Retailers and wholesalers in Thailand will have to sell cigarette packs with newly designed warning labels beginning April 11, reports The Bangkok Post.
The new packs must have text warnings and newly designed pictorial warnings showing graphic details of the consequences of smoking, according to Khachornsak Kaewcharas, deputy director-general of the Department of Disease Control.
“Violators who still sell cigarette packets with the old pictorial warnings are liable to a fine of no more than THB40,000 [$1,197],” he said.
“Countries which have chosen to legalize and regulate e-cigarettes have seen a fall in overall smoking rates and have much better control over youth vaping. It’s exciting for Thailand, and in fact the world, that the government is now set to overturn its ban on the sale of vape products,” says Asa Saligupta, director of ENDS Cigarette Smoke Thailand (ECST).
According to Saligupta, Thailand’s harsh ban and penalties on vape sales has meant too many smokers have been stuck with cigarettes, while young people buy e-cigarettes in the underground economy with no control over the purchase age or product safety standards.
“We’ve seen the legalization and regulation of vaping in places like the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand work very well. I’m delighted the Thai government is now listening to the science with the adoption of effective tobacco harm reduction (THR) policies now increasingly imminent,” he says.
The ECST director says Digital Economy and Society Minister Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn, government officials, public health experts and advocates have all been key to finally addressing Thailand’s failed tobacco control policies.
He says that, despite the minister adopting an evidence-based approach, local conservative health groups continue to unfairly target him and publicly scaremonger.
“It was a big breakthrough last year when the minister told local media that vaping is safer for people trying to quit smoking. Since then, he has walked the talk—looking at ways vaping can be legalized. He fully understands it offers smokers a less harmful alternative to deadly cigarettes and protects non-smokers from the dangers of second-hand smoke.
“Consumer groups like ours have worked hard to encourage our politicians and officials to follow the significant international public health evidence. It has been a long journey, but we’re pleased with the progress the government’s working group continues to make on legalizing e-cigarette sales,” says Saligupta.
International research also shows countries which have adopted progressive policies around vaping have seen their smoking rates fall twice as fast as those countries that haven’t.
Nancy Loucas
Nancy Loucas, executive coordinator of The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Advocates (CAPHRA), says that by lifting its long ban on vape sales, Thailand will join about 70 countries that have legalized vaping.
“Around the world, vaping is saving millions of ex-smokers’ lives and can save many more if safer nicotine products are embraced, not demonized,” says Loucas. “Thailand’s 10 million smokers have long deserved a readily and legally available alternative to cigarettes. The country’s sky-high smoking rate is totally unacceptable but thanks to the work of ECST and others, it’s about to be seriously addressed.”
According to Loucas, Thailand has become increasingly isolated internationally with its harsh policies. Vapers currently risk arrests, sanctions and even imprisonment.
“By legalizing that sale of vapes, Thailand will join countries like the Philippines and Malaysia which are also waking up to the fact that vaping bans inevitably fail, leading to unnecessary smoking-related illnesses and deaths,” says Loucas.
End Cigarette Smoke Thailand (ECST) wants Thailand to legalize vapor products to enable smokers to legally switch to less harmful nicotine products, according to an article in The Bangkok Post.
Despite a seven-year-old ban on e-cigarettes, the number of vapers has steadily increased in Thailand, according to the ECST. While the National Statistical Office estimates there are 78,742 vapers in the country, ECST representative Maris Kranyawath believes there are almost a million, based on the number of people following social media pages that sell vape products.
Kranyawath said legalizing vapor products would allow state agencies to set product standards. “Thailand has had a ban on vaping for seven years, but the number of vapers has continued to increase despite it,” said Kranyawath. “This means the policy has not been effective. If vape products were legal, they could be examined and standardized by state agencies.”
To protect young people, the ECST has proposed regulations to ban minors from buying and using vape products. “A salesperson must provide vape products that are appropriate for each user,” said Kranyawath. “Moreover, each vaper should register for a vape card at a district office first. When a vaper purchases products, he/she must show the card. Also, vape stores must have a machine to scan cards to identify the customer who has a daily limit of no more than 200 mL of e-liquid per day.”
The push for permitting vapor products has been gaining momentum in Thailand. Recently, Digital Economy and Society Minister Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn said he would explore ways to legalize the sale of e-cigarettes, citing their comparatively low health risk and the impact of black market sales on tax revenues.
