Pattaya-
In recent months the Thai crackdown on vaping or e-cigarettes has continued. We have written previously how tourists are being routinely fined 20,000 baht and up for vaping in public and how there are public announcements and signs at Passport Control in Bangkok informing tourists that vaping is not legal in Thailand.
The Thai government has started seminars to educate on why they take this hard-line stance on vaping to inform the public and tourists alike as they state they care about the health of their citizens and visitors to Thailand alike.
In a seminar on the facts about e-cigars, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Disease Control, Dr. Kachornsak Kaewchamras revealed 3.3 percent of teen smokers aged between 13 and 15 were found to be smoking e-cigars as they were under the impression that e-cigars were safe, according to a survey in 2015.
Dr. Kachornsak explained that the liquid used in e-cigarettes contains nicotine. The vapor they produce is addictive and poses the risk of lung cancer and other health problems.
He disclosed that the World Health Organization had announced e-cigars were not a tool for withdrawal from cigarettes, as no regulatory bodies had confirmed their safety. The WHO Country Office in Thailand has issued a statement warning about the dangers of e-cigars for smokers and persons close to them, with pregnant women and children the most susceptible to passive smoking.
Dr. Kachornsak suggested that those planning to quit smoking call Thailand National Quit-line at 1600 or consult tobacco withdrawal clinics at hospitals supervised by the Ministry of Public Health across the country.
Police officials inform us they will continue to take a no tolerance stance on vaping with increasing fines for those caught vaping in public.
