Calls to ban smoking in condominiums in Thailand

[Knobby37]

I totally agree, but please drop the ban on electronic cigs. I used to be a smoker, I quit years ago thanks to ecigs and I don’t use them anymore either. Wake up Thailand

[from the home of CC]

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

The issue is perhaps not so much about smoking itself, but the sense of entitlement some people express for their rights when totally disregarding the rights of others. 

One of the smartest statements I've read in a while..

imo one of the main causes of strife in our society today - selfishness..

[Trujillo]

Don't you own the condo you buy? 

Can someone tell me not to eat fatty foods in my condo? Or chew tobacco? 

 

Did I miss something? 

[Lacessit]

4 minutes ago, Cake Monster said:

All the Toxic Smoke from the constant Trash burning, and the Crop Burning will do your health more damage than a little second hand Smoke from a cigarette.

These are the real Dangers.

Both will do damage, I'd say there are a lot more clinical studies of the effects of second-hand smoke than there are of SE Asian smoke pollution.

[Andrew65]

4 minutes ago, newnative said:

   As an ex-smoker, I am all for the ban--especially in all public areas and all balconies--where the cigarette smell easily carries to nearby balconies. 

The people smoking on balconies are probably already living in rented condos, where there's always been a smoking ban (in most anyway). A ban in ALL condos would just mean lots more smoking on balconies.

[geisha]

I’m ok with banning smoking in hotels and restaurants, shops .Provide a few chairs and bin for them at a separate area. I would say it should be up to the owner of the condo to ban smoking or not. When you don’t smoke, you can smell stale smoke as soon as you walk in a room. I have a one time friend who smells like an ashtray and I can’t be around him any more. I smoked for 25 years and am so happy I stopped.

[Scouse123]

7 hours ago, quake said:

sorry but you have not quit long enough to start lecturing people.

come back in 5 years time.

 

I quit now 16 years ago. I think if they are referring to public spaces then OK.

 

If you are talking about inside a person's condo eg. Private living space. Then it certainly is not OK.

[metisdead]

A troll post has been removed. 

[Archie Baker]

8 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

I was a smoker for around 35 years, and quit just under three years ago. 

 

Ban smoking in Condos? Hell yes!

 

Ten Reasons to Quit Smoking (in no special order)

 

1. You won't smell anymore. Apologies, but there is no polite way to put it; smokers stink. They smell. They reek. Their breath smells like an ashtray. Their clothes are foul and gross. They leave a putrid miasma in every room they occupy.
2. You will regain your sense of smell and taste. It is truly an amazing thing; I lived and/or visited Thailand for more than 25 years, but after I quit smoking, Thai food became twice as good. Seriously, twice as good!
3. You won't look like a dried-up lizard. Smoking makes your face/skin look old; quitting smoking means putting 'lizard-ness' off for a decade or two.
4. If you quit smoking, you don't have to listen to people like me, your spouse, your kids, your friends and complete strangers telling how smoking is bad for you. Wouldn't it be nice if we all shut up? If you didn't have to hear us?
5. It is easier to pull/keep chicks. Simply put, it is easier to pull and/or keep a hot chick as a non-smoker rather than as a smoker. Nuff' said.
6. You won't get sick as often. Yes, I know, perhaps smoking helps with c-19 and perhaps it doesn't. But, a non-smoker will catch fewer flus, colds, infections, etc. than a smoker; it is a scientific fact.
7. You won't hurt those around you. Second-hand smoke kills about 50,000 people a year and damages the health of many, many, many more; don't you want to stop hurting your wife? Your kids? Your friends? Your neighbours? Strangers on the road?
8. You'll have more breath. Smokers; when was the last time you climbed three flights of stairs without panting or wheezing? Without some shortness of breath? Without stopping for a sec to catch your breath at the top?
9. Money. Cigarettes are expensive and you get nothing (literally nothing) for your money. One example; by quitting when I did, I saved approximately 190,000 Baht. What would you do with an extra 190,000 Baht? Whooo-Hoooo!
10. Impotence. It is a medical fact that smoking reduces the lead in your pencil. Further, it is also medical fact that the more you smoke, the more the lead in your pencil is reduced. Simple question; what's better? Smoking or sex? If you chose sex (and you really should have), then it is time to quit.

