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Published on July 9, 2007

eTurboNews says no one has been fined yet. If that shows anything, it's the assumption that all smokers humbly admit their smoke is harming others, and they agree to comply with the law.

In Thailand, smokers can still smoke in pubs, air-conditioned or otherwise. Certainly, a total ban would cause an uproar. But Prakit must be thinking about how to apply such a ban here, following the successful lessons in many countries, including Britain - the homeland of the pub.

He is in the forefront of anti-smoking activists. His non-governmental organisation last week joined an international conference where anti-smoking organisations from 165 countries gathered to campaign against tobacco sales over the Internet.

It was a huge gathering, and his organisation has many more plans in the pipeline.

Smokers are in a pitiful situation. Everywhere, they are subjected to high "sin taxes" to fill government coffers. They suffer from the disease of an addiction that can be relieved only by money and divine grace.

Smokers in Thailand will soon face another hike in

cigarette prices, after the Finance Ministry raises

the excise ceiling to 90 per cent.

Moreover, they are at risk now of being exposed to stale cigarettes. The spokesman for the Thailand Tobacco Monopoly (TTM) last week said that two weeks ahead of the Cabinet's approval of the excise-duty increase, the TTM received unusually high orders.

Production rose to 150 million cigarettes a day from the usual 105 million. In total, 1.5 billion cigarettes, or 75 million packs, worth an estimated Bt2.88 billion have been stocked.

Philip Morris (Thailand) also witnessed an increase in orders, from between 1.5 million and 2 million packs a day to between 4.5 million and 5 million.

These butts will come onto the market after the price hike. Now that the price is not raised yet, they are stocked somewhere. As cigarettes' shelf life is four months, there is a risk that poorly kept cigarettes may develop fungus and turn even more toxic.

Prakit needs to think further down the line: eradicating the entire industry, so that not a single cigarette is left in the world.

Then his organisation can divert its resources to doing good in other ways: banning liquor, extramarital sex, fatty foods, fast cars and loud music.

achara_d@nationgroup.com