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A number of Thai females have gone into smoking when they are less than 13 years old, according to a survey.

Thai Health Promotion Foundation (ThaiHealth), which is stepping into its 9th year, is thus worried about the smoking trends among girls and women.

"We are afraid that the number of female smokers will rise in the future," ThaiHealth manager Dr Supakorn Buasai said Tuesday.

A 2007 survey showed that 6.4 per cent of females were smokers. Covered in the survey were 3,039 girls and women between 13 and 24 years of age.

Of the self-confessed smokers, 31.4 per cent said they started lighting cigarettes since they were younger than 13.

The Nation