Scientists in Thailand are using tobacco to develop a vaccine against the Omicron variant of the Coronavirus.
Testing of the Covid-19 vaccine began in 2020, with the next round of human trials due in the spring.
The benefit of tobacco is that it can be grown almost anywhere in the world at low cost, according to the researchers, who are using a low-nicotine variety from Australia. What’s more, because tobacco grows rapidly, it can be turned from a seed into a vaccine within a month.
“It takes only 10 days for us to produce a prototype and… no more than three weeks to test whether that prototype works or not,” Suthira Taychakhoonavudh, chief executive of Baiya Phytopharm, told Sky News.
Baiya Phytopharm uses the harvested leaves as a host to produce proteins that mimic the Covid-19 virus. The leaves are blended and the protein is extracted. When the resulting vaccine is injected into humans it stimulates antibodies to help fight the real virus in the future.
The company must still complete two more sets of trials and needs regulatory approval before its vaccine can be used by the public.
The earliest the vaccine would be cleared for use is late 2022.
Even though other Covid-19 vaccinations are already available, developers say it’s important to continue the project for future health security. “Covid-19 is not going to be the last one, right?” said Baiya Phytopharm’s co-founder and chief technology officer, Waranyoo Phoolcharoen. “You’re going to have so many emerging diseases and if we can develop the vaccine ourselves, then we don’t have to rely on vaccines from other countries.”
Baiya Phytopharm is not the only company using tobacco to develop a Covid-19 vaccine. British American Tobacco and Medicago—a firm back by Philip Morris International—are also working on plant-based serums.
In early December, Medicago said its vaccine candidate, enhanced by GlaxoSmithKline’s booster, was 75.3 percent effective against the Delta variant of the virus in a late-stage study.
Not everybody is excited about the tobacco industry’s involvement in vaccine development. In 2020, the World Health Organization warned governments about engaging with the tobacco industry over the development of coronavirus vaccines.
Tobacco Reporter profiled Baiya Phytopharm in its November 2020 issue.
A proposal to legalize e-cigarettes in Thailand has run into fierce opposition, reports the Bangkok Post.
Digital Economy and Society Minister Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn said on Tuesday he is exploring ways to permit the sale of e-cigarettes, citing economic opportunities and their potential to help people quit smoking.
At least 67 countries have approved e-cigarettes as a less harmful alternative to smoking while Thailand still refuses to accept them, Chaiwut noted. More importantly, if it is possible to turn tobacco grown in Thailand into e-cigarette products and export them, both the Tobacco Authority of Thailand and tobacco growers will benefit, he said.
The National Alliance for a Tobacco-Free Thailand (NATFT) responded by calling on the government to increase efforts to protect the public from all forms of tobacco products. “Various elements of society, both government and nongovernment, have been working hard to reduce the number of smokers, so legalizing e-cigarettes will only exacerbate the situation,” said NATFT chairwoman Somsri Pausawasdi.
E-cigarettes are not safer choices for people who want to quit smoking while knowledge about their long-term effects on health remains limited for now, echoed Ronnachai Kongsakon, director of the Tobacco Control Research and Knowledge Management Center.
The Medical Association of Thailand, too, has come out strongly against Chaiwut’s proposal.
The organization sent an open letter to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha asking him to caution the minister. The letter was signed by Amorn Leelarasamee, president of the Medical Association of Thailand, and supported by heads of other organizations, including 14 royal colleges and the National Alliance for Tobacco-Free Thailand.
The president of the Royal College of Surgeons of Thailand, Pramuk Mutirangkura, also voiced his opposition.
Responding to the minister’s assertion that at least 67 countries had approved e-cigarettes as being less harmful than smoking tobacco, Pramuk said that each of those countries had allowed the sale with conditions attached. They were not sold without restrictions, he noted.
Many other countries still banned e-cigarettes because they wanted to protect the people’s health, preferring the “prevention is better than cure” principle, he added.
There are at least 10 million smokers in Thailand.
Thailand’s cabinet has approved a new excise tax structure for cigarettes, reports The Bangkok Post, citing a finance ministry source. The measure is expected to take effect Oct. 1.
