Smokers Forbidden To Light Up In Public Areas

[Jai Dee]

Smokers forbidden to light up in public areas

Children from the Action on Smoking and Health Foundation campaign with no-smoking labels at Hua Lampong Railway Station. Every public area will become smoke-free following an order from the Public Health Ministry

From now on, smokers will find it harder than ever to find a place to light up because every public area will be a smoke-free zone following the latest ministerial order from the Public Health Minister.

According to the order, which takes effect today, offenders will face a Bt2,000 fine, while owners who allow smoking on their premises or fail to place a no-smoking notice will be charged up to Bt20,000.

The ban forbids smoking on public transport, at bus stops, in elevators, public phone booths, libraries, theatres, children's playgrounds, drugstores, meeting rooms, massage parlours and spas.

Smoking in indoor stadiums is also banned - excluding snooker rooms. The ban on smoking also includes schools and educational institutes.

Air-conditioned areas in art exhibition halls, galleries, museums, shopping malls, barbershops, Internet cafes and karaoke booths are also no-smoking zones.

The ban includes the lobbies of hotels, resorts, condominiums, apartments and restaurants, excluding entertainment areas.

Smokers are still allowed to smoke in their personal offices, individual rooms or rooms provided as smoking areas.

Public Health Minister Mongkol na Songkhla yesterday held a press conference to launch the 17th ministerial order and place no-smoking labels at Hua Lampong Railway Station.

He said 52,000 Thais died a year from smoking-related diseases, especially lung cancer and heart disease. It cost the country more than Bt50 billion in healthcare services for patients with lung cancer, heart disease and emphysema.

A no-smoking law has already been enforced in covered areas of restaurants and public places that were air-conditioned.

"This ministerial order has added more no-smoking places. The ban is to protect the health of non-smoking people from 4,000 kinds of toxin in tobacco smoke," the minister said.

Mongkol encouraged anyone witnessing an offence to call 02-590-3342.

Mongkol has also tried every means to reduce alcohol consumption. Even though the Council of State's ruling invalidated his ministry's Food and Drug Administration-initiated move to comprehensively ban alcohol advertising, the ministry is exploring other legal channels.

Source: The Nation - 29 December 2006

[astral]

A good plan, but I am not sure how it will work at Bus Stops as these are out in the open air on the street.

Any law is only as good as the education and enforcement that goes with it.

[LaoPo]

The new Government surely has a lot of new plans....

Who's fining all the smoking policemen ?

LP

[Jai Dee]

Minister of Public Health reveals side effects from smoking

The Ministry of Public Health is promulgating the side effects of smoking before a ban is being imposed on December 29.

The Minister of Public Health, Dr. Mongkol of Songkla (มงคล ณ สงขลา), is campaigning for the public to understand his ministry's new law concerning smoking in public places, which will be implemented on December 29. The Ministry of Public Health will be increasing the areas in which smoking is banned to include bus terminals, MRT, BTS, bus stops, sports stadiums, and playgrounds.

Persons found to be breaking the law will be fined 2000 baht while the owner of the premise in which the smoking took place would be fined no more than 20,000 baht.

Meanwhile, the deputy director-general of the Department of Disease Control, Dr. Narong Sahamethapat (ณรงค์ สหเมธาพัฒน์), commented that the apprehension of violators of the smoking ban would be based on a social norms, where people burdened by the cigarette smoking would notify authorities.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 29 December 2006

[Pink Mist]

smokers should realise they are the new lepers in society.

[george]

D-Day for additional no-smoking zones today

BANGKOK: -- Carefree days for tobacco puffers in Thailand are going up in smoke. From today (Dec 29), the law banning smoking in virtually all public places comes into force.

Public Health Minister Mongkol Na Songkhla called on law enforcement agencies and entertainment venues to strictly enforce the law. Owners of entertainment venues failing to comply with the law may be subject to between Bt10,000-20,000 fine and those who puff a cigarette despite the law may have to pay a fine of Bt2,000.