 

And a bonus #11; you won't be an addict anymore. Being an addict, whether it is Nicotine, Yaba, Alcohol, Opioids, Meth, Heroin, Crack, or anything else, diminishes a person.

 

If you quit smoking, you'll be a better person to be around, your sensations and pleasures will improve, your health and appearance will be better, you'll do better with the girls, you'll have stamina again, you'll save huge amounts of money, and your sex life will improve.

 

If you keep smoking, your stink will drive people away, you won't enjoy food and drink as much, your health will decline, you will become 'Lizard-like', hot girls will laugh at you and throw rocks, you'll be awful in the sack, you'll be poorer and no woman will want you.

 

Ban smoking everywhere!

 

I was just going to light up till I read this

[Trujillo]

I stopped smoking so I know both sides. However, this isn't really about smoking at all; it's about the freedom to use your own property as you see fit. If there was no written restriction when you signed the papers for the purchase of the condo, and you don't like someone smoking on the balcony near you, you should have not bought a condo. 

That would be like buying a condo next to an MRT line and complaining about the train noise. 

 

If you own the condo, it should be yours to enjoy as you wish, as long as you are not breaking any laws of the country or province. 

As I understood the opening article, this was about health, not about individual rights. And again, not being facetious, can the government stop me in my own condo from eating MacDonald's every day? Or deny me eating high-sugar drinks and junk food any time I want? Those are "not healthy" foods. 

 

If you are doing something that infringes on some other owners' rights inside their dwelling, okay, that's a different matter (like recreational jackhammering at 3am), but otherwise, hands off my personal freedoms in the place that I own outright. 

Edited November 26, 2020 by Trujillo
grammar

[SomchaiCNX]

7 hours ago, ChipButty said:

I have some condo's for rent and it's a no smoking building, it's difficult to stop people from smoking they will find a way, they only thing we can do is we have smoke alarms in the condo which are wired to the security office we have it written in the contract set that off it's a 2000 Baht fine, go outside or go on the roof to have a fag.

Not being racist but I have found the Chinese the worst one time a group of them standing outside the reception on the steps all smoking and they just threw the fag ends on the steps, about 6 meters away is a ash tray bin I told them to pick them up and pointed to the bin, There was about 5 taxi drivers standing there and they all thanked me

Just wanted to tell the same, it only works when you have no Chinese in the airbnb rented rooms. Ans yes, people should be allowed to smoke in their own condo or rented room (if allowed by the landlord).

 

[Badboldie]

7 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

 

Unfortunately you won't see it happening here. hence the reason you still see people smoking in restaurants and toilets at petrol service stations, no one is going to get a fine.

 

I also smoked for about 25 years and quite in the year 2000.

 

Lived in a unit building of 7 units, I was an owner living in the building with 4 other live in owners, 2 were rented and when I returned from a 3 month trip to Thailand, I noticed the foyer was full of cigarette smoke, like a pub was in the old days, there was nowhere for it to escape, the foyer door was closed, I said this is not on, although I let things go for a couple of days then notice new tenants directly below me smoking like chimneys, couldn't even leave my windows of balcony door open, they were chain smokers, real bad, so I jacked up to the other owners with a special meeting made that evening.

 

I got nothing against smokers, I sit next to them at bars, afterall, that is there space too so they have the right to smoke there, it reeks, I duck and weave and move when it really gets up my nose, anyways, all of the live in owners said there is nothing they can do about it as everyone has the right to smoke, I said wrong, when a occupier of another lot (unit) creates a disturbance to another lot (unit) owner then that lot can be issues with a notice to comply, i.e. rectify the disturbance to the lot being disturbed, the other owners basically laughed at my suggestion to issue those tenants with a notice to comply, so I told them that if they didn't agree to me serving the tenant with the notice then I would take the matter to the CCT Consumer Claims Tribunal, which I did, knock, knock, knock and the door, I opened it and the secretary of the owners corporation was in a huff providing me with a letter to her stating that if the owners corporation (we managed our strata, no agent), the letter from the CCT stated that if the notice to comply was not issued under section 2 of the Strata Schemes Act within 7 days of the date on the letter then they would be fined $5,000 per day, then she asked me how she could issue them with the notice, I said your problem now, sort it and closed the door.

 

While I appreciate everyone has a right to smoke, so does everyone else have the right not to breath in their smoke if it is entering their home, suffice to say since then legislation has been passed allowing unit buildings to go smoke free provided 50% of owners agree, so now when purchasing a unit you can check the by-laws to see if it's a smoke free building, that was both sides can pick the building of their choices, smokers building or smoke free building. 

