E-cigarette users in Thailand rise 11-fold in three years despite ban
A network of e-cigarette users has urged Thailand’s new government to review the country’s e-cigarette ban, citing official data showing use has risen sharply despite more than a decade of prohibition.
The group cited figures from the National Statistical Office, saying the number of e-cigarette users increased from 78,742 in 2021 to about 900,000 in 2024, an increase of more than 11 times in three years, despite e-cigarettes remaining illegal throughout that period.
It said the figures were clear evidence that a blanket ban had not achieved its aim of controlling use, but had instead pushed activity outside state regulation.
Asa Saligupta, a representative of the network and former member of a special Parliamentary committee on e-cigarette laws, spoke after reports that Prime Minister and Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul was preparing to submit the list for an “Anutin 2” Cabinet for royal endorsement.
“If the ban policy really worked, the number of users should fall, not rise into the hundreds of thousands under strict law enforcement, and at present it is believed the number of users is likely more than two million nationwide,” Asa said.
The network said rising use under the ban shows consumer demand remains, while the state has no tools to regulate the market, including product quality controls, age limits for buyers, or accurate health information.
Matichon reported that the network contrasted this with other controlled products such as cigarettes and alcoholic drinks, which are regulated under clear legal frameworks.
According to the network, the illegal e-cigarette market increases public health risks because the state cannot properly verify sources, check product standards or prevent youth access. Crackdowns over the past one to two years have led to many arrests and seizures, but there is still no evidence that they have reduced user numbers.
The network representative said, “When everything is pushed into illegality, the state is left with only suppression measures. Most recently, a Customs Department press briefing said e-cigarettes are smuggled in for sale every day to the point officials cannot keep up.”
“And although the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society blocked as many as 40,000 e-cigarette sales websites in the first five months of fiscal year 2026, it has not been very effective. It only creates a burden for officials, and there is still no mechanism to protect consumers or safeguard public safety in any other way,” he added.
Asa said the call to review the policy was not meant to promote e-cigarette use, but to urge the government to use data to design a more effective approach, including bringing the existing market into state regulation to reduce harm to society.
The more than 11-fold increase in users under the ban, he said, was “a policy warning signal the new government should not ignore”.
He added that under the previous government, a special House committee studied the impacts of the e-cigarette ban “in all dimensions” and proposed three options, with the most supported approach being to legalise all types of e-cigarettes and regulate them strictly.
In a separate development, last year, the Thai government launched a new initiative allowing the public to report sellers and users of e-cigarettes through the Thang Rath mobile app. The scheme offers rewards for tipsters, with informants standing to pocket 60% of the fines imposed on suspects.
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