ThaiHealth poll reveals number of smokers and drinkers in decline

[webfact]

ThaiHealth poll reveals number of smokers and drinkers in decline



BANGKOK, 26 July 2016 (NNT) - The Thai Health Promotion Foundation (ThaiHealth) has found that the number of smokers and drinkers in Thailand declined over a period of five years since 2009.

ThaiHealth Chairman Admiral Narong Pipattanasai revealed that the number of smokers polled between 2009 and 2014 declined by 4 percent. In the latest health behavior survey of more than 19,000 people across 21 provinces, 16 percent of respondents were smokers. In the previous survey, which took place in 2009, smokers constituted 20 percent of respondents.

Alcohol consumption also decreased from 7 percent to 3 percent over the same period. The proportion of respondents that exercise regularly remained the same at 80 percent.

The latest survey also found that 26 percent of respondents consumed 400 grams of vegetables and fruits on a daily basis. However, more people were found to be suffering from obesity, diabetes and hypertension.

Admiral Narong said that ThaiHealth will take steps to encourage people to exercise regularly, in order to have a healthy and disease-free lifestyle.


-- NNT 2016-07-26

[SABloke]

Only 3% were consumers of alcohol? Who were they polling...people at primary school??? So the 3% were the directors, P.E teachers and a few rogue Prathom 6 students

[SOTIRIOS]

...or they can't be bothered to answer....or answer truthfully......???

[soalbundy]

they die healthy in a road accident

[elgordo38]

Only 3% were consumers of alcohol? Who were they polling...people at primary school??? So the 3% were the directors, P.E teachers and a few rogue Prathom 6 students

I found this amazing the only poll that points downward.

[jvs]

Along with encouraging people to exercise they should limit the amount of sugar being allowed in the food.

[anon467848]

Smoking I could perhaps believe, but a reduction in alcohol consumption, no way. Most Thai males are a bunch of piss heads. Any excuse to drink, the trouble is, they don't know when to stop...

[anon467848]

Why do they need to do a poll. They just need to look at tobacco and alcohol sales for any given period...

[petedk]

Smoking I could perhaps believe, but a reduction in alcohol consumption, no way. Most Thai males are a bunch of piss heads. Any excuse to drink, the trouble is, they don't know when to stop...

Why do you think there is no reduction in consumption of alcohol?

I haven't calculated, because it doesn't affect me, but there seem to be more and more days where the consumption of alcohol is banned.

[Misterwhisper]

"Alcohol consumption also decreased from 7 percent to 3 percent over the same period. The proportion of respondents that exercise regularly remained the same at 80 percent."

It seems an ending zero is missing in each of the first two figures, while the zero should have been omitted in the third - unless lifting beer bottles and booze glasses as substitutes for dumbbells is considered "regular exercising".

I am also not sure what kind of people were polled for this dubious survey, but they surely didn't interview any of the blokes in my extended neighborhood, who are stone drunk day and night and just wither away in their hammocks whenever I see them.

[LannaGuy]

what a load of B*********

[cardinalblue]

I believe Thailand last year as a country was ranked 5th in the world for overall amount of alcohol consumed....mainly hard liquor

[nakhonandy]

I think any of us living here would take this with a truck load of salt!

Pretty well all the men drink in and around Jomtien/Pattaya the whole day and the women the whole night.

Back in the village the same for the men but they go to bed earlier.

As for the exercise!!!!! Lifting crates of Lao Khao maybe.

[oxo1947]

I believe Thailand last year as a country was ranked 5th in the world for overall amount of alcohol consumed....mainly hard liquor

No its not even in the top 60----- and there is even a large distortion of those figures ---you have approx 25 million Tourist every year (nearly half the countries population) usually getting plastered every night.. IMO Most Thai women do not drink alcohol....or very very little. ----if you are going to live in a city like Pattaya --Phuket etc you may see a lot more excess drinking, but nowhere near what you would see in the west.

This figure published by WHO of 190 countries was printed in 2014 after collecting figures for 4 years ---it does give a projected figure for 2015 which it thinks will be about 8% it also takes into account home made alcohol

I am sorry if it doesn't fit in with some peoples presumption that Thai man lay around all day, drunk doing no work......maybe your getting confused with some retired ex-pats.

The table below for about 190 countries uses 2010 data from the WHO report published in 2014

Unrecorded consumption (*LaoKho etc) was calculated using empirical investigations and expert judgements

*my addition

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_alcohol_consumption_per_capita

[Jonmarleesco]

Decline - that's one risk of smoking.

[Jonmarleesco]

I believe Thailand last year as a country was ranked 5th in the world for overall amount of alcohol consumed....mainly hard liquor

No its not even in the top 60----- and there is even a large distortion of those figures ---you have approx 25 million Tourist every year (nearly half the countries population) usually getting plastered every night.. IMO Most Thai women do not drink alcohol....or very very little. ----if you are going to live in a city like Pattaya --Phuket etc you may see a lot more excess drinking, but nowhere near what you would see in the west.

This figure published by WHO of 190 countries was printed in 2014 after collecting figures for 4 years ---it does give a projected figure for 2015 which it thinks will be about 8% it also takes into account home made alcohol

I am sorry if it doesn't fit in with some peoples presumption that Thai man lay around all day, drunk doing no work......maybe your getting confused with some retired ex-pats.