What country was this in? 

[Sambotte]

How stupid is this world... I mean the world, it came from USA if i do remember.

 

Smokers are like a smoking tree, when there is a forest burning behind !

Pollution, land and forest fires, chemicals, etc.

 

But easy for people to target scapegoat, easy to forbid smoking, and to not deal with the serious problem. Cars, truck, songtaw, can smoke, nobody complain...

Climate warming : some people still deny it.

 

But yeap, hunt the smokers, sure...

 

[Walter Travolta]

Must mean covid is coming to an end

[richard_smith237]

59 minutes ago, Andrew65 said:

If the inside of the restaurant is non-smoking, and smoking is a big deal for you, why not sit inside the restaurant?

About 2 or 3 years ago I was sat outside a bar/restaurant (Hooters) in Bangkok smoking and drinking in the designated smoking area. A guy turned around and asked me if I could go somewhere else, which I refused, it was a designated smoking area and he could easily go inside, he wasn't eating either.

(I gave up smoking 5 months ago, after 45 years as a smoker).

 

It was one of those ‘cool periods’ Bangkok enjoys for two weeks of the year, thats why we were outside. But thats somewhat beside the point which is: a smoker was completely oblivious to the selfishness and antisocial nature of her actions.

Had they sat a few tables away there would have been no issue, but she sat 1m away from my Son in his pushchair, looked at him, then lit a cigarette, the smoke blew into the pram and she made no attempt to stop it. 

At that point, I had a few words with her and we moved inside.

 

Given your example, you are in a bar in an ‘adult area’ you have a reasonable right to be smoking there if you want to, the other guy was clearly ‘over reacting’ - this is another issue. 

 

Some non-smokers over react at the slightest hint of cigarette smoke which dilutes the genuine complaints when smokers are truly ignorant, self centred and selfish. 

 

 

 

 

[kcpattaya]

Haha.... The utter nonsense!

Better stop alcohol: Lesser jumpers.

[kentrot]

1204 surveyed, 86 smoke on balconies. I can tell you from personal experience that your effort to smoke outside your apartment (on your balcony) causes your smoke to drifts up and into all of the other apartments. It is foul and offensive. Better that you stay indoors and close all your doors and windows and pollute just yourself and your family !

 

It's like a swimming pool of 1204 people. But 86 urinate in the water and we are all supposed to be happy with that ?

 

It is a terrible addictive substance. Quitting smoking was one of the hardest things I ever did. So I appreciate how powerful the addiction  is for smokers. But it is time to do what is right for the majority and yourselves. 

[richard_smith237]

42 minutes ago, Trujillo said:

Don't you own the condo you buy? 

Can someone tell me not to eat fatty foods in my condo? Or chew tobacco? 

 

Did I miss something? 

 

Yes... you missed the 'whole boat’.. completely missed the point of the issue at hand. 

 

You have missed the part where smoke impacts ‘others’...   

 

No one cares if you chew tobacco if you don’t spit onto your neighbours balcony.... 

No one cares if you eat fatty food.

[Walter Travolta]

2 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

It was one of those ‘cool periods’ Bangkok enjoys for two weeks of the year, thats why we were outside. But thats somewhat beside the point which is: a smoker was completely oblivious to the selfishness and antisocial nature of her actions.

Had they sat a few tables away there would have been no issue, but she sat 1m away from my Son in his pushchair, looked at him, then lit a cigarette, the smoke blew into the pram and she made no attempt to stop it. 

At that point, I had a few words with her and we moved inside.

 

Given your example, you are in a bar in an ‘adult area’ you have a reasonable right to be smoking there if you want to, the other guy was clearly ‘over reacting’ - this is another issue. 

 

Some non-smokers over react at the slightest hint of cigarette smoke which dilutes the genuine complaints when smokers are truly ignorant, self centred and selfish. 

 

 

 

 

I cant see whats self centred and ignorant about someone smoking in a designated smoking area!!?? What I do find ignorant is some Hampton sitting in a smoking area, with a baby, IN A PUB, thinking they are in the right. 
Think you need to learn what designated means. 

[Cranky]

8 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

And the worst case are obviously the ex-smokers. 

Get a life!

