The Public Health Ministry will soon enforce bans in 81 newly listed no-smoking zones, including airport terminals, ATMs and hotel lobbies -- but smoking areas will still be allowed in some zones.
The list was published in the Royal Gazette on Tuesday, and the law comes into effect in 90 days.
The new no-smoking zones include hospitals, clinics, schools, nurseries, homes for the elderly, health and massage parlours, libraries, learning centres, gymnasiums, swimming pools, ATMs, public toilets, grocery shops, theatres, game shops, drug stores, meeting venues, shopping centres, government offices and organisations, zoos, amusement and water parks, laundry shops, bus stops, piers, taxi and van stands, and public areas of airports, hotels and condominium buildings.
However, the ministry will allow universities, government offices, state enterprises and airports to have designated smoking areas.
Meanwhile, the Corrections Department has begun a pilot project to ban cigarette and tobacco sales in its 13 prisons.
A survey found prisons have "higher number of smokers" than the general population, department chief Naras Savestanan said, before encouraging inmates to take the bans as an opportunity to quit smoking and turn their interest to other more positive activities like career training programmes.