One image shows a man lying on a hospital bed with his eyes rolled back. Another depicts the inside a person's mouth in a state of horrific rot, with the words "Smoking causes mouth cancer". There's also one with a little schoolgirl wearing a dust mask on her face, saying: "Daddy, if you love me, please quit smoking."
These are just a few examples of the graphic warnings that the government decrees cigarette packages must carry. The stark message is obvious: smoking can seriously damage your health and the health of those around you; smoking can even kill you.
The disturbing images are pretty hard to ignore. And yet they seem to have had little effect. So what to do? Make them even bigger!
The government has recently announced additional legislative measures regarding packaging for cigarettes. Thailand is the first country in Asia and the 16th worldwide, according to the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance, to declare that cigarettes must come in plain packaging, with cigarette brand names printed in a standardised font, size and colour without brand logos. And where previously the images and written warnings covered 55% of the packaging, that will now be as much as 85% -- the largest in Asean.
The question is: will these changes make any difference?
According to Thailand's National Statistical Office, each year about 50,000 Thais die from smoking-related illnesses. Meanwhile, the number of smokers has risen to 11.4 million in the last year, an increase of 21%. Some new smokers are as young as 10 years old.
To date, there is no conclusive evidence that indicates the new measures will have any meaningful effect. However, previous studies regarding an increase in warning size on tobacco packages from 50-55% suggested that larger warnings can help make people more aware of the dangers of tobacco.
Still, there is no evidence that it acts as a deterrent. Increasing the size may help to get the message across more clearly, but in order to get people to stop smoking, or discourage people from taking it up, many other factors must be taken into account, including an individual's health, family environment, social environment and educational background.
Looking at a thread on Pantip, it's clear that opinions on the issue are divided even among smokers.
"I don't think the warning images can make a person who's already addicted to tobacco just stop smoking," said one user. "They would just recognise that smoking could make them die faster. But they can be used to scare people who don't smoke."
However, another user claimed that they were effective: "The pictures made me want to quit. I just don't want to end up sick like that. I don't smoke anymore."
Some say that one of the main reasons that the warnings don't work is that many smokers perceive them as a threat to their freedom. Smokers are being increasingly marginalised; new legislation even frames smoking as potentially a form of domestic abuse. This only serves to create a siege mentality among smokers that makes them more likely to resist ideas when they think they are being ordered about.
"Smoking isn't illegal," said one user. "This is a clear violation of the rights of smokers."
Experts seem unconvinced that the new packaging will make much difference. Dr Hatai Chitanondh, the President of the Thailand Health Promotion Institute, argues more effective measures would be to increase cigarette tax, suppress advertising and sales promotions, and strictly prohibit smoking in public places.
But these are all measure that have already been tried in Thailand and elsewhere, with limited success. Evidently, more needs to be done. Having personally seen many smokers throw away the new packets and put their ciggies in far more attractive cigarette cases, I feel that the latest measures will have little effect.
As with so many things, education is most likely key. This needs to go beyond simple scare tactics. In the meantime, make cigarettes as expensive as possible and reinvest the extra revenue in further research.
Tatat Bunnag is a feature writer for the Life section of the Bangkok Post.