think it is their god given right to poison everyone any time any place because their crapped out bodies 'need a drag right now'. Drives me mad ! I cough on every single one of them who blows his poison in my direction.

[GoNavy]

I don't smoke. I go to bars and am not bothered, meaning I don't see it around me. Also, restaurants I have gone to have been smokeless. Not because of rules, mostly, probably farangs go there and smoking has become alien to our desire. So, IMO, I wouldn't worry about it. If you see it happening it may not even bother you.

[silent]

Many are discreet and move to an area away from the tables.......but quite a few (almost 100% farang) revel in sitting in the middle of places and smoking like a chimney almost openly taunting their right to smoke.....we do not smoke and will not sit amongst those that do.....it's a roll of the dice - you can be half way through your meal and the whole table next to you has just finished theirs and lights up during the afterglow.........we live in CM

In Krabi recently we found one place that put the non-smokers upstairs (tier) with all the fans blowing out across the lower level toward the street - it helped

I'll leave a place before I'll sit next to smokers.....

Good to have that choice in a country where air quality is the number one concern, isn't it?

Personally I can't stand it when all the plastics and used oil gets burned and don't have the choice to walk away, but then

when was the last time there was a public information campaign about immediate deadlier carcinogens in burning second hand chemicals than those from long term submission to cigarette smoke.

[enufsaid]

Jason20142014, laws such as there are , are ignored. Taking drugs is illegal & you can get the death penalty, but does anyone take notice, NO. If there is a law for not smoking in bars or restaurants I've never heard of it, so if u don't want 2nd hand smoke or smoke & pollution from forest fires in Myanmar I suggest you stay well clear of anywhere that isn't by the ocean. In saying that, the air is so polluted that will get ur lungs b4 the cigarette smoke does

[daoyai]

^^ I think most nonsmokers are not too concerned with the tiny health risk from second hand smoke (more a concern to workers in smoky environs) My objjection is just the stink, I don't want to sit next to a pile of dog feces cuz it stinks, same with cigs, a public smoker is on the same level socially as an unwashed stinker (IMO).

[NoshowJones]

The smokers here are complete a--holes same as everywhere else and think it is their god given right to poison everyone any time any place because their crapped out bodies 'need a drag right now'. Drives me mad ! I cough on every single one of them who blows his poison in my direction.

Why not pick your nose in front of them when they are eating, and make sure they see you.

[Don Aleman]

By all means don't come here as I, and my friends, smoke enough to kill everyone on the entire planet ! Oh, I almost forgot about the several million smoke belching vehicles with no pollution control devices on them, each kicking out more pollutants, in 1 hour than all the cigarettes I've smoked in 65 years ! Guess you don't mind sucking on an exhaust pipe but THAT, that does make me cough !

[masuk]

Stay in Canada. There's a lot more you won't like if you're a little old lady.

If you must make the trip, be sure to schedule around the hot season and the smoky season and the rainy season and the low season and the high season and the dry season.

It's your choice when you see a pile of garbage as to whether you walk around it or step over it. Oh, and the movement you'll see is just rats in the pile.

Street vendors will pick their noses every time just before they handle your food. They'll also have a pet dog, cat or monkey walking around in your food.

Actually you'd prefer Paris. Perhaps the Champs Elysees where they have marvelous outdoor sidewalk seating all up and down, and everything is 1st world standard.

Enjoy.

How pathetic and uninformative.

[masuk]

The cigarette smoke won't kill you but the smoke from the burning of the fields will..... as well as the exhaust from autos and scooters.

You've got that the wrong way around. Professor Doll proved beyond doubt that smokers and their families contract cancer and die earlier than those not exposed to cigarette smoke.

I think we can assume that the OP is not a smoker, doesn't live in a home full of smoking family members, and does his best to avoid smokey public places. So none of that applies.

Burning rice fields and Burmese and Indonesian forests yet to be proven.

How did the poster get it the wrong way around then?

"The cigarette smoke won't kill you..."

[Choonpon]

Just came back from Chiang Mai, no problems with cigarette smokes issue. I think it depends where you go; sleazy areas bound to have more smokers.

And if you prefer cleaner and fresher air, I suggest your accommodation to be away from Chiang Mai city centre.

Edited July 2, 2014 by Choonpon

[Thai at Heart]

Please remember not to travel by Tuktuk or expose yourself to any black belching buses or lorries during your visit.

Your hotel will probably offer non smoking room, so probably not worth risking leaving the room if you are concerned about air pollution. Ironically you will be visiting outside the burning season when the local population burn half the countryside.

This makes an old fashioned 70s pub seem like the Alaskan vista in air pollution terms.

[true blue]

being a ex smoker 20 years ago,i can smell a fag at 5 paces away and i can honestly assure you there is very very few places in chiang mai that abides to the non smoking rule,apart i guess from the big major hotels,and some very up market resturants the rest it seems is up to you.

[amexpat]

The few smokers that I know are quite considerate. They step out onto the sidewalk e.g. before lighting up. I did too, when I smoked for a few decades.

The smokers on this thread put up infantile, asinine, posts like a child deprived of his candy bar.

