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No smoking in Bangkok as of 1st August


Yehtmae

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Reasonable point, but probably incorrect.

 

Unless it is a restricted club with a membership, (with a PC approach), I believe the restaurant would be a 'public place', and subject to the rules of public places.

 

 

 

You would likely have to supply wheelchair access, invalid parking and subject to a lot of awful health code rules.

 

 

 

It is a Government's place to set the laws, not yours, you just elected them and gave them that authority!

 

 

 

A restaurant is perhaps a bad example, it is the height of ignorance to smoke where someone is eating.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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it is the height of ignorance to smoke where someone is eating.

 

 

 

as I said before , nobody will in give in. Most non smokers will continue their crusade while smokers defend their 'bad' habits.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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>It is a Government's place to set the laws, not yours, you just elected them and gave them that authority!<

 

 

 

well then count me out of that, i haven't elected any government yet, the ones i voted for always ended up in the opposition.

 

 

 

and laws intruding into my privacy are still intrusive, law or not law, i do not like intrusion into my privacy.

 

 

 

 

 

>A restaurant is perhaps a bad example, it is the height of ignorance to smoke where someone is eating.<

 

 

 

in the place i might open some day that kind of ignorance is welcome. who does not like it should stay away. i won't force anyone to eat there.

 

my place, my rules. there won't be democracy in my place.

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Fair enough fly, but I still expect that wherever you open 'your place' you would be expected to adhere to the local laws not yours. Whether or not you actually voted against the government in power does not preclude you from the rules they make.

 

I actually agree with you , but that is the fact.

 

 

 

Compromise would be a nice word. I thought a restaurant I visited a while back had the reasonable idea, no smoking in the dining room, you were asked to move on into the bar area where it was unrestricted. My smokey sister was definately not in agreement.

 

 

 

Anyhow, I invite you to my restaurant one day (when I open it), the food will be good but I will kindly ask you to smoke your idiot stick outside!!

 

 

 

 

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From Bangkok Post 5th July:

 

 

 

Smoking ban at restaurants, govt buildings set for August

 

 

 

Sudarat tells police to ensure law enforced

 

 

 

All air-conditioned restaurants and public buildings will have to be 100% no-smoking from early next month.

 

 

 

Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan said a draft announcement had been proposed by the Tobacco Control Institution and had been forwarded to the National Tobacco Control Board for approval.

 

 

 

The draft would be returned for her signature next week and after being published in the Royal Gazette would become effective early next month.

 

 

 

Under the new regulations, smoking in a prohibited zone would attract a fine of up to 2,000 baht.

 

 

 

Charges would also be filed against building owners.

 

 

 

The ministry had requested police to ensure the new regulations were enforced.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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From The Nation (Note I originally thought this was a Bangkok only thing it now appears that it will cover the whole country):

 

 

 

PUBLIC HEALTH: Smokers to face total ban

 

 

 

Published on May 5, 2002

 

 

 

Air-conditioned restaurants to be cigarette-free by end of September

 

 

 

The days of leisurely popping a cigarette into your mouth after a meal in a restaurant are now numbered.

 

 

 

The Public Health Ministry yesterday announced that all air-conditioned eateries must become completely smoke-free by the end of September.

 

 

 

Currently, the ministry's regulations require air-conditioned restaurants to provide a minimum of 75 per cent of their space for non-smoking patrons, leaving a restricted area for those who still want to puff.

 

 

 

Since this requirement is relatively difficult to enforce, Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan said the Committee on Tobacco Consumption Control had decided to make all air-conditioned restaurants and catering facilities completely smoke-free.

 

 

 

The ministry and authorities concerned are exercising their powers under two tobacco laws - the Non-Smokers Health Protection Act BE 2535 and the Tobacco Products Control Act BE 2535 - which are aimed at protecting non-smokers from the dangers of second-hand smoke.

 

 

 

It would be easier to enforce the laws once all air-conditioned restaurants and catering venues were required to be 100-per-cent off-limits to smoking, said Waraporn Phumisawat, director of the Institute for Tobacco Consumption Control.

 

 

 

Krit Hiranrat, director of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration's public health bureau, said his agency had held a conference to inform the chiefs of every Bangkok district of the new regulations.

 

 

 

In reaction to the news, Anon Suphakittiphong, a manager at the Black Canyon coffee house and restaurant in Central City Bangna, said his business is expected to be hit hard by the new rules because about half of Black Canyon's customers are smokers.

 

 

 

"It's well known among smokers that they have to come to Black Canyon if they want to smoke inside this department store, because they can't smoke at any other shops. In fact, this is a strong point that attracts this group of customers," he said.

 

 

 

Anon said coffee houses should be exempted from the new rules because coffee and smoking tend to go together.

 

 

 

Dr Seri Toochinda, director general of Department of Medical Services, said the present regulation allows smokers to disturb customers in non-smoking areas, because both zones are under the same air-conditioning system.

 

 

 

Under the new regulation, a smoking zone with a separate air-conditioning system could be allowed.

 

 

 

According to the Thailand Tobacco Information Centre, 2.4 per cent of Thai women and 38.9 per cent of Thai men are regular smokers. A study conducted in 1993 found 41,000 tobacco-related deaths in the country in that year alone. Legendary comedian Sawong Sapsamruay - Lor Tok - died last week of emphysema.

 

 

 

Since 1976, smoking has been prohibited in public places, and since 1985 in cinemas and at some meetings. It is prohibited in all types of air-conditioned public transport, and on flights of less than 2 hours.

 

 

 

Since 1988, smoking has been prohibited in Cabinet meetings and all other meetings in Government House, and since 1989 in all premises of the Ministry of Public Health.

