Tobacco Products Control Act barely affects mom-and-pop stores: Researcher

[rooster59]

Tobacco Products Control Act barely affects mom-and-pop stores: Researcher

Supawadee Wangsri

BANGKOK, 21 May 2016 (NNT) – Tobacco Control Research and Knowledge Management Center (TRC) director Siriwan Phitthayarangrarit said that the Ministry of Public Health has issued a draft Tobacco Products Control Act with Directive Procedures for Distribution of Tobacco Products which clarifies that the display of tobacco products at a point of sales is prohibited, except at duty-free shops for persons leaving Thailand.

Besides such prohibition, the advertising, promoting and sponsoring of the tobacco products are also banned by the law. The law has raised concerns among the Tobacco Trade Association, supported by multinational tobacco companies, because the ban is feared to adversely affect mom-and-pop stores.


However, the director quoted a survey on the impacts of the draft Tobacco Products Control Act conducted by a TRC researcher as saying the law would barely affect mom-and-pop stores and it would raise no cause for concerns.

-- NNT 2016-05-22

[DM07]

They needed a "researcher" for that?

[Bluespunk]

Plus, you know, the massive savings the mom and pop shops make by cutting back on those huge advertising campaigns.

[Bluespunk]

They needed a "researcher" for that?

No, but they got one anyway.

[NongKhaiKid]

Does anything, other than a dip in custom, ever affect mom and pop stores ?

Regulations, what regulations ?

[jaltsc]

"...the law would barely affect mom-and-pop stores and it would raise no cause for concerns."

Why would one doubt that this would not raise cause for concern, when the overall failure to enforce most laws and statutes in Thailand have never raised cause for concern?

To quote from the movie the Ten Commandments: "So let it be written, so let it be done". Thailand is a land of writers. Not a land of doers.

Edited May 22, 2016 by jaltsc

[NongKhaiKid]

They needed a "researcher" for that?

The ' researcher ' wouldn't have had to do much ' research ' to come up with the findings, wouldn't even have to get up from his / her chair.

Unlike opinion polls no figures are quoted for the amount of stores visited while gathering this invaluable and earth shattering information.

From what I see at my local store they operate on one basic rule, ' when open sell anything to anybody ' and I believe they dabble in limited money lending too.

Business is business ma boy !

Edited May 22, 2016 by NongKhaiKid

[cpofc]

the display of tobacco products at a point of sales is prohibited, except at duty-free shops for persons leaving Thailand.

hardly relevant to me anymore.

The Australian Government (who are broke) after announcing recently that yearly increases in Tobacco Sales Tax of 15% over the next 4 years which will soon see a packet of lungbusters rise to $AUD40.00 (1000 Baht) they decided to go one better in order to help us addicts kick our habit and save our lives. (Like I am going to live forever if I give up the durres.)

You can now only enter Australia with 25 Cigarettes on your person. Not cartons, not packs, STICKS. Any more and its a bust.

So they can advertise all they bloody like at the Duty Free Stores

[Thian]

the display of tobacco products at a point of sales is prohibited, except at duty-free shops for persons leaving Thailand.

hardly relevant to me anymore.

The Australian Government (who are broke) after announcing recently that yearly increases in Tobacco Sales Tax of 15% over the next 4 years which will soon see a packet of lungbusters rise to $AUD40.00 (1000 Baht) they decided to go one better in order to help us addicts kick our habit and save our lives. (Like I am going to live forever if I give up the durres.)

You can now only enter Australia with 25 Cigarettes on your person. Not cartons, not packs, STICKS. Any more and its a bust.

So they can advertise all they bloody like at the Duty Free Stores

So if you smoke a package a day it costs you 30.000 baht a month in Oz to smoke. You could almost live in Thailand from that money and buy tobacco on the market for 40 baht a kg.

[Beng]

[macksview]

They needed a "researcher" for that?