At present, Thailand levies a 20 percent tax on the retail price for cigarette packs costing up to THB60 ($1.77). If the retail price exceeds THB60 per pack, a 40 percent tax rate is applied.
The cabinet has reportedly agreed to raise the tax rate from 20 percent to 25 percent, including the 40 percent tax rate, together with an adjustment of the retail price, which is at least THB60.
The levy in terms of volume will be raised to THB1.25 per cigarette from THB1.20, with the retail price expected to rise by THB6 to THB8 per pack.
Panuphol Rattanakanjanapatra, governor of the Tobacco Authority of Thailand, has warned that the tax hike will substantially boost the illegal cigarette trade.
The Tobacco Authority of Thailand (TOAT) plans to set up a subsidiary to move into the hemp business, reports The Bangkok Post, citing the state enterprise’s governor, Phanupol Rattanakanjanapatra. The project aims to triple or quadruple tobacco farmers’ incomes.
On Sept. 28, the TOAT signed a memorandum of understanding for hemp business with Santa Fe Farms (Thailand) Co., a subsidiary of Santa Fe Farms LLC in the United States.
Phanupol expects the State Enterprise Policy Office to approve the TOAT’s ambitions in the hemp business within the next couple of months.
TOAT sells 18 billion cigarettes per year. However, a 2017 cigarette excise tax hike has hurt many of its farmers by depressing sales and shrinking the TOAT’s tobacco-buying quota.
The hemp project is intended to help offset farmers’ lower tobacco sales.
Thailand is preparing to halve the duty on imported cigars for five years as part of an economic stimulus and investment promotion package, reports The Bangkok Post.
According to Patchara Anuntasilpa, director-general of the Customs Department, the cuts are in accordance with the Sept. 14 cabinet resolution involving plans to revive the post-Covid-19 economy by encouraging wealthy foreigners and skilled professionals to stay and work in the country.
The scheme aims to draw more than a million qualified people to Thailand over the next five years and generate about a trillion baht over the period. Cuts in import duties will be part of the mix.
The group is expected to spend on average 1 million baht per person per year while staying and working in Thailand.
The package also includes a 10-year Thai visa for approved special visitors along with their spouses and children, the same rates of income tax as Thai citizens, a tax exemption for income earned abroad and the right to ownership of property and land.
Under the new system, a flat tax rate of 40 percent will be applied to cigarettes regardless of the retail price.
At present, the law applies a 20 percent tax to the retail price for packs costing up to THB60 ($1.83). If the retail price exceeds THB60 per pack, a 40 percent tax rate is applied.
Thailand is preparing to change its excise structure for cigarettes, reports The Bangkok Post.
At present, the law applies a 20 percent tax to the retail price for packs costing up to THB60 ($1.83). If the retail price exceeds THB60 per pack, a 40 percent tax rate is applied.
A new flat tax rate of 40 percent was scheduled to be applied since October 2019, regardless of the retail price, but there has been opposition from some stakeholders.
This prompted the ministry to put off its enforcement until Sept. 30 this year in order to review the tax.
Excise Department director-general Lavaron Sangsnit said the new structure aims to strike a balance between farmers’ income, public health, government revenue and efforts to prevent smuggling.
He said the new structure is designed to discourage people from smoking and simultaneously thwart the smuggling of foreign cigarettes, which avoid the payment of duties.
Since the adoption of the two-tier cigarette tax structure in 2017, the department’s excise revenue from cigarettes has fallen from THB68.6 billion to THB62.9 billion in 2020, according to a Bangkok Post source who requested anonymity.
The department collected cigarette tax of THB37.8 billion during the first seven months of fiscal 2021.
The Tobacco Authority of Thailand (TOAT) plans to start planting hemp for commercial purposes by August, reports The Bangkok Post.
The Council of State is currently reinterpreting the Tobacco Authority of Thailand Act that states TOAT can only produce tobacco leaves and other plants. The council decides if TOAT is legally eligible to produce hemp for commercial purposes, said TOAT governor Panuphol Rattanakanjanapatra. The decision is expected next week.
TOAT will focus on production of hemp in the preliminary stage, which can be used for medical and industrial purposes. TOAT aims to encourage 13,500 tobacco farmers to shift to hemp or cannabis farming to increase their income; the authority cut its tobacco leaf purchases to 13 million kg per year from 20 million kg per year.
