Smoking cigarettes in Thailand bars?

[stogie bear]

People are giving up smoking more and more in the West but in Asia it sems that they just can't get enough.

Where you live they have probably banished all smokers to a cupboard in their own homes but here in Thailand there is little evidence to see any smoking laws enforced (yes, there are some) and there is little evidence that bar owners will ever start evicting them unless they are legally required to do so and the law is enforced.

So where are you on this issue?

My clothes stink of cigarettes every time I return home and in some places I quickly get a hacking cough.

I hope the new Guess Bar is more 'airiated' and I wish that Bully's Pub would enforce the law. (They sell food.) The Sportsman in Pattaya have recently booted out the smokers which puts it back on my list of places to eat.

Are we being too overly sensitive about smokers or should we be complaining about it?

Is 'passive smoking' real or can the human lung withstand the onslaught?

Should employees have a say on the smoking policy of a bar?

Bar workers in the clubs in Bangkok may have a case but most bars in Pattaya are at least partially outdoors.

I'm an ex-smoker. I wish all the bars were smoke free but it's clear that if I want to go out I'll just have to be patient and put up with it.

I voted the 5th option, but sometimes I feel more strongly about it.

[mardhi]

To a large part in Thailand it depends how you are licenced - for example the Sportsman probably has a restaurant licence only - and the correct interpretation is that smoking is not allowed in air conditioned restaurants, hence the story is the police or someone came and told them, no smoking is allowed in this restaurant.

Shenanigans most likely has a PUB licence, hence they can allow smoking - however I was surprised they had made no effort to provide smoking or non smoking sections anywhere in the bar.

Bars can segretate the two very easily - for example Rosie O'Gradies on Soi 7 in Pattaya has a indoor aircon restaurant which is non smoking, while the pub itself which does not serve food, is smoking permitted. An outdoor terrace allows smokers who want to eat an option as well.

I think there is a lot of merit in exploring this further and I would be interested in the poll results. I suspect Jay would also like to segregate the new bar once it opens and keep the actual area around the bar a non smoking zone. However the new bar also has a ace up its sleeve which will become apparent when people see it which will also assist in making this easier to happen. I recently returned from Singapore where they have introduced non smoking in bars and bars have either got a smoking room or allow people to go outside, balconies etc and its not too much of a big deal. Actually as a smoker, I smoked far less as a result which must be a good thing

Another thing to take into account is air cleaners - not many bars have them but they are very effective (provided you change the filters regularly) - again Guess have 2 and they are positioned so so at the moment but you really notice it when you walk into the bar before its opened - there is zero stale smoke smell. I asked Jay to get 2 more as I think they work very well, provided you position them correctly.

Cheers
Mardhi

[LuckyA]

If they stop smoking in Thailand then the only place left for me to smoke is Greece where even in a bank you have to wait for the customer service clerk to finish their smoke before they serve you.

Or the chef smokes with a ciggie in his mouth while making the pasta. Only in Greece.

In Oz from Jul 07, it is now banned everwhere unless bars or venues have an outdoor area.

Crappy habit I know and have actually started thinking about quitting but alas when on holidays it makes it hard with so much free time.

I guess seperate areas in bars inc Guess would be a viable option.

Does that mean the new Guess Bar will have a balcony.

I actually prefer having a ciggie outdoors anyway than in a closed bar.

Cheers

[stogie bear]

Early days yet, of course... but after just 24 votes this seems to be a very evenly balanced poll at the moment.

[looktoyou]

I just hope that all those people who continue to smoke indoors would quickly die, explode into ash & disappear.

It is like saying "here have some cancer, no I insist" to everyone who passes by.

Or better still we should get a bucket of piss and pour it over the head of those ignorant bastards who pollute the air with foul unbreathable smoke.

Cheers

[Monkey]

Don't forget to ban the stinking street BBQs whilst you're at it!

[stogie bear]

I agree... The street food is awful and downright dangerous.

There should also be 'on the spot' fines for fat women who wear too much perfume.

[gart4571]

At my age (mid-50s), IF I had been smoking many years, I would be bare-backing every ladyboy that I went to bed with. I would enjoy it, not worrying about AIDS because chances would be that cancer would get me before AIDS. Lung cancer is just as nasty as AIDS if not worse.

