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on smoking and health Lots of teenager in Thailand are smoking
and I am one of them as well. It's very easy I was 14 when I first tried smoking. I started it because I wanted to see what it was like. I saw my father smoke every day and some of my friends did too. But I didn't like it. Later on I started smoking after I broke up with my girlfriend, I just wanted to hurt her. But after that, I knew that I was hurting myself so I tried to stop it and yep! I couldn't do it. I promised my parents that I will stop before I start Grade 10 in May 2001. Come back and see if I can do it. A lot of people believe I can't stop. ** May 2002: Everyone was right, I can't stop! If you are a teenager reading this then my advice to you is DON'T START. It is very difficult to stop even if you want to. I want to quit very much but I can't.** At school, students are not allowed to smoke but lots of student in my school smoke inside the school. They always do it in the toilet at the back of the school. Teachers don't usually go in the toilets. |
to
be addicted because it's very easy for young people to buy and
also it's cheap. By the law, people who can buy a cigarette must
be more than 18 years old. But in the real life lots of young
teenagers can buy a pack of cigarette easily because most of
the shopkeepers are not strict with the rule. What they want
is to sell it and get the money. One pack of cigarette here is
not expensive like in other countries. It costs us 32 baht to
buy a packet (less than $1) or you can buy a few, it's only 2
baht each or 3 cigarettes for 5 baht.
 Most young smokers in Thailand today took up smoking between the ages of fifteen and nineteen years of age. Whilst many continue to take up smoking in their late teens and early twenties it is uncommon for people to take up smoking after 24 years of age.
This trend is reflected in the age of initiation of all smokers of which 60% began smoking between the ages of fifteen and nineteen. Nearly all smokers, 86.2% of them, had taken up smoking before turning 25 and 90% by the age of 29. Rural people tended to take up smoking slightly earlier with 67% of rural smokers taking up the habit before they turned 20 while only 60% of urban smokers had taken up their habit by the same age. Age of initiation of all smokers 1996
In a study by Supawongse and Buasai, 40% of male respondents and 44% of female smokers stated that they started smoking for fun, while a quarter admitted they were following their peers. 17% of female smokers indicated that young women took up smoking out of loneliness and insecurity. 83% of young smokers had tried quitting and a further 12% expressed a desire to quit despite no prior attempt. Only 5.2% asserted that they really wanted to continue smoking.
Youth smoking rates in Thailand have not changed considerable over the last decade but have shown a slight decline. Unfortunately the 1996 survey has shown a slight increase from the 1993 result. Though small it is a worrying trend. Smoking prevalence amongst Young Women
Smoking prevalence amongst Young Men
Smoking Prevalence amongst Thai Youth 1996
Smoking Prevalence amongst Urban Youth 1996
Smoking Prevalence amongst Rural Youth 1996
Regular Smokers by Region and Age 1996
Information from: www.ashthailand.or.th |
On paper, Thailand has one of the most comprehensive laws to prevent children from becoming addicted to nicotine. The Tobacco Product Control Act of 1992 limits children's access to tobacco and bans advertising which enlists new smokers. The Non-smoker's Health Protection Act bans smoking in schools throughout the country. But law enforcement is lagging behind legislation in many cases. A survey by Supawongse and Buasai indicated ineffective implementation of the law banning cigarette sales to minors. Of those 15 year olds who had tried to purchase cigarettes in the past three months 96.7% had been successful and 86.0% of vendors sold the cigarettes without hesitation. Despite this apparent failure the law was supported by 90% of young people with around 42.0% of respondents saying that the law discouraged an attempt to purchase cigarettes.
A national study on youth smoking behaviour in Thailand showed that young Thais, both male and female, consumed domestic manufactured brands most often. There was however a much stronger preference for foreign brands at 13.5% compared to the adult Thai population (which is 5% at its highest). It is also worth noting that young female smokers showed a greater preference for foreign brands than did young male smokers. While there have been no studies to explain this situation it is generally believed that it is due to the image of manufactured cigarettes reflecting affluence and a western lifestyle.
A study on the behaviour of young Thai smokers Supawongse and Buasai reported that a typical young smoker in Thailand left school early and earned relatively greater income than his peers. Tobacco uptake is associated with poor educational performance and strongly correlated to early withdrawal from formal education. Smokers anticipated duller prospects. Twice the proportion of 15 year old males who never smoked affirmed a plan to pursue a masters degree. At 22.2% of male never-smokers and 19.1% of female never-smokers had this plan while only 10.0% of male smokers and 7.7% of female smokers did. Those who moved into the labour market early or simply dropped out of formal education showed a greater tendency to smoke. Employment and income encouraged smoking somewhat. For example only 4.9% of 15 year old boys whose income fell into the lowest quartile regularly smoked while 14.20% of the highest quartile did. The greatest prevalence of experimentation occurred amongst more affluent teenagers. Although employment showed less association with regular smoking, experimentation was significantly more common.
Smoking behaviour tended to emerge among the young who lived in more troubled environments. A typical smoker lived in a gloomy family with greater risk of assault and abuse. At 15 years of age only 59.9% of boys and 23.5% of girls who were regular smokers currently lived with their parents compared to 79.5% of boys and 79.1% of girls who had never smoked. Regular smokers tended to have family members who were drunks or gamblers and were 4 to 12 times more likely to have been physically assaulted. These results show that young people living in difficult situations are likely to use tobacco as a way to 'deal' with their situations.
A typical smoker had other family members who smoked or had smoked in the past. Friends had a major impact on the smoking practices of young smokers. Most had smoked their first cigarette at a friends house and tended to smoke with friends. The friends of smokers were more likely to have tried narcotic drugs (52%) than the friends of never smokers (19.1%). This was also reflected in alcohol consumption where 60% of female smokers close friends consumed alcohol at least weekly compared to 11.1% of the friends of never smokers.
In conclusion youth smoking reflects many of the characteristics of adult smoking. That is, smoking is more common amongst youth from low socio-economic groups where incidences of violence, poverty and low education are all more common than amongst their non-smoking peers.
Supawongse, Choochai, Buasai, Supakorn, Smoking Behaviour of Thai Youths: A National Survey, 1996, Health Research Institute. National Statistics Office of Thailand, Office of the Prime Minister, 1996, Report of the Health and Welfare Survey. |