Sad, but what rational, adult, reason exists for smoking? The physical addiction is not really very strong - it's more a mental issue.

[amse]

About the time of the last coup the toughest cigarette smoking ban in the world was imposed in Thailand, but like so many other laws like for instance motorcycle helmets, there's rarely a police officer in sight giving tickets.

[elgenon]

I will add a gripe! Why does a smoker think it is OK to come into bar, restaurant and light up next to me? Ask if it is OK. Dunderheads! Can I fart on them? 5555

[smotherb]

Many laws in Thailand are ignored, so that is not going to protect you. This is not Canada and most likely you are going to be exposed to cigarette smoke pretty regularly.

Not only would he be exposed to the smoke, he would also be exposed to many who complain they cannot light up in a restaurant.

[sambum]

The smokers here are complete a--holes same as everywhere else and think it is their god given right to poison everyone any time any place because their crapped out bodies 'need a drag right now'. Drives me mad ! I cough on every single one of them who blows his poison in my direction.

Wouldn't be an ex smoker by any chance?

[dotpoom]

I don't drink or smoke now but I have not seen a smoke filled bar here, now that you mention iti, like I used to at home when I was participating. I remember the time when even walking past a pub you would not be able to see who was inside it was so full of smoke. In fact, it saddens me when I see a Thai person smoking because there are so few smokers here.

[taotoo]

"The cigarette smoke won't kill you..."

The cigarette smoke won't kill him for the reasons mentioned above. As for the burning - you simply don't know if it will kill him or not, as you admitted yourself.

[masuk]

"The cigarette smoke won't kill you..."

The cigarette smoke won't kill him for the reasons mentioned above. As for the burning - you simply don't know if it will kill him or not, as you admitted yourself.

Well, for anyone to say that cigarette smoke will not kill you (in time) then they're avoiding the facts.

Even in the absence of scientific facts and data, I could ask why did all my friends and colleagues who'd smoked since their teens, all step off this planet before I retired? I could list the various cancers they had, starting with the tongue, but it sounds somewhat morbid.

Smokers will always come up with atypical examples of someone who smoked and were still going strong at age 103, but the fact remains that t's a killer.

In Thailand, the average age of male death has increased considerably in recent years. In Indonesia, where they smoke a foul mix of tobacco and clove, and extra nicotine added to ensure addiction, it's still in the low 50s.

[northernjohn]

Many laws in Thailand are ignored, so that is not going to protect you. This is not Canada and most likely you are going to be exposed to cigarette smoke pretty regularly.

Not only would he be exposed to the smoke, he would also be exposed to many who complain they cannot light up in a restaurant.

Can't say as I have heard any complaints other than on Thai Visa. They have people who complain to have some thing to do. Also the ones who want every thing like back home.

For sure know that there is not that many smokers here in Chiang Mai.

[Ulysses G.]

For sure know that there is not that many smokers here in Chiang Mai.

Compared to where? Paris?

[true blue]

Many laws in Thailand are ignored, so that is not going to protect you. This is not Canada and most likely you are going to be exposed to cigarette smoke pretty regularly.

Not only would he be exposed to the smoke, he would also be exposed to many who complain they cannot light up in a restaurant.

Can't say as I have heard any complaints other than on Thai Visa. They have people who complain to have some thing to do. Also the ones who want every thing like back home.

For sure know that there is not that many smokers here in Chiang Mai.

you obviously dont get out much,bit of a strange statement,

[northernjohn]

Many laws in Thailand are ignored, so that is not going to protect you. This is not Canada and most likely you are going to be exposed to cigarette smoke pretty regularly.

Not only would he be exposed to the smoke, he would also be exposed to many who complain they cannot light up in a restaurant.

Can't say as I have heard any complaints other than on Thai Visa. They have people who complain to have some thing to do. Also the ones who want every thing like back home.

For sure know that there is not that many smokers here in Chiang Mai.

you obviously dont get out much,bit of a strange statement,

Nothing strange about it. I said earlier I don't go into bars. occasionally go for a meal at Geckos never heard any one complain about it there or for that matter saw any one smoking there. But like I say I don't go there often.

The food is a good value.

Where is it you hear all the complaining about no smoking. Is it more than one person continually complaining. I know drunks can get on and on about the same thing that they can not change.

Also said I come from British Columbia. Forgot to mention that is in Canada and we have less smokers here than there. Thought it would be meaningful as the OP comes from Canada.

[StevieH]

Many laws in Thailand are ignored, so that is not going to protect you. This is not Canada and most likely you are going to be exposed to cigarette smoke pretty regularly.

Not only would he be exposed to the smoke, he would also be exposed to many who complain they cannot light up in a restaurant.

Can't say as I have heard any complaints other than on Thai Visa. They have people who complain to have some thing to do. Also the ones who want every thing like back home.

For sure know that there is not that many smokers here in Chiang Mai.

if you don't go to bars how do you know that there are not many smokers in chiang mai? as someone who goes to a lot of bars i think that the percentage is pretty high to be honest. and that's between thais, expats and tourists. but also think that for non-smokers it's pretty easy to avoid in CM.