 

 

 

The Non-smokers' Health Protection Act, adopted in 1992, grants authority to the Minister of Public Health to create non-smoking areas by issuing regulations that cover a wide variety of public places.

 

 

 

Violators of the regulations are punished by fines of up to Bt2,000.

 

 

 

 

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And more from The Nation:

 

 

 

Smokers' Rights: No backlash to Sept ban ... yet

 

 

 

Published on May 12, 2002

 

 

 

 

 

Thais who light up aren't up in arms over new limits on their deadly habit

 

 

 

It sparked plenty of vociferous and indignant complaints in the West where smokers are more adamant about their rights, but Thai smokers - at least on the surface - are reacting rather placidly to the new restriction on where they can light up.

 

 

 

"I don't feel that my rights are being violated, because I realise that the smoke from my cigarettes bothers non-smokers," said 45-year-old businessman Phisut Trairatphadungphol, referring to the Public Health Ministry's new regulation that will, by the end of September, outlaw smoking sections in air-conditioned restaurants.

 

 

 

A regular patron at an upscale Chinese restaurant in Yaowaraj, Phisut, who has been smoking for 20 years, said he would still frequent the restaurant even when he is refused the choice to light up.

 

 

 

"If they completely ban it, then I guess I can do without smoking here," he conceded.

 

 

 

However, the veteran smoker had some advice for the restaurant's owner. "In order to retain customers the owner will have to make a separate room for smokers, otherwise they'll go to other places where smoking is allowed," Phisut said.

 

 

 

Punyathorn Waisayawannawong, a 29-year-old entrepreneur, also said she would return to the restaurant with her family after the ban.

 

 

 

"It would be nice to be able to smoke, but the food is good here, so I think we'll come back. I can just go outside to smoke, when I feel like it," she said.

 

 

 

"Sometimes when we choose a restaurant, she [Punyathorn] wants to know if it has a smoking section," said one of her sisters.

 

 

 

"But if I know it doesn't, I will have a puff before entering," Punyathorn was quick to add.

 

 

 

"I know that smoke is bad for my own and other people's health, so I have no problem with the ban," she said. However, like Phisit, she first agreed to the ban, then suggested a compromise.

 

 

 

"There are some places that should have separate sections for smokers," she said. "Like in the theatres. Maybe they could have a smoking room for viewers."

 

 

 

"Also I'm afraid they will ban smoking in parks. I would feel my rights were being violated if the only place I can smoke is in my house."

 

 

 

At Black Canyon coffee shop, 80-year-old Pradit Koedthongkham said smokers should not be able to light up in public.

 

 

 

"Our society is based on etiquette, and not disturbing other people with smoke is good etiquette," said Pradit, a smoker for 63 years.

 

 

 

But Yaowaraj restaurant-owner Khun A, who asked not to be identified, has a slightly different view. "All is well, when you ask them now because they still can smoke. But when [the ban] really starts there will be many problems."

 

 

 

Her previous attempt to impose a ban on smoking in her restaurant was greeted by a hail of complaints.

 

 

 

"The no-smoking ban in restaurants is okay, but who will enforce it? I think it will end up being another channel for police to make money. Even today without this law, they are already having a field day bullying us," she said.

 

 

 

One contradiction frequently pointed out was that while the government has decided to ban smoking in some public places it still owns the company that produces all locally made cigarettes - the Thai Tobacco Monopoly.

 

 

 

"Hypocrisy" was the word many people used to describe this state of affairs. "Why continue making cigarettes it they are bad?" they asked.

 

 

 

Because the government is more socially responsible than foreign tobacco companies, answered the chairman of the National Committee on Tobacco Consumption Control.

 

 

 

If the government stopped producing cigarettes or privatised the Thailand Tobacco Monopoly it would only benefit multinational tobacco companies who are working hard to increase their market share, said Dr Hatai Chitanondh

 

 

 

"Studies in other countries, such as those in Russia and Eastern Europe, show that when multinationals take control of the market, they use aggressive advertising campaigns and tactics to circumvent the law to increase sales," Hatai said.

 

 

 

The monopoly also contributes a large chunk of the government's coffers through profit and taxes, part of which returns to the people. "From this year on, 2 per cent of taxes on liquor and cigarettes will go back to the public in the form of a health-promotion campaign," Hatai said.

 

 

 

This may be a sufficient answer for most smokers.

 

 

 

"I think the government is doing it right. They are just trying to protect the majority of people and discourage younger generations from picking up the habit. I think that's a good thing," Pradit said.

 

 

 

Although there are some dissenting voices, Thai smokers in general tend to be a polite bunch who are well aware of the ill effects of smoking and respect non-smokers' rights to clean air and good health. That, more than anything else, is a sign of success that Thailand's anti-smoking activists should be proud of.

 

 

 

 

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>Fair enough fly, but I still expect that wherever you open 'your place' you would be expected to adhere to the local laws not yours. <

 

 

 

i have never been good at adhering to laws i believe as idiotic. and usually i find a way around them. smile.gif

 

 

 

 

 

>Anyhow, I invite you to my restaurant one day (when I open it), the food will be good but I will kindly ask you to smoke your idiot stick outside!! <

 

 

 

i'll be coming, but just it's because of you. but you gotta tolerate that i will jump up in the middle of the conversation and run out to have a smoke.

 

 

 

 

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>Legendary comedian Sawong Sapsamruay - Lor Tok - died last week of emphysema. <

 

 

 

...and he was 80 plus years old. another early death because of the wicked ways of smoking...

 

 

 

 

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