Smoking ban on Hua Hin and Thai beaches, jail time for offenders

Local Hua Hin and regional Thailand news articles and discussion.
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Peroni
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Re: Smoking ban on Hua Hin and Thai beaches, jail time for offenders

Post by Peroni »

I agree with VS

John :cheers:
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Re: Smoking ban on Hua Hin and Thai beaches, jail time for offenders

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Just changing the subject slightly...a few years ago now I'm sure a ban on smoking was imposed in bars & r/rants here in HH, & that when the bar staff put their tables outside the bars in Bintabaat (in the street)..they did not leave ashtrays on these tables...if a customer sat down, ordered a drink, THEN asked for an ashtray all was OK, but to leave them on an unoccupied table was seen as encouraging smokers, & made you liable. :banghead:
(It does however seem this ruling HAS slipped by the wayside, with smokers lighting up both inside & out nowadays)
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Re: Smoking ban on Hua Hin and Thai beaches, jail time for offenders

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I also remember in the late 90's that HH municipality had a tractor & beach cleaning/sand-sifting machine that would comb HH beach every morning prior to deck-chair owners setting their chairs out ...Now the beaches are only cleaned by invisible 'Ghost machines' each Wednesday..(or the teams of Westerners who hand-pick trash washed-up after being thrown overboard from the Thai trawlers...
...Maybe a total ban on any plastic bags being taken onboard these fishing boats would also greatly help the Thai coastal marine enviroment..?)
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Re: Smoking ban on Hua Hin and Thai beaches, jail time for offenders

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BUTTS OUT: SMOKING BAN TO HIT 24 THAI BEACHES
Starting Feb. 1, a smoking ban piloted late last year will go into effect at 24 beaches across 15 provinces. They include popular tourist destinations in Hua Hin, Pattaya, Phuket, Koh Samui and Koh Tao, coastal authorities said Wednesday.

“We aren’t limiting the rights of people who want to smoke. There will be designated places to smoke near the beach,” Bannarak Sermthong, director at the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources said. “But on the beaches, smoking affects the health of families and little children who come on vacation.”

Bannarak added that beach trash – especially cigarette butts – eventually pollute the water and harm sea life by entering their food chain.

The maximum penalty for smoking on the beach will be a fine of 100,000 baht and a year in jail. Bannarak said that at the beginning, the law would be used as more of a warning than strictly enforced.

How evenly the ban is then enforced remains to be seen, as similar prohibitions in other public spaces are routinely ignored. Smoking electronic cigarettes is not an alternative – they’re already illegal.

Nuttawut Phetpornhomsorn, Phetchaburi deputy governor, said that a Marine and Coastal Resources Research Center study found approximately 100,000 cigarette butts strewn across the province’s 5.5 kilometer Cha-am Beach.

Signs in Thai, English and Chinese will be displayed at these beaches, Nuttawut said. The beaches’ business operators have also been informed to help caution tourists about the new law.

“If people smoke outside of the smoking zone and we see it, we will either warn them or take them down to the police station,” Senior Sgt. Maj. Kiattisak Srichan of Hua Hin Tourist Police said Thursday. “We will do regular patrols on the beach, rather than staring and guarding the beaches.”

Nationwide beaches included in this ban are: Banchuen Beach in Trat, Lhaem Sadet Beach in Chanthaburi and Saeng Jun Beach in Rayong.

Smoke-free beaches in Pattaya will include Bang Saen, Tum Pang, Sai Kaew and Dong Tal.

Cha-am Beach in Phetchaburi, Hua Hin and Khao Takiab Beaches in Prachuap Khiri Khan’s Hua Hin District and Sai Ri Beach in Chumphon are also in the list.

Island beaches that authorities hope will become butt-free are Bo Put Beach on Koh Samui, Chalok Ban Kao Beach on Koh Tao in Surat Thani and the ever-popular Patong Beach on Phuket.

Plai Sai Beach in Nakhon Si Thammarat, Chalatat Beach in Songkhla, Wasukri Beach in Pattani, Koh K่hai Nok and Koh Khai Nai Beaches in Phang Nga, Pra-ae, Khlong Dao and Kaw Kwang Beaches in Krabi and Chao Samran Beach in Trang are the southern beaches included in the ban.

Authorities have tried to discourage smoking with recent laws. In November, they banned smoking on 20 beaches after a large number of cigarette butts were found on Phuket’s Patong Beach. In July it became illegal to give cigarettes to minors. Until then, only sale to those under 21 had been forbidden.

http://www.khaosodenglish.com/featured/ ... hes-video/
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Re: Smoking ban on Hua Hin and Thai beaches, jail time for offenders

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And the world keeps laughing!!
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Re: Smoking ban on Hua Hin and Thai beaches, jail time for offenders

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Officials on Thursday began strictly enforcing a ban on smoking on beaches, with offenders facing a possible year in prison and a Bt100,000 fine.

The Marine and Coastal Resources Department announced a strict ban on smoking at 24 beaches in 15 provinces to begin with.

The beaches have designated smoking areas.

The locations are Bang Saen, Thampang, Sai Kaew and Dong Tan beaches in Chon Buri, Sangchan in Rayong, Laem Sadet in Chantaburi, Ban Cheun in Trat and Cha-am Beach in Phetchaburi.

Also under the ban are Hua Hin and Khao Takieb beaches in Prachuap Khiri Khan, Hat Sai Ree in Chumphon, Ao Bo Phut and Chaloke Bankao beaches in Surat Thani, Plai Sai in Nakhon Si Thammarat, Chalathat in Songkhla, and Wasukree Beach in Pattani.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/ ... s/30337687
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Re: Smoking ban on Hua Hin and Thai beaches, jail time for offenders

Post by STEVE G »

When I'm in Hua Hin, I walk the beaches nearly everyday and since this topic came up, I've kept an eye on beach smoking and almost no one does it anyway. In a 14km walk one day, I saw less than ten people smoking and the majority of them were older Thais working on the beach, vendors, jet ski renters and horse riders and, ironically, the army sentry along from Suan Son!
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Re: Smoking ban on Hua Hin and Thai beaches, jail time for offenders

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The severity of the punishment is aimed at Farang, so I expect Thais are exempt.
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Re: Smoking ban on Hua Hin and Thai beaches, jail time for offenders

Post by STEVE G »

Big Boy wrote: Thu Feb 01, 2018 3:19 pm The severity of the punishment is aimed at Farang, so I expect Thais are exempt.
There is one older Thai jetski renter who is puffing away every time I pass, so if I was in charge, I would put a "smoking area" sign and ashtray next to him and that would reduce the amount of illegal beach smoking by about 50%!
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Re: Smoking ban on Hua Hin and Thai beaches, jail time for offenders

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Just come back from Takiab. Ton's bar is quite happy as although they front the beach, their main bar/restaurant fronts the beach but is not ON the beach. I told Boom that she should put up a big sign 'EAT, DRINK AND SMOKE HERE!'
More to the point, I never saw any 'no smoking' signs on that beach entrance.
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Re: Smoking ban on Hua Hin and Thai beaches, jail time for offenders

Post by HHTel »

Just read an article which came from a facebook page relating an interview with an official in Pattaya. He said the following:
We can't fine people 100K or send them to jail for smoking on the beach, admits Pattaya official
Those regulations are based on environmental laws, he said. The thesakit (local authority responsible for such matters) can in reality only fine people up to 2,000 baht for littering under "phor ror bor" regulations.
So much for the 100 grand and jail!
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