Anti-tobacco campaigners urged the government yesterday to speed up the implementation of tougher tobacco rules to prevent the tobacco industry from interfering with the state's health policies.
In April of this year, the government added elements of the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) to it's existing tobacco laws, but critics say implementation of the rules is lacking.
The FCTC is a treaty used to protect present and future generations of people from the impact of tobacco consumption and exposure to tobacco smoke, said Dr Hathai Chitanon, president of the Thailand Health Promotion Institution.
He said present tobacco control laws have proven to be ineffective.
"The smoking rate has been climbing," Dr Hathai said.
A study by the Tobacco Control Research and Knowledge Management Centre found that the smoking rate has increased from 20.7% in 2009 to 21.36% last year.
The rate among those aged 15 to 18 increased to 9.21% last year, up from 7.62% in 2009.
The cabinet approved in April new measures to ramp up protection for the public from the dangers of smoking by including parts of the FCTC treaty, namely section 5.3, in its tobacco control policy.
Section 5.3 of the FCTC highlights the need for state tobacco policy to be protected from possible interference by interest groups and the tobacco industry.
It also prohibits tobacco manufacturers from any activities related to corporate social responsibility and bans state officials from taking benefits from tobacco manufacturers.
Tobacco manufacturers are also required to reveal their business record to ensure transparency.
The other measures include increasing taxes on tobacco and banning tobacco sales over the internet.
Dr Hathai said the measures under section 5.3 have not yet been widely implemented following the cabinet's approval, and he suggested the changes should have been made sooner.
Four years have passed since section 5.3 was endorsed, but even though it is now a part of the law, tobacco control is still not working, he said.
Paisarn Limsathit, a member of the Health Laws and Ethics Centre of Thammasat University's law faculty, said poor tobacco farmers have opposed the tobacco control policy.
The farmers have been told they will lose their jobs if taxes on tobacco are increased and if the control policy is implemented, Mr Paisarn said.
