Homepage > Thai Youth Issues > House panel eyes teens, MPs, monks

Date: 1st June 2000, Bangkok Post

A House panel wants strict enforcement of bans on the sale of cigarettes to young teenagers, including controls on the installation of automatic vending machines.

It will also target monks who smoke and push for no-smoking areas in the parliament building.

"Many state officials, politicians and their aides smoke everywhere at the parliament. They must change their behaviour," Ratana Anantanakin, deputy spokeswoman for the committee for youth, women and the elderly said yesterday. Speaking after a meeting at the parliament to mark World No-Tobacco Day, she said the panel would fight against the lenient enforcement of non-smoking regulations.

"Despite the Tobacco Control Act of 1992, violations are rampant such as smoking in state agencies and public places as well as cigarette sales to teens under 18, who can still buy cigarettes from traders and even easier from automatic vending machines at shopping centres and theatres," Ms Ratan said.

The House committee would urge police to tackle traders who sell cigarettes to minors and to strictly control the installation of automatic cigarette vending machines.

It would ask the Education Ministry to launch anti-smoking campaigns in schools and push for restricted smoking zones at the parliament to set a good example for other state agencies.

"The Education Ministry should include smoking in the criteria for the calculation of the grade point average students use in the entrance examination process," Miss Ratana said.

Surinan Ariyawongsophon, an adviser to the panel, said smoking was popular among the youth because they saw their teachers smoke in schools.

The Education Ministry should step up its anti-smoking campaign and restrict the areas where teachers can smoke in school.

Monks who smoke were also violating a basic Buddhist precept and the Sangha Council's rules, and the panel would ask the Religious Department to discipline them.