Smoking ex-pats

Medical issues, doctors, dentists, opticians and hospitals in Hua Hin and Thailand.
Post Reply
oakdale160
Rock Star
Rock Star
Posts: 4657
Joined: Sat Jul 06, 2013 9:51 pm

Smoking ex-pats

Post by oakdale160 »

I see that the number of people smoking in the UK has dropped to a new low 16.9%, down from 45% in the 70s. It is my totally non-scientific observation that the rate of UK men in Thai who smoke is much higher, much more than 1 in 6. Why is that-- the age group, price of cigarettes, less social disapproval, boredom, one of the reasons that they are in Thai.
The USA rate is a little lower, it surprises me that it is not even lower as the price and availability of Health Insurance is a real problem for smokers.
RCer
Ace
Ace
Posts: 1294
Joined: Sun Apr 03, 2016 12:48 pm

Re: Smoking ex-pats

Post by RCer »

As one the evil smokers, I'm going to say age group. We tend not to be as PC as the younger crowd.
oakdale160
Rock Star
Rock Star
Posts: 4657
Joined: Sat Jul 06, 2013 9:51 pm

Re: Smoking ex-pats

Post by oakdale160 »

And yet in the UK the 65+ age group has the lowest rate of smokers than any other age group.
RCer
Ace
Ace
Posts: 1294
Joined: Sun Apr 03, 2016 12:48 pm

Re: Smoking ex-pats

Post by RCer »

oakdale160 wrote: Mon Feb 05, 2018 10:42 am And yet in the UK the 65+ age group has the lowest rate of smokers than any other age group.
Its a dying trend. :rasta:
oakdale160
Rock Star
Rock Star
Posts: 4657
Joined: Sat Jul 06, 2013 9:51 pm

Re: Smoking ex-pats

Post by oakdale160 »

You mean all the guys that should be the smokers in that group have died
User avatar
MDMK
Ace
Ace
Posts: 1289
Joined: Tue Sep 27, 2016 1:55 am

Re: Smoking ex-pats

Post by MDMK »

oakdale160 wrote: Mon Feb 05, 2018 10:42 am And yet in the UK the 65+ age group has the lowest rate of smokers than any other age group.
what I increasingly notice here (The Netherlands) is many younger folks classed as smokers are people who just smoke occasionally. Say like my next door neighbour, she is 30 and calls herself a smoker, as do a lot of her friends. But they don't smoke day in day out 20 a day, they just smoke socially or on holiday or during the odd period of stress. Younger people at my work do this too, they self define as smokers, but they hardly smoke. Whereas every smoker my age or older (I'm 50) we all seem to be "proper" smokers with a "real" 30 a day habit.

In my eyes I don't even know if I would call my neighbour (or some of my younger colleagues) a smoker. OK she smokes now and again. But I guess averaged out over the year that it would only add up to 5 a week or something less. That's sooooo amateur. Us older generation know how to smoke properly :D

so I reckon that although the 65 plussers age group might officially be the lowest rate of smokers I think the 65+ers who *do* smoke are proper smokers, noticeable with clouds of haze surrounding them and a smokers cough that can be heard at 500 meters, and these self-defined young smokers are just playing at it, so you don't notice them having their one-a-month-guilty-pleasure-Marlboro.

It's all down to definition. Nothing stopping me from calling myself a sport addicted gym-bunny. That I am dragged kicking and screaming to the gym twice a month at most is neither here nor there if I self-define as sporty while really I am anything but.

( can I just take this opportunity to blow (with wheezy tar-filled lungs) my own trumpet. After 35 years of 30 a day I am now 8 weeks smoke-free )
europtimiste
Banned
Banned
Posts: 1395
Joined: Thu May 08, 2014 12:19 pm

Re: Smoking ex-pats

Post by europtimiste »

I started smoking when I was 13 and still smoke. Can't you understand that smoking is not only an addiction (for some it is) but it's also a pleasure.
User avatar
pharvey
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 13699
Joined: Sat Aug 29, 2009 10:21 am
Location: Sir Fynwy - God's Country

Re: Smoking ex-pats

Post by pharvey »

europtimiste wrote: Mon Feb 05, 2018 4:45 pm I started smoking when I was 13 and still smoke. Can't you understand that smoking is not only an addiction (for some it is) but it's also a pleasure.
And can't you understand that it's far from a pleasure for us that don't smoke? :tosser:
"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things" - Yma o Hyd.
RCer
Ace
Ace
Posts: 1294
Joined: Sun Apr 03, 2016 12:48 pm

Re: Smoking ex-pats

Post by RCer »

europtimiste wrote: Mon Feb 05, 2018 4:45 pm I started smoking when I was 13 and still smoke. Can't you understand that smoking is not only an addiction (for some it is) but it's also a pleasure.
Our pleasure does not matter to them. Its like watching TV. If an unpleasant show comes on, one can change the channel or one can sit there and make life miserable for those that enjoy the show.

Rather than walk away, they prefer to make life miserable for us by constantly complaining.
User avatar
m_right
Guru
Guru
Posts: 522
Joined: Sat Nov 22, 2008 11:58 am
Location: Hua Hin

Re: Smoking ex-pats

Post by m_right »

RCer wrote: Mon Feb 05, 2018 5:18 pm
Our pleasure does not matter to them. Its like watching TV. If an unpleasant show comes on, one can change the channel or one can sit there and make life miserable for those that enjoy the show.