Thailand has one of the toughest anti-smoking laws in the world. It is at the forefront of the region's anti-smoking campaign and has enacted a host of restrictions on the tobacco industry including bans on cigarette advertisements, bans on smoking in most public places and requirements that all cigarette packs include graphic photos depicting the ill effects of tobacco on health.

Last year the government banned cigarette displays at points of sale, making Thailand was the third country worldwide to do so.

During a press conference on Wednesday, Dr Mongkol said that smoking claimed 52,000 lives yearly as a result of cancer and heart disease. The government has to foot the bills of over Bt50 billion to treat those with lung cancer, heart disease and emphysema.

“To make sure that the law is carried out to the letter, we need cooperation from all involved. If there is not a clear sign-posting, or no proper smoking zone and non-smoking zone in public places, owners of such venues would be liable to fines,” said Dr Mongkol.

Virtually all public places would be declared non-smoking zones under the new restriction which becomes effective today, except personal offices, private rooms and designated smoking rooms.

--TNA 2006-12-29

[Jai Dee]

Public Health Ministry to expand anti-smoking areas

Public Health Minister Mongkol Na Songkhla is campaigning against smoking in public places before the regulation will be enforced on December 29th. Anti-smoking areas will also be increased. Violators must pay a fine of no more than 2,000 baht immediately.

The campaign is educating people to be aware of the new law that bars people from smoking in additional public places such as bus terminals, railway stations, stadiums, and playgrounds. Violators must pay a fine of no more than 2,000 baht immediately while venue operators will be fined up to 20,000 baht.

Disease Control Department director-general Narong Sahamethapat said the society will help penalize the violators. Those who have been troubled by the smokers can inform the officials right away because smokes can cause cancer once being inhaled directly. However, coordination with the officials in public places will be initiated in six provinces before it will expand to other areas of the country.

Md. Narong said clinics for alcoholics will be set up in hospitals nationwide next year. The clinics will advise the patients to quit drinking effectively.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 29 December 2006

[Phil Conners]

Great news, but ...

excluding snooker rooms [and]entertainment areas.

Why on earth not? They're the worst places!!

[The Coder]

Virtually all public places would be declared non-smoking zones under the new restriction which becomes effective today

Sigh. It seems they neglected to mention that in bars and nightlife establishments it is still as legal as ever assuring millions of workers and patrons will be in the direct line of fire all night from those who can't be bothered to be considerate to others without such draconian laws.

[thatguy]

I assume that the common style beer bar would be considered an open, entertainment area. Therefore exempt from the ban?

[toptuan]

At our university, several farang teachers smoke in full view of the students on the balcony right outside the teacher's offices and near classrooms. Not only is it culturally insenstive (the Thai teachers at least keep their habit private), it sets a bad example for the students, and they gossip about it constantly.

I would encourage any teacher-readers on this forum who also observe this problem to print out the above picture with news release, and post it prominently at the smokers' on-campus watering holes. It doesn't make sense to offer knowledge and death at the same time to students, from the same source...especially from those who have come to this country to (presumably) make a positive contribution.

Yes, after watching a close relative in the process of dying for 16 years, from smoking-related emphesyma, gasping for breath, death-palor face, too weak to crawl to a toilet, I'm on a mission. I wouldn't wish that horror of an existence on a dog let alone one of my students. Shame on any psuedo-role-model who would encourage Thai youth to court such agony, by following their own poor and callous example.

Edited December 29, 2006 by toptuan

[pal78]

Great news. I'm off to the bus stop to see if I can't pick a fight.

[toptuan]

Go for it! Fight a battle AND win a bigger war!

Give 'em a choice: black lungs or black eye?

My buddy was eating at the counter in a California diner back in the 70's (before smoking bans), and a smoker a couple seats down was enveloping everyone nearby in a cloud of second-hand smoke expelled from his probably-diseased lungs.

