Comments on: Thailand in the News Week Ending 11/14/2009

By: Talen

Talen — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 02:47:10 +0000

Martyn,

Electronic ciggy first….I was a heavy smoker but the one brand of electronic cigarette really worked and you can get it at Totally Wicked UK. it’s called the Titan. It smokes like the real thing. I’ve heard chantix can work but I also heard it can kill you so…

Smoking in Thailand….true female smoking is on the rise and lower costs don’t help the issue. Even worse you can go to any Thai shop and buy individual Thai cigarettes making it easily accessible and affordable to everyone.

Thaksin…I think this game is going to spiral out of control in the next 6 months and that could be a very scary proposition for everyone involved.

By: Martyn

Martyn — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:05:59 +0000

Talen I knew smoking was big business in Asia but 350 million smokers in China alone, that’s staggering. The college students anti smoking protest in Bangkok shows on one hand that Thailand’s no smoking campaigns are perhaps working but with female smokers on the rise in the LOS, perhaps not.

Mr Shinawatra continues to make the news and it is almost as if he is acting it all out from a script. His ploy to link arms with Thailand’s ‘warring’ neighbour is I’m sure a way to be close to the red shirt Isaan region and also to antagonise the PM even further. A cat and mouse game in which Thaksin appears to have the upper hand.

Back to smoking. Having failed with the electronic cigarette I’m now considering trying the latest wonder drug for kicking the habit, Chantix.
Martyn´s last blog ..Thai Bar Girls – Food, Phones and Thumbs

By: Talen

Talen — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:30:57 +0000

Cat, it is good to know that there are many in Thailand ,including the government, that won’t allow big tobacco to run amok and do what they want. Hopefully it keeps the younger generation from starting to smoke.

By: Catherine

Catherine — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:32:45 +0000

Talen, I didn’t know about the anti-smoking protesters. Good for them.

Just this Loi Kratong in Bangkok, there was an anti-smoking / anti-drinking campaign. I don’t know how widespread it was, but it certainly blanketed the area I was in (Khao San Road). Banners. Stickers, flyers, booths set up.

I’m a former smoker. When I was smoking, I couldn’t give a toss about the health aspects of the addiction. I was kinda stoppy about it too. But I was young, life was going to last forever, how dare anyone tell me what I could or could not do… yadda yadda.

I now get physically ill when around cigarette smoke (even when merely walking by someone smoking in the open air) so my mindset has changed dramatically.

I’ve gone from learning how to smoke with a bottle of Pepto bismo in one hand and a Marlborough in the other, to fighting for the right to smoke, to quitting but not caring if anyone smoked (often standing close to a smoker when out drinking), to having a physical reaction to cigarette smoke, to being firmly on the no smoking bandwagon.

For me, being on the side of the no smoking most everywhere mindset makes sense. Let’s say you felt like someone was reaching down your throat and into your stomach to tear out your intestines every time you smelled a certain perfume. You would soon develop an aversion to that perfume, as well as to anyone spraying it in your vicinity. You might even start thinking that the world would be a better place if everyone stopped spraying that perfume.
Catherine´s last blog ..Free Download: The Ultimate Survival Guide to Thailand