Rather than walk away, they prefer to make life miserable for us by constantly complaining.
You got that right. I wish they would get a life.
"Religion is What Keeps the Poor from Murdering the Rich" -- Napoleon Bonaparte
User avatar
malcolminthemiddle
Guru
Guru
Posts: 591
Joined: Sat Mar 05, 2005 1:56 pm
Location: Here,there and everywhere

Re: Smoking ex-pats

Post by malcolminthemiddle »

europtimiste wrote: Mon Feb 05, 2018 4:45 pm I started smoking when I was 13 and still smoke. Can't you understand that smoking is not only an addiction (for some it is) but it's also a pleasure.
This may be the most deeply ingrained of all rationalizations associated with smoking as it has a solid basis in the following flawed denial logic. "I don't do things that I don't like to do." "I smoke lots and lots of cigarettes." "Therefore, I must really enjoy smoking," instead of the correct conclusion, "therefore, I must really be chemically addicted to smoking nicotine."

Did you enjoy being the unaddicted "you" before the age of 13 or have you forgotten what it was like to live comfortably inside a mind that does not crave for nicotine? If you cannot remember what it was like being "you" then what basis do you have for honest comparison?

Source http://whyquit.com/whyquit/A_NicodemonsLies.html
bsdk1960
Ace
Ace
Posts: 1471
Joined: Mon Jul 16, 2012 2:21 pm
Location: hua hin/frederiksberg DK.

Re: Smoking ex-pats

Post by bsdk1960 »

soon 6 years since i stopped,but promised myself that if i ever turned to be one of the religius ex smokeres i would start again,but not necesery yet.

:cheers: :cheers:
User avatar
404cameljockey
Ace
Ace
Posts: 1780
Joined: Sat Apr 30, 2016 5:14 am

Re: Smoking ex-pats

Post by 404cameljockey »

RCer wrote: Mon Feb 05, 2018 5:18 pm
europtimiste wrote: Mon Feb 05, 2018 4:45 pm I started smoking when I was 13 and still smoke. Can't you understand that smoking is not only an addiction (for some it is) but it's also a pleasure.
Our pleasure does not matter to them. Its like watching TV. If an unpleasant show comes on, one can change the channel or one can sit there and make life miserable for those that enjoy the show.

Rather than walk away, they prefer to make life miserable for us by constantly complaining.
Hold on. So if a smoker comes to a table near a non-smoker and the smoke is clearly blowing in the wrong direction (when I smoke I'm very aware of who is getting the secondary 'benefit' of my sh*tstick), the one who should demur is the non-smoker, by getting up and going somewhere else? It's not reasonable for them to ask that the smoke not blow in their or their young children's faces? Just wanting to clarify what we're talking about here.

I'm not sure that's a reasonable thing to expect. I guess then by the same token a table of loud and drunken rowdies should also be allowed to clear a venue, rather than being asked to behave a bit more acceptably?

One person's pleasure is not always compatible with that of others. I remember when non-smoking areas were small and grotty, or shoved into the corner, with smokers ruling the roost, but now it seems to be the other way around. It's the way things are.

Sometimes (mostly while drinking) I like to smoke cigarettes, sometimes (more rarely) a fat cigar, which I also inhale. Just pointing out that I am a smoker, but I'm not a fanatic about the right to smoke. I'm also not a fanatic about not having others' smoke blowing up my nose. It depends on circumstances, IMO.
User avatar
Spitfire
Addict
Addict
Posts: 5248
Joined: Thu Apr 10, 2008 1:17 pm
Location: Thailand

Re: Smoking ex-pats

Post by Spitfire »

I have seen this situation from both sides, used to smoke 20 a day when was young but gave up just over 10 years ago and have not had a single one since.

Personally, there should be a facility in indoor public places (restaurants/bars etc.) that allows smokers to smoke, with the least inconvenience, without forcing those who don't smoke to have to put up with passive inhalation as that is wrong on a few levels and medically proven to be almost as bad. People should be free to smoke if they so desire but shouldn't be allowed to inflict the damage of smoke on those who don't...fairs fair. Admittedly, there has been an aggressive campaign by the sneering lifestyle fascists over this and has gone a little far as smoking is legal if you want to do so, even if it's a habit that's in decline generally and being increasingly being seen as socially negative.

As usual, the sensible solution is to be found somewhere in the middle which seems increasingly rare with things now. Don't treat smokers like lepers as it's legal and we are free do as thou wilt if legal, but smokers need to understand that it's an unpopular habit with those who don't, plus it's a health risk for those around you as well as yourself...some latitude on both sides would probably go a long way.

Edit - Typos
Resolve dissolves in alcohol
RCer
Ace
Ace
Posts: 1294
Joined: Sun Apr 03, 2016 12:48 pm

Re: Smoking ex-pats

Post by RCer »

I never let smoke go toward non-smokers. But, stop making it illegal for me to smoke outside. Or as Spitfire said, meet in the middle.
Post Reply