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April 25, 2022 by bangkokpost.com

Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul insists the Public Health Ministry will not support legalising electronic cigarettes in the country.

He made his remark on Monday during a meeting with board members of the Thai Health Promotion Foundation (ThaiHealth) to discuss tobacco control. Mr Anutin, in his capacity as chairman of the ThaiHealth board, said he has noticed e-cigarettes trending among teenagers and some of them are aiming to have sales legalised.

"The ministry will not support the legalisation of e-cigarettes," he said.

March 29, 2022 by coconuts.co

Importing and selling e-cigarettes will remain illegal – despite their pervasive use – after the health ministry yesterday advised against lifting the ban.

The continued ban on all types of electronic cigarettes used for vaping will “help protect non-smokers from health hazards,” Health Ministry Perm-Sec Kiattipoom Wongrachit said yesterday at a meeting of the government’s tobacco board.

Kiattipoom added that it was necessary to deter young smokers.

“The ban on the sale of e-cigarettes is an important measure to protect children from victimization,” he said.

January 24, 2022 by nationthailand.com

Asa Salikupt, from the End Cigarette Smoke Thailand (ECST) network, said the network supports DES Minister Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn’s plan to legalise e-cigarettes and hopes the working group will be transparent, listen to public opinions and allow e-cigarette users to provide information. "We believe the legalisation of e-cigarettes will help Thailand achieve the goal of reducing cigarette smokers and protecting non-smokers from the danger of second-hand smoke,” he said. He also pointed out that the Excise Department can introduce an e-cigarette tax once it’s legalised.

January 14, 2022 by bangkokpost.com

Digital Economy and Society Minister Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn said on Friday he would continue efforts to legalise e-cigarettes, which were safer than tobacco and would bring in added tax revenue.

He confirmed his position when he met a group of people campaigning for legalisation at his ministry on Friday.

Mr Chaiwut said legalisation of e-cigarettes would enable the country to tax sales and would provide people who found themselves unable to quit smoking with a safer option.

October 13, 2021 by scoop.co.nz

“The brave call by a Thai Government Minister for Thailand to overturn its harsh ban on the sale of vape products has received applause and accolades from around the world,” says Nancy Loucas, [...] Her comments follow Thailand’s Digital Economy and Society Minister, Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn, telling local media that vaping is safer for people trying to quit smoking. What’s more, he is now looking at ways vaping could be legalised in order to offer a less harmful alternative to smoking regular cigarettes.

October 06, 2021 by bangkokpost.com

Digital Economy and Society (DES) Minister Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn said on Tuesday he is exploring ways to legalise the sale of e-cigarettes despite strong opposition from health activists and anti-smoking campaigners.

At least 67 countries have approved e-cigarettes as a less harmful alternative to smoking while Thailand still refuses to accept them, he said.

The minister said he believed vaping could be a safer choice for those struggling to quit smoking, adding there were at least 10 million smokers in the country.

August 05, 2021 by qeios.com

The paper purports to show links between a group of consumer advocates, ENDS Cigarette Smoke Thailand (ECST), and Philip Morris Thailand Ltd (PMTL), who it is alleged worked together to oppose the ban on e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products in Thailand. The paper also purports to show that Thai tobacco control organisations were successful in countering tobacco industry efforts to overturn the ban. These claims are not supported by the accompanying data and analysis.

ECST (run by AS, joint-author of this review) is a Facebook page with contributions from harm reduction advocates in Thailand and which has campaigned against the ban on e-cigarettes in Thailand.

April 15, 2021 by bangkokpost.com

Anti-smoking advocates on Wednesday shrugged off a call by a pro-vaping group for e-cigarettes to be provided by the state as an option for smoking cessation treatment, as being offered in Britain.

They said Thailand will first have to achieve a good standard of tobacco use control that is of a similar standard to Britain. Britain was given a full score out of 10 whereas Thailand received only 5 for its achievements in tobacco control policy, said Roengrudee Patanavanich, a doctor and academic with Ramathibodi Hospital's Department of Community Medicine.

February 28, 2020 by bangkokpost.com

The government insists it never interfered with state agencies to favour Philip Morris (Thailand) Ltd (PMTL) by lobbying public prosecutors not to press a new charge against the company.

On the fourth day of the no-confidence debate, the opposition raised the dispute between Thai agencies and tobacco company Philip Morris to grill the government.

Saranwuth Sarankate, a Pheu Thai Party MP for Uttaradit, accused Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam, and Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai of being involved in efforts to help the company. [...]

January 07, 2020 by independent.co.uk

Thailand has opened its first full-time cannabis clinics, which will offer traditional remedies based on the drug.

The two new centres in Bangkok will also offer alternative cannabis-based medicine, which has been legal in the country since 2018.

Hundreds of people – including many cancer patients – received free oil at a new flagship clinic based at the Ministry of Public Health in a suburb of the capital.