No, but they got one anyway.

wrong on all counts.

departmental structure for this research

1 general and 15 army underlings

1 top level civil servant to give the research 'credibility', 20 underlings.

trips for the whole lot to, phuket,krabi,samui and chiang mai, to verify the research results.

lastly somying and somchai who wrote the report whilst having noodles at the local soi ma n pa shop.

[macksview]

the display of tobacco products at a point of sales is prohibited, except at duty-free shops for persons leaving Thailand.

hardly relevant to me anymore.

The Australian Government (who are broke) after announcing recently that yearly increases in Tobacco Sales Tax of 15% over the next 4 years which will soon see a packet of lungbusters rise to $AUD40.00 (1000 Baht) they decided to go one better in order to help us addicts kick our habit and save our lives. (Like I am going to live forever if I give up the durres.)

You can now only enter Australia with 25 Cigarettes on your person. Not cartons, not packs, STICKS. Any more and its a bust.

So they can advertise all they bloody like at the Duty Free Stores

yep, father in law has a nervous breakdown when he has to pay 600 baht plus for a pack on his holidays in aus.

going back he has the happies, 4 cartons of luckies cheap.

[macksview]

Does anything, other than a dip in custom, ever affect mom and pop stores ?

Regulations, what regulations ?

and neither should it.

[chainarong]

the display of tobacco products at a point of sales is prohibited, except at duty-free shops for persons leaving Thailand.

hardly relevant to me anymore.

The Australian Government (who are broke) after announcing recently that yearly increases in Tobacco Sales Tax of 15% over the next 4 years which will soon see a packet of lungbusters rise to $AUD40.00 (1000 Baht) they decided to go one better in order to help us addicts kick our habit and save our lives. (Like I am going to live forever if I give up the durres.)

You can now only enter Australia with 25 Cigarettes on your person. Not cartons, not packs, STICKS. Any more and its a bust.

So they can advertise all they bloody like at the Duty Free Stores

What they haven't worked out is when they have taxed into oblivion the excise on smokers , drinkers , and fuel rev-heads, where are they going to get that massive revenue from , Carbon tax

[slapout]

In my life time I have watched packaged cigs go from 15 cents to 25 cents us a pack (out of machine) to 1.50, depending on what state you purchased in. All this only led to smuggling across state lines buying loose tobbaco and a pipe or roll your own. Same with booze, fuel, etc.Then the federal goverment got in the act, increased tax, age of purchase, selling point rules/laws etc display and advertisment issues have been banned, modified, curtailed. etc. The only real noticable difference, other than price of cigs now are in the 10. dollar range (i understand in some states) is more non productive people on a taxpayer paid payroll setting at a nice oversized solid oak desk with a support force in the dozens.

I would venture to guess the cost to devise, propose,implement, regulate, monitor, inspect, collect fees, distribute, enforce, etc for ever single so called, sin tax income that governments have put into their systems for the advertised purpose for the benifet of the population is more than it has provided resources, much less benifet to the taxpayer who pays the costs.

For petes sake, the mom and pop stores keep 100,000's off what could be called unemployed here in Thailand, let them make the meger living they can. There are enough thieves, muggers, drug runners, scammers, etc of the age below mom and pop store owner/operators already. This country might be behind other countries by a few decadesin a quest to not be considered 3rd world/underdeveloped, but they seem to be making every mistake that has been tried and proven as an successful mistake in the past 50 years by others, or more in attempting to play catch up.

Edited May 22, 2016 by slapout

[SABloke]

There's always an ''except'' when it comes to these laws which are often proven to not solve any real problems (except the problem of lack of tea money for the scum in brown): for this one King Power gets the special ticket...for booze bans it's the big hotels...for booze ''near'' schools it's the bar owned by the local scum

[Thian]

I bet these expensive cigarettes will cost australia MANY tourists.

I really don't like countries telling me what to do or not and asians even can't afford to smoke in Oz this way.