As with most things in Thailand, there are mixed messages about the subject. You can buy e-liquid for vaping and e-cigarettes with the liquid in them, but if you search online to find information on vaping, people are confused. Are we allowed to vape in Bangkok? Tourists who visited Thailand have been fined and jailed for using e-cigarettes. Online, you can find out about people who vape in public. How can we find out the truth? Answer to “Is vaping legal in Thailand?” Is the answer yes or no?
We want to make it clear that this is an official statement. In Thailand, it is against the law to vape or smoke electronic cigarettes. It is not recommended that you even try.
Can it be that even the definition of vaping used in Thailand is totally different from the rest of the world? Misconstrued. It could be a simple cultural difference. Am I missing anything? Are the internet users who say, “You cannot vape in Thailand,” misinterpreting the perception of the Thai people? I doubt it. Already confused? You’re not alone.
You can find a lot of information online that says no, you are not allowed to vape in Thailand. Vaping and electronic cigarettes are illegal in Thailand. When you read the official position of the Thai government on this issue, there is no doubt. The answer is a resounding “no”. Even the Thai Consulate in Los Angeles has issued a statement that also says “no.” In Thailand, electronic cigarettes are not allowed. Why are people asking if it’s legal or not? This question is in contrast to the vape shops which used to be there and possibly still exist. You can find many vape shops still in Thailand if you search on Google Earth. What are these shops selling?
In 2014, the Thai government passed a law banning vaping. The ban on vaping is enforced nationwide. The entire thing. The entire thing. What are the results? When or if someone has been stopped for vaping, there is no doubt about the consequences of smoking e-cigarettes. If you’re caught vaping, heavy fines and even up to 10 years imprisonment in Thailand are possible. How is it? I’m not sure. No one wants that.
- Even after the 2014 law that banned e-cigarettes, vaping, and vaporizers in Thailand, there are still vape shops.
- What is the military doing in Thailand to raid shops selling e-cigarettes and juice? What is the material of these e-cigarettes??
In Thailand, e-juice/vape liquid can be obtained from a variety of sources. Others have written about everything from vape shops to vape juice or juice being delivered to your door. How is this even possible?
Raids on vape shops have started this year (2018). In May 2018, a team of military members from the Royal Thai Army’s 5th Infantry Division conducted a raid on a small vape shop. On the same charge on the same day, a group of people from the Royal Thai Navy Third Area Command in Wichit, Thailand, also raided the same shop. This is impressive sounding! They must have eliminated many enemies. Actually, there were only two shop owners there. The main person was an unarmed, barefoot woman who was selling vape juice and electronic cigarettes. This group of soldiers and sailors marched into the J.P. Adventure vaping shop and, with a bold and sudden shock and awe maneuver, scared the owner, confiscated all the e-juice with other items, and made her close shop. There was a photo op as well where the shop owner was made to stand near her confiscated loot and pose for a photograph while pointing to her own seized products. I.E., Vape juice, e-cigarettes, nic salt, wics, pods, and vape pens. Her shop was carefully camouflaged as a vape shop selling e-liquid in the middle of a business district out in the open! How clever! I believe one Soldier suffered a back sprain lifting a box of heavy items while one of the sailors was having a bad hair day. There were not many casualties otherwise, with the exception of the e-cigarettes and e-liquids/vape juice. Find more information here.
Can’t vape in Thailand… Phuket?
The ban is being slowly expanded to include traditional cigarettes and regular smokers in Thailand. There are currently 24 resort beaches that have banned traditional cigarettes. These bans appear to be increasing. This ban includes electronic cigarettes, vape juice, and all vaping. This all sounds familiar to you and echoes a similar set-up of events I wrote about in an earlier article.
The policy prohibits smoking on one of Phuket’s most popular beaches to combat the negative effects traditional cigarettes can have on “marine environments.” Why is this happening, and “whom” does the government want to impress? Is it smoke and mirrors to a larger, more long-term venture? Venture…
SO, WHY?
We will now try to get straight to the point. Why is there a ban on vaping or e-cigs? Some say that officials are simply out of touch and want to control the tobacco industry. Some may say that it is the pharmaceutical companies who are trying to control and categorize vaping and vape juice containing nicotine. There is also this. The Tobacco Authority Of Thailand (TAOT) was formerly known as the TTM( Thailand Tobacco Monopoly). The Thai government wants to control everything nicotine-based, but they are focusing on tobacco. This is not the first time we have seen a government controlling what and where people can smoke. Some people now think that TAOT’s increasing control over smoking is a positive thing since they formed a partnership with WHO (World Health Organization). At the same time, they were still known as Thailand Tobacco Monopoly. Click here for more information about TTM.
Seemingly, it would be assumed that those in a government position and charge of millions may have their people’s best interest in mind by teaming up with the World Health Organization to help stave off smoking in general in a country where smoking is a crisis. This can be agreed upon, but once again, there is another overwhelming entity or business opportunity. The once-named TTM (Thai Tobacco Monopoly), now corporatized and called the TAOT (Tobacco Authority Of Thailand), has positioned itself to make a lot of money from business and trade with tobacco in mind. Also, being in bed with The WHO helps them to actually circumvent the health of a nation by maintaining control and actually being able to produce tobacco akin to big tobacco businesses. To say they care by setting some regulations against smoking while at the same time setting up more production in the way of traditional tobacco cigarettes is hypocritical.
They don’t have vaping in mind. The key ingredient for them is not nicotine but tobacco. This may explain why vape shops are closing, and there have been military raids in Thailand.
This is a quote that I found in an online forum. I thought it was perfect for what I wanted to say.
“Thailand, which is not rich in resources, relies heavily on the holiday industry. The tax on tobacco products is very high and generates substantial income. Vape products are a threat to the government’s ability to collect tax revenue. We Westerners may not consider this important, but the Thai government does. So, enjoy Thailand and its culture, and leave your vapes behind.
This is just in!
Just a quick update. The Tobacco Authority of Thailand is planning to launch a new cigarette. It will target tourists in order to sell these cigarettes. These new cigarettes are set to launch on October 1, 2018. Why don’t they sell juice to tourists? What? They don’t sell electronic cigarettes? There is no “monopoly”. The TAOT is targeting the increasing number of Chinese tourists by introducing a new indigenously made cigarette specifically for Chinese visitors in Thailand. This is only the beginning of this business model. You can find a verified vendor who sells e-liquids and other vaping products from a non-monopolized source. Click Here.
Could it be the old mentality of big business still exists around the globe, refusing to let go and embrace new products or change, like e-juices and e-cigarettes, for example? In some countries, government intervention is so severe that the use of sailors and soldiers to raid mom-and-pop small businesses to prevent the corporatization of the industry has become acceptable. Vaping and electronic cigarettes that use vape juice are still considered mom-and-pop in comparison to big government-owned traditional tobacco. It doesn’t matter if you think vaping is healthier or not. Suppose a corporate government can use the WHO to influence businesses, minds, and laws to circumvent the law. In that case, vaping and electronic cigarettes will face a battle to be accepted on the global stage as an option for people.
