Shisha – why the junta ban may not be a bad thing

[Inspire]

Shisha – why the junta ban may not be a bad thing

 

 

Back in 2011 during the time of the Bangkok floods I found myself taking a lot of trips down to the Sukhumvit Road area of Bangkok because the northern area of the city was inundated and my school had shut.

 

We had relocated many things further into town so I often stayed down there. It was a relaxing time and I had a lot of free time. Wandering around the streets of upper Sukhumvit I tried some of the Indian and Arab restaurants in the Soi 3 to Soi 11 area. Great restaurants, great food.

 

But that is where I got hooked. No, I didn’t start talking to some of the infamous dark skinned guys that were increasingly hanging around the back streets in that part of town looking suspicious.

 

I got hooked on hookah.

 

All around the area at the time were restaurants where you could while away an hour or so watching the world go by with a peach, grape, or strawberry flavoured pipe of shisha. What could be more “cultured”? What could be more relaxing? What a lovely thing to do…..

 

I had been a smoker of cigarettes since I was introduced to it by my brother in England. He was about seven and I was about nine. You could say I was an addictive personality. By my teenage years I was smoking ten a day and when I came to Bangkok in my twenties I would smoke 20-60 Krong Thip a day depending on whether I went out in the evening or not. All my friends smoked.

 

This lasted until 1998 when I decided out of the blue to go cold turkey. I succeeded in giving up and vowed never to have another cigarette. I went onto chocolate and my weight ballooned but at least I had ditched the fags.

 

Move on to 2011. I had had a few puffs of shisha in England and never looked into its effect on health. Rather uncharacteristically for me I just thought it was a relatively harmless thing to do – especially in moderation. After all it said on the tobacco that it was 95% molasses.

 

So there I was starting to go out for a relaxing shisha. Alone. Each smoking session would last 45 minutes to an hour, along with a coffee. Lovely.

 

Full story: http://www.inspirepattaya.com/lifestyle/shisha-junta-ban-may-bad-thing/

 

 

 

-- © Copyright Inspire Pattaya 2016-11-12

[yellowboat]

It is pleasant and very social.  It should be legal.

[davo2003]

One of my top 5 things to do in Pattaya was to head to Walking Street and smoke sheesha at the Candy Shop club. I found smoking sheesha reduced my alcohol consumption ,  very enjoyable and relaxing. Haven't been back to the Candy Shop since the ban. Just not the same . 

[dansbkk]

This is what the CDC has to say about the health effects of Shisha.

 

Hookah Smoke and Cancer. The charcoal used to heat tobacco in the hookah increases the health risks by producing smoke that contains high levels of carbon monoxide, metals, and cancer-causing chemicals. A typical 1-hour-long hookah smoking session involves 200 puffs, while an average cigarette is 20 puffs

 

http://www.cdc.gov/features/hookahsmoking/

 

Anytime you light something on fire and inhale the smoke you are causing the cilia of the lungs to wither and die. The Cilia help keep the lungs clear of mucus and debris so it's really not a good idea to smoke anything unless you don't mind that morning hacking cough.

The one good thing I find when I am around hookah smokers is that it smells much better than cigarette smoke. 

[Si Thea01]

34 minutes ago, yellowboat said:

It is pleasant and very social.  It should be legal.

 

I have never tried it and have no intention of doing so, but if it is only smoking through a water pipe and has different flavours, then why is it illegal? 

 

I should have read the whole story first, then there would have been no need for my question. So no need for an answer.

Edited November 13, 2016 by Si Thea01

[elgordo38]

50 minutes ago, yellowboat said:

It is pleasant and very social.  It should be legal.

How about cannabis?? 4 or 5 more states made it legal. Lets all go up in a cloud of smoke and magic mushrooms. Sorry forget that an Indian sweat lodge might be better. Trips are higher I hear and the visions more fortuitous. 

Edited November 13, 2016 by elgordo38

[F4UCorsair]

One can justify ANYTHING to one's self!!

 

I suspect that molasses heated/burnt, and INHALED, is vastly different from ingesting it, unburnt or heated.

 

Any company selling tobacco products is morally bankrupt, so could they ever be believed about the content of their product, even if burnt molasses is harmless to inhale??  I don't believe so.

Edited November 13, 2016 by F4UCorsair
addition

[Tatsujin]

If you want to know why things are banned here, it's simple, follow the money/taxes (or lack thereof).

[craigt3365]

http://www.quitshisha.com/blog/social-effects-of-shisha/12-secrets-you-should-know-about-shisha/

 

This is the one that scares me:

12. Shisha can spread infectious diseases.

Other health risk includes the spread of infectious diseases like tuberculosis, herpes, and hepatitis. Viral infections can be transmitted through the sharing of the same mouthpiece; a common custom in many cultures.

[Suttisan]

You can still smoke a delicious sheehsa on sukhumvit soi 11 :) 

[hanssna]

I used to love smoking my shisha for an our or so per day, in my lunch break, when I still worked in Egypt. 

It even kept me away from smoking any cigarettes these days. Ciggies were just horrible compared to a lovely shisha smell and taste. 

So, it can also work out in a good way. 

Too bad the Barraku is banned in Thailand, a shame. 

 

[thailand49]

Guess the above didn't  read the reports, it is worse that Cigs!

[KBsinter]

56 minutes ago, Tatsujin said:

If you want to know why things are banned here, it's simple, follow the money/taxes (or lack thereof).

I am a vaper,we are banned as well because they are using a 20 yr old tax law (Import tax) it"s another avenue 

for tea money every thing in Thailand is grey,leaves the public open to whatever the authorities deem is your 

threshold Farangs 100% even Thai folk get lumbered,hey its there Culture thing,this lot will change anything

for a buck......................lol 

[mcfish]

Why would would a sane person do this



"But what is most shocking are the studies that suggest how many cigarettes’ worth the smoker is inhaling in an hour session on the hookah pipe. I always felt it might be the equivalent of having two or three cigarettes.

Not a bit of it. Some studies suggest that an hour on shisha is like having 100, even 200 cigarettes. That “cultured” hour I used to spend could have been like the full time smoking of cigarettes for three days.

And looking back that is exactly what smoking shisha did to me. It re-addicted me to nicotine and cigarettes in double quick time, almost before I realized what was happening.

In this regard the junta’s no shisha policy might be doing many people a favor."


Sent from my SC-01D using Tapatalk