Tobacco farmer groups have united to insist junta chief Prayuth Chan-ocha drop a bid for tighter smoking laws.
While the growers are concerned about the impact to their bottom lines, the Public Health Ministry has pushed the new rules as sound public health policy to reduce the number of smoking-related deaths and diseases.
“The drafting of the bill does not take into account our opinions,” Kittitas Panaphathong, an association coordinator, said in The Nation.
Under the proposed legislation, the legal age to purchase cigarettes would increase from 18 to 20, the sale of loose cigarettes would be banned and tobacco products could not be visible displayed in stores.
The farmers petitioned the Ministry of Agriculture after they walked out of a Monday meeting with ministers from health and agriculture.
The tobacco industry itself hasn’t come out directly in a strong way against the proposed changes and have played down their objections, while still objecting.
Varaporn Namat of the Thai Tobacco Trade said they would be mostly unaffected but weren’t happy about the ban of single cigarettes without a pack.
“Some smokers have tried to cut down on smoking by not buying the whole packet of cigarettes. On the display of cigarettes, I must note that the Public Health Ministry already requires cigarette packets to have large pictorial warnings about adverse health impacts from smoking.”
However, Public Health Minister Rajata Rajatanavin argued if would reduce the number of young smokers by 100,000 per year and save an average of THB156,000 per person in medical expenses.
As for the farmers’ complaints, a former Mahidol University professor suggested they were more smoke than fire as more than half of Thailand’s tobacco gets exported abroad.
