Smoking ban due soon - The Nation - 7th September 2007

Smoking will soon be banned in night entertainment venues, once a new Health Ministry regulation takes effect, a seminar in Bangkok was told yesterday. But Dr Seri Hongyok, a deputy head of the Department of Disease Control, said patrons of karaoke bars, pubs, nightclubs and cafes would still be allowed to smoke in designated areas.

"Smoking will be barred only in air-conditioned areas or in other public places where non-smokers are." The department would enforce a regulation under which violators would face fines up to Bt20,000.

He said there were now 10 countries that impose no-smoking rules in night entertainment venues.

Seri said the rule was needed to cope with new marketing strategies employed by tobacco companies to lure more young people to smoke, as there were about 200,000 new smokers every year.

A study by the department found the number of woman smokers aged 15-24 had risen to third place on a top-10 ranking of smokers in Thailand, he said.

The number of night entertainment venues, meanwhile, has risen to 6,853 last year from 5,249 in 2005.

Songsak Watthanaphoon, owner of a popular venue in Chiang Mai, said his premises imposed a ban on smoking three years ago and had won praise from customers with young friends or children. Smoking customers had suffered minimally, he said.

The Nation

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