Thailand

Thailand’s ‘smoking toll’ is three times the annual road toll

Published

3 weeks ago

May 29, 2019

The Thaiger

Smoking kills more than 72,000 people a year in Thailand, three times the number of people that die on the local roads.

Dr Roengrudee Patanavanich, from Mahidol University’s Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, speaking at a media conference yesterday, says… “Diseases associated with smoking such as lung cancer, emphysema, lung inflammation and tuberculosis are the main killers.”

“Thailand had 10.7 million smokers in 2017, of whom 72,565 succumbed to smoking-related diseases. On average, they lost about 18 years of their life.”

“The cost of treatment was about 77.6 billion baht a year and the cost of lost income opportunities as a result of illnesses was 11.8 billion baht a year. ”

“In total, smoking has caused financial losses of about 220 billion baht a year,” Roengrudee said, emphasising the loss was much higher than the cigarette taxes that the government could collect.

Disease Control Department director-general Dr Suwannachai Wattanayingcharoenchai said cigarette smoke was dangerous not just for smokers but also for others.

“Just one inhalation of second-hand smoke brings hundreds of toxins into lungs,” he said.

Professor Dr Prakit Vathesatogkit, secretary-general of the Action on Smoking and Health Foundation Thailand, credited the late General Prem Tinsulanonda for initiating tobacco control in the country.

“In 1988, he assigned the Public Health Ministry to draw up a tobacco-control plan. Back then, there was no law to ban smoking but Prem banned smoking at Government House,” Prakit said.

Public Health Minister Dr Piyasakol Sakolsatayadorn said it was worrying that a significant number of children started smoking at the age of just 10. He said the government had lately introduced stricter measures to curb smoking in the country. For example, vehicles, offices and all public places are now declared smoke-free.

SOURCE: The Nation

Are you considering a medical procedure abroad? With Thaiger Medical you can research hospitals and doctors, choose a destination in Thailand or abroad, and book an appointment today.

Read more headlines, reports & breaking news in Thailand. Or catch up on your Thailand news.

Up Next

Thailand’s sex crime laws toughened

Don't Miss

Thailand’s aviation industry passes international inspections

The Thaiger

If you have story ideas, a restaurant to review, an event to cover or an issue to discuss, contact The Thaiger editorial staff.

Click to comment

Thailand

Russian tourist drowns in red flag swimming zone in Trat

Published

2 hours ago

June 17, 2019

The Thaiger

PHOTOS: The Pattaya News | Siam Rath

A Russian tourist has drowned at a beach on Koh Chang in Trat, far east Thailand, in the red-flagged, no swimming zone yesterday.

Navy officers on Koh Chang are warning tourists going to beaches with red flags along the shore to stay out of the water when there are high waves in the monsoon season.

55 year old Vladimir Antonov was found floating face down 300 metres from shore. Local rescue workers and Navy officers patrolling the beach rushed out to bring him back to shore. He was later pronounced dead when he arrived at the local hospital. The Russian Embassy have been informed.

His 45 year old wife said they had been staying at a hotel two kilometres away. She told police that her husband had been hit by a big wave and been swept away.

SOURCE: The Pattaya News

Russian tourist drowns in red flag swimming zone in Trat | News by The Thaiger

Cambodia

Thailand’s dengue fever cases “double the five year average” – epidemic declared

Published

2 days ago

June 15, 2019

The Thaiger

“The situation is also the same in Thailand’s neighbour countries.”

The Department of Disease Control on Friday has declared a dengue fever epidemic this year. From Jan 1 to June 11 this year there has already been 28,785 reported cases and 43 deaths from the mosquito-borne virus.

The deputy director-general of the department says the number of patients was double the five year average of Dengue cases. He says the situation is also the same in Thailand’s neighbour countries and attributes the current epidemic to “a failure to control mosquito larvae”.

Yesterday the Public Health Ministry signed an agreement with seven state agencies to control mosquito larvae during the annual wet-season – when cases peak each year. The Defence Ministry, Tourism and Sports Ministry, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Interior Ministry, Culture Ministry, Education Ministry and Bangkok Metropolitan Administration are going to co-ordinate improvements in the control of mosquito larvae.

Meanwhile the Public Health department says they will focus on communities, temples, schools and hospitals which they claim are a major source of mosquito larvae.

YOU play an important role in avoiding Dengue Fever, or Chikungunya. A report about the latest outbreak of Chikungunya cases in southern Thailand HERE.

And some important tips for you to avoid Dengue HERE.

Thailand's dengue fever cases

Crime

Eighteen Burmese illegal migrants found in a Songkhla camp, Thailand

Published

2 days ago

June 15, 2019

The Thaiger

PHOTOS: The Nation

Eighteen Burmese illegal migrants have been found at a makeshift camp in forest near Songkhla’s Sadao district waiting waiting to be transported to Malaysia.

The 16 men and two women, kept in the woods for four days and told to live on young banana stalks and creek water, were found in a forest area two kilometres away from the main road.

Police later arrested a Burmese woman Nang Wae who was their ‘caretaker’ at a rented room in Khlong Ngae. The woman told police she didn’t send them food because the Malaysian ‘brokers’ had not transferred money to her. With no money, she had to leave her countrymen in the forest until a vehicle was sent to transport them to Malaysia.

A team of anti-human trafficking officials, police and soldiers found the migrants in the forest yesterday morning (Friday).

Eighteen Burmese illegal migrants found in a Songkhla camp, Thailand | News by The Thaiger