Government offices are the places where smoke-free zone laws are most commonly violated, said Dr Prakit Vateesatokit, the executive secretary of the Thailand Action on Smoking and Health Foundation.

Citing a recent survey by his organisation, the leading anti-smoking campaigner said about 10 per cent of government offices across eight ministries still failed to comply with the law by not providing a smoking area separate from the workplace.

Private companies are reportedly far more likely to comply with the laws listing almost all of their air-conditioned public places as smoke-free zones since 2002, said Prakit. The reason, he said, may be due to the fact that private company employees who do not smoke felt they had more freedom to express and fight for their rights to fresh air as protected by the law.

A considerably higher prevalence of violations against the anti-smoking law were found upcountry where enforcement of the law tends to be less effective than in large cities, added Prakit.

The country will this year see mass campaigns aimed at raising public awareness regarding the rights of non-smokers. And to mark this year's World No-Tobacco Day today, he said, the first series of anti-passive-smoking TV campaigns would be launched this week, with other campaign activities to be held throughout the year.

Moreover, the Public Health Ministry is preparing to extend smoke-free zones to cover more public spaces including non-airconditioned areas such as bus stops, train and bus terminals, parks, sports stadiums and the outdoor areas of hotel lobbies.

To achieve the ultimate protection of the rights of non-smokers, the country also needs to extend the implementation of smoke-free zones to cover nightclubs and bars, said anti-smoking activist Dr Hatai Chitanond. He added that policy-makers should be given access to more scientific data in order to convince people that the lives of workers as well as non-smokers in such environments are at risk.

Dr Hatai said a research team from Mahidol University was conducting a study on the atmospheric nicotine levels in pubs. Within a year, the team expects to find results that confirm the health risks.

What is even more disappointing than the breaching of the smoke-free zone law, said Supreeda Adulyanont, a health promotion expert at the Thai Health Promotion Foundation, is that over 70 per cent of people witnessing such violations failed to report the incident to the authorities.

Arthit Khwankhom

 The Nation