The table below for about 190 countries uses 2010 data from the WHO report published in 2014

Unrecorded consumption (*LaoKho etc) was calculated using empirical investigations and expert judgements

*my addition

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_alcohol_consumption_per_capita

'... you have approx 25 million Tourist every year (nearly half the countries population) usually getting plastered every night ...'

'I am sorry if it doesn't fit in with some peoples presumption that Thai man lay around all day, drunk doing no work......maybe your getting confused with some retired ex-pats.'

Your figures would suggest it more likely that you're simply getting confused.

[nisakiman]

Polls of this sort can never be taken seriously for the simple reason that people will usually say what they think the pollster wants to hear. This is particularly true in situations where there is a government agenda to attach a social stigma to that which is being asked about, like smoking and drinking.

"Do you smoke?"

"Noooo, never!" (Fingers crossed behind back, pack of Krung Thip in shirt pocket...)

"Do you drink?"

"Me? Drink? Oh no..." (Bottle of Lao Khao firmly tucked into hip pocket...)

And it's not even possible to gauge numbers by sales, because when they load punitive 'sin' taxes on goods, the black market flourishes, and they have no idea how big that may be.

But it makes them feel good, and justifies their bloated salaries, which is all they care about, so accuracy of the figures doesn't really matter. It's not as if it's anything to do with health, anyway. It's all about control and social engineering.

[webfact]

Thai Health Poll reveals that almost no Thai smokes or drinks and most people exercise all the time
By Coconuts Bangkok



BANGKOK: -- Thai Health Promotion Foundation (ThaiHealth) recently reported that the number of smokers and drinkers in Thailand declined over the last five years.

ThaiHealth Chairman Admiral Narong Pipattanasai said that his organization’s research showed that the number of smokers declined by four percent.

This latest study, which tracked the habits of over 19,000 people in 21 provinces, showed that 16 percent of those answering were smokers. The previous survey, from 2009, showed that 20 percent those answering might be doing so while smoking a butt.

Source: http://bangkok.coconuts.co/2016/07/26/thai-health-poll-reveals-almost-no-thai-smokes-or-drinks-and-most-people-exercise-all

-- Coconuts Bangkok 2016-07-27

[dcnx]

I honestly don't know if they are just really bad at propaganda, or if they all live in absolute denial about pretty much everything.

[ignis]

Guess would be to easy to find out the sales of Tobacco over the past 5 years, or sales from the drink Companies...

At Hospital yesterday all day, sure felt like there were 19,000 people there, and the amount of people outside having a fag was a lot, and that was just at one place..

Guess the ThaiHealth Chairman was happy that the researchers asked the right people these question.

[Alive]

Things were so excessive in the past may be most all of the old drunks and smokers have died off young. Quick change.

[SABloke]

Guess would be to easy to find out the sales of Tobacco over the past 5 years, or sales from the drink Companies...

At Hospital yesterday all day, sure felt like there were 19,000 people there, and the amount of people outside having a fag was a lot, and that was just at one place..

Guess the ThaiHealth Chairman was happy that the researchers asked the right people these question.

Tobacco and Alcohol sales are UP, but that's because the fewer consumers are increasing their consumption >_>

[BlindMagician]

The headline says something different to the first build paragraph. Are they claiming both true, or different takes on the same overall picture, or what?

Maybe just another case of a lazy headline.

[petedk]

Me very confused!

Didn't I read a rapport a few weeks ago that Thais were number 2 or 3 heaviest drinkers in Asia?

Maybe that figure shocked them and they all stopped drinking.

Or maybe it is just all the No alcohol sales times and days that prevent them from drinking.

[lostmebike]

I honestly don't know if they are just really bad at propaganda, or if they all live in absolute denial about pretty much everything.

Agreed. Think the key here is the word 'Admiral'.

If eating somtum, deep fried cancer balls and kanom at your local park constitutes to exercise then yes, most Thais do exercise.

[manhood]

Never believe in any statistic if you are not the one who manipulated this statistic:

but this poll sounds like some guys played lottery - and won as what they found out was what they should find out!

[Srikcir]

ThaiHealth Chairman Admiral Narong Pipattanasai said that his organization’s research showed that the number of smokers declined by four percent.

Unfortunately, the Prayut government seeks to reverse that trend.

The Government announced in June 2016 that its state-owned Tobacco Monopoly introduced the country's newest brand of cigarette, "Line 7.1", just weeks after the government increased the cigarette tax. The new brand, which is slightly smaller in diameter than standard brands, costs about 40 baht ($1.12) a pack. After the tax hike, other brands now range from about 48 to 130 baht ($1.34 to $3.64) a pack.

The tobacco company says that it is simply "trying to protect the health of low-income smokers" with the new, cheaper brand. It claims a cheaper brand of cigarettes keeps smokers from rolling their own unfiltered cigarettes or buying illegally imported, untaxed ones.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/924135-how-thailand-kept-cigarettes-cheap-despite-a-tax-hike/

[smedly]

this is a bit like the weather man saying it is sunny today without looking out the window to see that it is lashing down

[tails]

sales figures are probably more reliable than a "survey" but still aren't right... most Thai smokers I know smoke locally grown tobacco and don't buy smokes

[Lupatria]

The admiral learned fast from the other poll results: "Foreigners are deliriously happy in LOS"