tobacco
- World News
British American Tobacco to pay over US$600m for violating US sanctions on North Korea
British American Tobacco (BAT) agreed to pay over US$600 million to settle allegations that it sold cigarette materials to North Korea for a decade in breach of United States sanctions, the US Justice Department announced yesterday. This is the harshest action ever taken by US authorities against a company for violating North Korean sanctions, with BAT’s Singapore subsidiary agreeing to…
- Health
New Zealand passes law to prevent future generations from buying tobacco
New Zealand has passed a law that prevents future generations from buying tobacco. The particular ban on purchasing tobacco is just one law that is part of the country’s new cluster of regulations that focus on curbing smoking. The law passed in Parliament yesterday and is now considered one of the strictest measures taken against buying tobacco in the world.…
- Bangkok News
Bangkok to impose tobacco tax for the first time
Bangkok is planning to introduce a tobacco tax of up to 10 satang per cigarette, according to the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (there are 100 satang in a Thai baht). The BMA announced this week that this will be the first time Bangkok will impose a tax on tobacco, which will push the price of cigarettes up by 1.86 baht per…
- Eastern Thailand
Four suspects allegedly smuggled fake tobacco in Chanthaburi
Officials seized 83,154 packs of fake tobacco worth more than 10 million baht from four suspects in Chanthaburi yesterday. A police investigation found they smuggled the tobacco via the Ban Laem Immigration Checkpoint in Pong Nam Ron district, and sold the tobacco online. Two of the suspects were charged with allegedly selling fake tobacco, while the other two were charged…
- Video
Thailand News Update | Test & Go Improvements, Live Chat Function Added
In the wake of lower-than-expected take up of the revised Test and Go program in the Thailand Pass, the Thai PM has made direct orders for quick improvements in the reliability of the digital systemApplicants have been complaining about delays, receiving spam and hacked emails. Now a new entry pathway called TPHS has now been approved and promises to cut…
- Thailand News
Thai Cabinet “okays” 5 year plan to lower tobacco consumption
Thailand is going a step further than the graphic (and disturbing) photos on packs of cigarettes to discourage the public from smoking. The Thai Cabinet has approved a five-year road map focusing on lowering tobacco consumption to help improve overall public health. The plan, with a 498 million baht budget, will start this year and end in 2027. The plan to…
- Thailand News
New tax to raise cigarette prices by around 8 baht per pack
Packs of cigarettes are going to get a little more expensive. The Thai Cabinet just approved a new excise tax structure for cigarettes. Retail prices for a pack are expected to rise by 6 to 8 baht. The Finance Minister says the new tax structure is expected to go into effect on Friday, but it still needs to be published…
- Coronavirus (Covid-19)
Second locally produced Covid-19 vaccine proves effective in monkey trials
A doctor at Chulalongkorn University yesterday announced that announced tests of a new locally produced Covid-19 vaccine on monkeys have proven successful. The head of the Thai Red Cross Emerging Infectious Disease Health Science Centre, Dr Thiravat Hemachudha, says the latest vaccine, which uses proteins from tobacco leaves, was been tested on mice and monkeys with satisfactory results and will…
- Thailand News
Anti-alternative tobacco report slammed by experts
A recent report titled “Today’s Teens, Tomorrow’s Customers” published by Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance is being slammed by the Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates and global health experts, who have dismissed it as “naïve” and “harmful.” Nancy Loucas, CAPHRA’s executive director, described the report as a product of perception by a group that is funded by…
- Health
Could cannabis cigarettes be available in your local convenience store?
Thailand’s Tobacco Authority is continuing to lobby for a license for the production of cannabis-based cigarettes but has a few legal, and moral, hoops to climb through before anything happens. Using the ‘health benefits’ argument, the Thai tobacco industry is hoping it can get the go ahead to manufacture cannabis-based cigarettes which could, if given permission, be as available in…
- Thai Life
Plain tobacco packaging by September 2019
The Thai government has made a new legislative announcement regarding plain packaging for cigarette packets, making it the first country in Asia, and first low and middle-income country to do so. This legislation adds to the 2017 Tobacco Control Act, which currently mandates an individual must be 20 or older to purchase tobacco, bans tobacco advertising in the media, sponsorship,…
