Thailand to ban smoking on beaches
Oct 10, 2017, 12:14 pm
#1
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Thailand to ban smoking on beaches
Oct 11, 2017, 7:29 pm
#6
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Random thoughts from someone who has major problems with littering and people who smoke in places where they shouldn't...
many people smoke here, cigarettes are relatively inexpensive, the percentage of foreigners (western and Asian) here who smoke seems pretty high.
smoking is banned in many places but laxly enforced.
littering is a shocking problem here, more so in areas where the average tourist might not go, I drive around a fair bit and besides the normal litter, it is not unusual to see thousands of dump sites where trucks discard their trash in lots on the side of the road.
there is nothing worse than settling into your chair/table/umbrella at the beach for the day - in those spots where this is still allowed, and smokers take up the adjacent spots.
unless everyone stops smoking, those hundreds of thousands of cigarette butts will end up somewhere (else), so hopefully the authorities will use the fine proceeds to address health issues, fund no smoking campaigns (other than ghastly packaging photos) and install trash bins.
I'm all for banning smoking in public places but the approach needs to be sensible and coordinated. Simply jerking the knee and creating yet another set of "laws/rules" may not be the best approach? Just publish, enforce existing laws; have "authorities" issue warnings (linked to a passport), then issue fines and ban the person from the beach for some period. But Thailand is a "rule-by-law" country, with a military dictator who uses his absolute power (via Article 44) multiple times per week to issue "decrees", so sensibility and reason may be far too much to expect.
I'm not expecting this to go well. For the first "case" there will be a huge kerfuffle, the "authorities" will lose-face/back-peddle, there will be a public meeting, a smaller fine (2,000 THB) will be paid and everyone will end up looking a bit foolish.
many people smoke here, cigarettes are relatively inexpensive, the percentage of foreigners (western and Asian) here who smoke seems pretty high.
smoking is banned in many places but laxly enforced.
littering is a shocking problem here, more so in areas where the average tourist might not go, I drive around a fair bit and besides the normal litter, it is not unusual to see thousands of dump sites where trucks discard their trash in lots on the side of the road.
there is nothing worse than settling into your chair/table/umbrella at the beach for the day - in those spots where this is still allowed, and smokers take up the adjacent spots.
unless everyone stops smoking, those hundreds of thousands of cigarette butts will end up somewhere (else), so hopefully the authorities will use the fine proceeds to address health issues, fund no smoking campaigns (other than ghastly packaging photos) and install trash bins.
I'm all for banning smoking in public places but the approach needs to be sensible and coordinated. Simply jerking the knee and creating yet another set of "laws/rules" may not be the best approach? Just publish, enforce existing laws; have "authorities" issue warnings (linked to a passport), then issue fines and ban the person from the beach for some period. But Thailand is a "rule-by-law" country, with a military dictator who uses his absolute power (via Article 44) multiple times per week to issue "decrees", so sensibility and reason may be far too much to expect.
I'm not expecting this to go well. For the first "case" there will be a huge kerfuffle, the "authorities" will lose-face/back-peddle, there will be a public meeting, a smaller fine (2,000 THB) will be paid and everyone will end up looking a bit foolish.
Last edited by transpac; Oct 11, 2017 at 9:34 pm
Oct 12, 2017, 1:52 pm
#8
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Oct 17, 2017, 4:13 pm
#13
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Oct 18, 2017, 4:10 pm
#15
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Saved LOL
https://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic...smoking-areas/
Probably bought them on the cheap from DMK
https://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic...smoking-areas/
Probably bought them on the cheap from DMK