[katoeylover]

And what about the drunk idiots who also ruin a good night out.

It seems smokers are more and more being targeted as an easy victim, but i wonder how all these anti smoking nazis would feel about a 5% MINIMUM raise in their taxes if tobacco revenue was non existent? And dont give me the answer that youwould save on health care as it has been proven that non smokers get sick too!

Yes, i dont smoke in restaurants, but to cut it out in bars is just one step too far.

I just hope that all those people who continue to smoke indoors would quickly die, explode into ash & disappear.

What a wonderfully balanced argument. I would probably think the same of you if we ever meet. What about this freedom of choice that everyone goes on about. It is a freedom only if you lot want it to be.

[Torurot]

Most places don't clean their filters regularly (at all) so all the "aircon" does is recirculate stinky air. I stay outside confined smoky areas as much as possible. Make my selection and run. The bar makes no money from me because I won't sit inside and drink when surrounded by smoke. Prefer outside bars as there is fresh air. I used to manage a bar, it nearly killed me, this pre-dated anti smoking laws. Most smokers couldn't give a fuck about other peoples air. It's a selfish habit, ash, butts thrown wherever. OK I'll stop now.

[stogie bear]

In a perfect world, businesses should be able to decide for themselves what their clientele can and can't do.

Personally I would rather that smokers be allowed to smoke in the bars rather than outside. I think we've got the rules the wrong way round by pushing the smokers outdoors. They should all smoke inside pubs and NOT out on the streets.

Then again; it's nice knowing that if you try a place for the first time you won't have to turn right around and walk out because it stinks. The health issues are an important but secondary consideration for me.

A lot of this debate is 'hoo ha' over 'human rights' and smokers are keen to tell us of the freedoms being denied them. But non-puffers have freedoms too. Unfortunately for smokers we live in a democracy where most people are non-smokers and it's a simple case of being voted out of town.

You don't have to smoke and drive and drink alcohol. If you do you are basically paying a 'right to live (and die)' tax!

[Monkey]

Hi, my name is Monkey, and I'm an addict!

If it was up to me I'd ban the sale of tobacco full stop, in fact I suspect that if someone was only just to discover it then it would be straight on to the Class C list.

I do smoke and have done since I was 13yo, I'm now 39 and have managed to quit only 3 times, the longest being just 6 months but after a moment of weakness I was back on it again.

It's expensive, highly addictive, unhealthy, makes you smell etc etc

I don't usually 'enjoy' it, it's just that it's so darn addictive, yeah I have the 'right' to smoke but I wish I didn't.

We are all well aware of the dangers, anybody that's recently bought a pack of smokes in LOS must surely have seen the packets they sell now (even though they're hidden from view in the shops) and can't deny it, but we still do it.

It's not just the 'it'll never happen to me mentality' that keeps many of us at it. Maybe it will, maybe it won't, I hope it doesn't but who knows?

[TTChang]

(gart4571 @ Nov. 07 2007,19:04) At my age (mid-50s), IF I had been smoking many years, I would be bare-backing every ladyboy that I went to bed with.

In which case ..... Off to Nana now  ... here we go, here we go, here we go!  Russian roulette, with the odds in favour of something unpleasant

Maybe not  ... perhaps i will just let the LB do the smoking in my loom?

[stogie bear]

perhaps i will just let the LB do the smoking in my loom?

Just as dangerous at your age, old timer!

[stogie bear]

Top 10 Causes of Death...

Heart disease and stroke were the leading causes of death in 2001, regardless of countries' incomes. However, other leading causes of death differed depending on countries' incomes.

Here is the list for high-income countries:

1 Heart disease
2 Stroke
3 Lung cancer
4 Lower respiratory infections
5 Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
6 Colon and rectum cancers
7 Alzheimer's disease and other dementias
8 Type 2 diabetes
9 Breast cancer
10 Stomach cancer

Here is the list for low- and middle-income countries:

1 Heart disease
2 Stroke
3 Lower respiratory infections
4 HIV/AIDS
5 Fetus/newborn (perinatal) conditions
6 Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
7 Diarrhea
8 Tuberculosis
9 Malaria
10 Road traffic accidents

Yikes... Think I'll just stay at home in a bubble of oxygen!