I gave up too. Guess what? Nobody cares.  To be honest I keep quiet about it as it would only highlight I was a spineless moron for 30 years. 

[Spock]

Reading threads like this convinces me that I never again want to make Thailand my home. I smoked for 40 years and quit in 2011, but I have never developed the kind of intolerance of smokers and smoking expressed by so many people here. I lived in Thailand for a number of years, and a large part of the country's appeal was its lack of regulations compared to western countries, particularly my home country Australia.

 

Now it seems the Thais are actually trying to oudo their western counterparts with the crackdown on alcohol and cigarettes. Last year I stayed in a B&B in the Lumpini apartment city in Rangsit and could not buy alcohol at the 2 7/11 stores in the complex because alcohol sales were banned.. Similarly, you could not smoke in the apartment complex, not in your own apartment, your balcony or the vast grass spaces between the buildings. Anyone living in an apartment in Australia would not be confronted with such ridiculously puritanical restrictions.

 

To all those expats who want condos to ban smoking even for owner occupiers, may I suggest you return to your home countries if you want to have life regulated by legislation to the point where people who wish to smoke or drink in their own homes are forbidden to do so. For God's sake get a life and allow others to have one too! A bit of stray smoke is not going to do you any harm.

 

Thankfully there are still countries like Cambodia which have far less draconian rules and regulations than Thailand. The same people whinging about a bit of stray smoke are quite happy to risk their lives on roads which have the 2nd highest death rate in the world. What a bunch of wowsers so many modern expats have become!

Edited November 26, 2020 by Spock

[CharlieH]

Post removed and response.

 

Please do not get personal in your remarks, keep it civil.

[ukrules]

8 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

you don't have to listen to people like me,

I'll stop you there......

[richard_smith237]

28 minutes ago, DaiHard said:

What about durian or some types of stinking fish?

 

IF it impacts other people in the Condo they too should be banned. 

 

I’ve no issues with people smoking and like that people have freedoms to do what they want. But, those freedoms ‘should’ come with the responsibility not to impact, harm or disturb others. That responsibility surely includes excessively stinky foods and stinky cooking, excessive noise when living in a condo... 

 

I’ll have to write it again: People are focusing on their rights to smoke freely in their own Condo with complete ignorance towards the rights of neighbours not to be impacted by such. 

 

Years ago I lived in a Condo and the guy in the next room would pop out on the balcony and have a cigarette. If I was on the balcony when he smoked, or if my balcony doors were open I could smell it. But it was mild and it never bothered me, it was just a couple of times per evening. I’m not bothered by smokers now when in a pub or bar if efforts are made to remain considerate. 

 

But, if that person was a chain smoker and smoke was entering the corridors, or kept wafting through to my unit in annoying amounts I would feel aggrieved. 

 

I know a few smokers - when we are in a restaurant with outdoor seating with kids around etc the ’smokers’ always get up and move out of the way when smoking, they make sure smoke doesn’t blow in the direction of the kids or others at the table. 

Once the kids have been taken home etc, the smokers still make effort not to allow their smoke to blow into the faces of those others at the table. We can still smell the smoke, but it's not a big deal - the smoker is considerate and I respect that. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Dionigi]

Exactly how many children/1000 die from chewing things that have been bathed in cigarette smoke. Chewing cigarettes maybe but I need to see some evidence for the other statement.

[natway09]

Over the top I think.

I am a smoker of 55 years & I never smoke inside.

On my balcony I am affecting nobody & I am the only one for 4 or 5 condos away that even has the door open.

The disposal of the butts I agree is atrocious by many.& am appalled by smokers just dropping & stubbing out anywhere, Funny enough it is Asian people including Thais who do it most in our building

 

[stuandjulie]

9 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

I was a smoker for around 35 years, and quit just under three years ago. 

 

Ban smoking in Condos? Hell yes!