Refusing to take it any more, my friend popped a stick of gum into his mouth and walked over to the offending smoker and queried politely, "Uh, sir? Would you like to chew my gum for me?" while pulling the half-chewed wad of gum out of his mouth and offering it to the offender.

"What the H_LL? Of course not! " was the rebuttal.

Then my friend changed his tone to just a bit nastier:

"Then why, in God's name, do you think I would want to smoke your cigarette?!!"

The point was well-taken and the smoker snuffed out the cancer stick. It was this kind of social pressure back in the 70's that resulted in congressional lobbying and nationwide laws that made the USA a much healthier place to breath indoors.

Edited December 29, 2006 by toptuan

[BigSnake]

Thank You, no fan of having smoke blowed in my face.

[brucegoniners]

First California and now here, I'm in heaven!!!

[OlRedEyes]

Lets just hope that balance prevails. Paranoia about health is just as bad as any other form of paranoia.

Seems to me that the clarion call in the west is live healthy, ###### enjoyment of life. We cannot live forever, and I for one certainly don't want to. Enjoying the ride is as important, at least, as staying healthy.

Cut smoking, drinking, red meat, eggs, cheese, breathing. hel_l Fox teaches you to be paranoid where you put your handbag

[meom]

Sigh. It seems they neglected to mention that in bars and nightlife establishments it is still as legal as ever assuring millions of workers and patrons will be in the direct line of fire all night from those who can't be bothered to be considerate to others without such draconian laws.

It seems to me that the majority of workers and patrons in bars and nightlife establishments are smokers themselves so why should they be bothered?

[toptuan]

First California and now here, I'm in heaven!!!

Heaven? With all this fire and smoke?

[toptuan]

Lets just hope that balance prevails. Paranoia about health is just as bad as any other form of paranoia.

Bad choice of terminology, Mr. Red Eyes.

Paranoia is a fear based on unsubstantiated (or lack of) evidence. Forty years of medical history and 10 million deaths enough to convince you that we're not in the "paranoia" camp? My smoker friends use the same head-in-the-sand "let's not get too excited about it" rationale.

We cannot live forever, and I for one certainly don't want to. Enjoying the ride is as important, at least, as staying healthy.

I agree, the journey is as important as the destination, and one should enjoy it. But, watching someone die of smoking for over a decade is a pretty hellish journey for the traveler and observers alike. Think about it.

Edited December 29, 2006 by toptuan

[jbsears]

Sigh. It seems they neglected to mention that in bars and nightlife establishments it is still as legal as ever assuring millions of workers and patrons will be in the direct line of fire all night from those who can't be bothered to be considerate to others without such draconian laws.

It seems to me that the majority of workers and patrons in bars and nightlife establishments are smokers themselves so why should they be bothered?

I don't think the majority of workers are smokers. The majority seem to be girls at a lot of the big clubs and in Thailand it is bad for girls to smoke. A lot of girls don't smoke because it is associated with bad girls and prostitutes. These workers shouldn't have to sacrifice their health to earn a living.

[Foggy Bottom]

Shame on any psuedo-role-model who would encourage Thai youth to court such agony, by following their own poor and callous example.

I take it then that you are not an advocate of freedom of choice, or of critical thinking skills, or of embedded cause & effect logic analysis? If the students were fully educated, capable of analytical thinking and had predictive abilities, no amount of "public example making" by smoking teachers would make the students start smoking. Your argument is only valid in a "sheep-intelligence" society ......... oh, I see where you're coming from - this IS Thailand isn't it

The students have the information hammered at them daily today, something that students did not have when I was one, nor during the period when I started smoking. There was no information available regarding the addictive qualities of nicotine, nor the damage it purportedly causes, which decades-long study after study has shown to be 99% caused by ready made cigarettes, and that pipe, cigar, and roll-your-own smokers do not suffer in the same proportions.

