The 13th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health

Purpose: To illustrate the regulatory steps Thailand has taken to control tobacco products and point to future challenges and next steps.

The 1992 Tobacco Product Control Act included many important provisions on ingredient disclosure, health warning labels and sales and promotion of tobacco products. Thailand has succeeded in banning all tobacco advertising, including at point of sale, has picture pack warning labels and has steadily increased the price of tobacco products. These initiatives have resulted in recent sharp declines in the sale of manufactured tobacco products.

Yet, much remains to be achieved since ingredient disclosure was circumvented by tobacco industry efforts and the industry has used regional trade agreements and the introduction of cheaper brands to offset regulatory efforts. In this climate, both foreign and Thai tobacco companies are becoming more difficult to regulate.