 

Ten Reasons to Quit Smoking (in no special order)

 

1. You won't smell anymore. Apologies, but there is no polite way to put it; smokers stink. They smell. They reek. Their breath smells like an ashtray. Their clothes are foul and gross. They leave a putrid miasma in every room they occupy.
2. You will regain your sense of smell and taste. It is truly an amazing thing; I lived and/or visited Thailand for more than 25 years, but after I quit smoking, Thai food became twice as good. Seriously, twice as good!
3. You won't look like a dried-up lizard. Smoking makes your face/skin look old; quitting smoking means putting 'lizard-ness' off for a decade or two.
4. If you quit smoking, you don't have to listen to people like me, your spouse, your kids, your friends and complete strangers telling how smoking is bad for you. Wouldn't it be nice if we all shut up? If you didn't have to hear us?
5. It is easier to pull/keep chicks. Simply put, it is easier to pull and/or keep a hot chick as a non-smoker rather than as a smoker. Nuff' said.
6. You won't get sick as often. Yes, I know, perhaps smoking helps with c-19 and perhaps it doesn't. But, a non-smoker will catch fewer flus, colds, infections, etc. than a smoker; it is a scientific fact.
7. You won't hurt those around you. Second-hand smoke kills about 50,000 people a year and damages the health of many, many, many more; don't you want to stop hurting your wife? Your kids? Your friends? Your neighbours? Strangers on the road?
8. You'll have more breath. Smokers; when was the last time you climbed three flights of stairs without panting or wheezing? Without some shortness of breath? Without stopping for a sec to catch your breath at the top?
9. Money. Cigarettes are expensive and you get nothing (literally nothing) for your money. One example; by quitting when I did, I saved approximately 190,000 Baht. What would you do with an extra 190,000 Baht? Whooo-Hoooo!
10. Impotence. It is a medical fact that smoking reduces the lead in your pencil. Further, it is also medical fact that the more you smoke, the more the lead in your pencil is reduced. Simple question; what's better? Smoking or sex? If you chose sex (and you really should have), then it is time to quit.

 

And a bonus #11; you won't be an addict anymore. Being an addict, whether it is Nicotine, Yaba, Alcohol, Opioids, Meth, Heroin, Crack, or anything else, diminishes a person.

 

If you quit smoking, you'll be a better person to be around, your sensations and pleasures will improve, your health and appearance will be better, you'll do better with the girls, you'll have stamina again, you'll save huge amounts of money, and your sex life will improve.

 

If you keep smoking, your stink will drive people away, you won't enjoy food and drink as much, your health will decline, you will become 'Lizard-like', hot girls will laugh at you and throw rocks, you'll be awful in the sack, you'll be poorer and no woman will want you.

 

Ban smoking everywhere!

 

 

I gave up 2 years ago after 40 years, believe me mate there is nothing worse than reformed smokers like you, you gave up for you and good on you, don't preach to others.

[b2bme]

8 hours ago, ChipButty said:

I have some condo's for rent and it's a no smoking building, it's difficult to stop people from smoking they will find a way, they only thing we can do is we have smoke alarms in the condo which are wired to the security office we have it written in the contract set that off it's a 2000 Baht fine, go outside or go on the roof to have a fag.

Not being racist but I have found the Chinese the worst one time a group of them standing outside the reception on the steps all smoking and they just threw the fag ends on the steps, about 6 meters away is a ash tray bin I told them to pick them up and pointed to the bin, There was about 5 taxi drivers standing there and they all thanked me

I know where you are coming from. I was glad to get out of my Condo in BKK Sukhumvit 11 some years back. The place was becoming a haven for short stay Chinese tourists and they would smoke in the lifts, corridors,  pool area, and they would flick butts off the balcony. Just one of their disgusting habits. Don't get me started about the noise and rubbish they left around. Weak condo management were no help.

I think people who own apartments in condos should have the right to do what they want but then again their actions affect others. I've lived in condos in Singapore where quite often the fire alarm was going off caused by smokers dropping their butts in the garbage chutes. This results in all lifts becoming inoperable until fire dept resets alarm panel. Not great when on the 28th floor.

I recall some condo or hotel fire caused by someone smoking in bed. Was it Pattaya? I've been on a ship with a fire in a cabin caused by someone smoking in bed who fell asleep.

Many smokers are considerate to others but many aren't and I guess these are the ones to blame for these draconian measures. 

[bristolgeoff]

if you rent or own it,it is your private space.public area u may have a case.the balcony is a private area too.just leave it alone,u want to smoke in your apt ok

[Cranky]

I recall the time the smoking in bars ban was announced and all us smokers having a good laugh at it. And the airlines. And all the other places. And the gross pictures appearing on fag packets. And the Sukhumvit Road ‘Butt Patrol’. And hiding the fags in 711s. 
 

Not one, but all these things combined, helped me, and all my friends, kick the evil weed so thank you Thailand.