(simple stats are that ready-made cigarette smokers are 99 times more likely to suffer the popularly quated diseases, than those using other forms of tobacco - from pro-rata studies of data recorded by northern UK hospitals from late 1970's to late 1990's - sample size = 10's of thousands compared against volume of unit sales reported by manufacturers (Grey, Miller et al, The Lancet, 1999))

Ergo - governments worldwide should first be addressing the manufacturers regarding the additives they put into cigarettes.

One TV investigative documentary I saw decades ago showed that office cleaners were one of the highest risk groups - the act of smoking while using all the cleaning agents (vapour-heavy atmosphere) caused chemical reactions when drawing on the cigarette, and all the superheated and chemically changing vapours were drawn into the lungs leading to a myriad of complications.

This legislation is typically half-informed judgement and penalises the socially-concious smokers in the same way that America's alcohol prohibition punished sensible drinkers in the 1920's. The problem with it is that implicit in the law is that non-smoking venues must provide smoking areas for the comfort of their smoking patrons, but how many will do so?

[Foggy Bottom]

I don't think the majority of workers are smokers. The majority seem to be girls at a lot of the big clubs and in Thailand it is bad for girls to smoke. A lot of girls don't smoke because it is associated with bad girls and prostitutes. These workers shouldn't have to sacrifice their health to earn a living.

That flies in the face of recent surveys in Thailand showing that the rate of girls starting smoking is several times higher than the rate for boys - it was posted in Thai Visa but I can't find the thread.

[toptuan]

socially-concious smokers

There's an oxymoron, if I ever saw one.

Billions in health care costs, lives of caregivers turned upside down.

No smoker is socially-conscious. Sorry.

Edited December 29, 2006 by toptuan

[PeaceBlondie]

On my first visit to Ireland in October 2003, they were preparing to ban smoking in pubs. My daughter in law said, according to her father and his friends, it would never work, it would be the end of Ireland, the Virgin Mother herself was undoubtedly a chain smoker, etc. But on my return to Ireland in Sept 2005, the ban was in full effect, and the Irish smokers had somehow adjusted.

But then, the Irish may respect the rule of law more than Thais do. We shall see.

[Mighty Mouse]

It's now gonna be nice in Pattaya.........

...wake up in the mornings......walk out onto the balcony overlooking Pattaya South.......

..........stretch and take in a lung full of exhaust fumes but no second hand tobacco smoke.....

Pure bliss.

[toptuan]

Shame on any psuedo-role-model who would encourage Thai youth to court such agony, by following their own poor and callous example.

I take it then that you are not an advocate of freedom of choice, or of critical thinking skills, or of embedded cause & effect logic analysis? If the students were fully educated, capable of analytical thinking and had predictive abilities, no amount of "public example making" by smoking teachers would make the students start smoking. Your argument is only valid in a "sheep-intelligence" society ......... oh, I see where you're coming from - this IS Thailand isn't it

The students have the information hammered at them daily today, something that students did not have when I was one, nor during the period when I started smoking. There was no information available regarding the addictive qualities of nicotine, nor the damage it purportedly causes, which decades-long study after study has shown to be 99% caused by ready made cigarettes, and that pipe, cigar, and roll-your-own smokers do not suffer in the same proportions.

(simple stats are that ready-made cigarette smokers are 99 times more likely to suffer the popularly quated diseases, than those using other forms of tobacco - from pro-rata studies of data recorded by northern UK hospitals from late 1970's to late 1990's - sample size = 10's of thousands compared against volume of unit sales reported by manufacturers (Grey, Miller et al, The Lancet, 1999))

Ergo - governments worldwide should first be addressing the manufacturers regarding the additives they put into cigarettes.

One TV investigative documentary I saw decades ago showed that office cleaners were one of the highest risk groups - the act of smoking while using all the cleaning agents (vapour-heavy atmosphere) caused chemical reactions when drawing on the cigarette, and all the superheated and chemically changing vapours were drawn into the lungs leading to a myriad of complications.

This legislation is typically half-informed judgement and penalises the socially-concious smokers in the same way that America's alcohol prohibition punished sensible drinkers in the 1920's. The problem with it is that implicit in the law is that non-smoking venues must provide smoking areas for the comfort of their smoking patrons, but how many will do so?

You sure spilled a lot of cyber-ink to simply say: "Children do what their parents/teachers tell them to do, rather than imitate what they do."

Really?

[john b good]

Sigh. It seems they neglected to mention that in bars and nightlife establishments it is still as legal as ever assuring millions of workers and patrons will be in the direct line of fire all night from those who can't be bothered to be considerate to others without such draconian laws.

It seems to me that the majority of workers and patrons in bars and nightlife establishments are smokers themselves so why should they be bothered?

I don't think the majority of workers are smokers. The majority seem to be girls at a lot of the big clubs and in Thailand it is bad for girls to smoke. A lot of girls don't smoke because it is associated with bad girls and prostitutes. These workers shouldn't have to sacrifice their health to earn a living.

Doesn't the fact that the bars are air-conditioned include them in the "no smoking" places.

On the point "a lot of girls don't smoke because it is associated with bad girls and prostitutes" isn't that a bit of a contradiction. Most of the girls who work in these places are prostitutes aren't they?

[manutoo]

I take it then that you are not an advocate of freedom of choice, or of critical thinking skills, or of embedded cause & effect logic analysis? If the students were fully educated, capable of analytical thinking and had predictive abilities, no amount of "public example making" by smoking teachers would make the students start smoking. Your argument is only valid in a "sheep-intelligence" society ......... oh, I see where you're coming from - this IS Thailand isn't it

are u so old that u forgot what it is to be a teenager ..?

[paulmw]

Sigh. It seems they neglected to mention that in bars and nightlife establishments it is still as legal as ever assuring millions of workers and patrons will be in the direct line of fire all night from those who can't be bothered to be considerate to others without such draconian laws.

It seems to me that the majority of workers and patrons in bars and nightlife establishments are smokers themselves so why should they be bothered?

I don't think the majority of workers are smokers. The majority seem to be girls at a lot of the big clubs and in Thailand it is bad for girls to smoke. A lot of girls don't smoke because it is associated with bad girls and prostitutes. These workers shouldn't have to sacrifice their health to earn a living.

Doesn't the fact that the bars are air-conditioned include them in the "no smoking" places.

On the point "a lot of girls don't smoke because it is associated with bad girls and prostitutes" isn't that a bit of a contradiction. Most of the girls who work in these places are prostitutes aren't they?

And the way things are going Visa wise It will also be Thailand a falang free zone as well (Lol)

[jbsears]

Sigh. It seems they neglected to mention that in bars and nightlife establishments it is still as legal as ever assuring millions of workers and patrons will be in the direct line of fire all night from those who can't be bothered to be considerate to others without such draconian laws.

It seems to me that the majority of workers and patrons in bars and nightlife establishments are smokers themselves so why should they be bothered?

I don't think the majority of workers are smokers. The majority seem to be girls at a lot of the big clubs and in Thailand it is bad for girls to smoke. A lot of girls don't smoke because it is associated with bad girls and prostitutes. These workers shouldn't have to sacrifice their health to earn a living.

Doesn't the fact that the bars are air-conditioned include them in the "no smoking" places.

On the point "a lot of girls don't smoke because it is associated with bad girls and prostitutes" isn't that a bit of a contradiction. Most of the girls who work in these places are prostitutes aren't they?

There are a lot more in BKK than just beer bars and go-go bars. There are many clubs that Thais and some foreigners go to that have hard working staff that have to work night in, night out in the smoke filled clubs. They aren't prostitutes, they are waitresses.