Today marks World No Tobacco Day, with the World Health Organization (WHO) announcing this year's theme as "Unmasking the appeal – countering nicotine and tobacco addiction". The theme highlights the WHO's efforts to expose how the tobacco and nicotine industry continues to reinvent and repackage its products to hook a new generation, particularly children.
The World No Tobacco Day campaign in Thailand is also gaining momentum. Earlier this week, an anti-smoking group called "NoNoGang" -- an alliance of university dental students nationwide -- submitted a petition to Public Health Minister Pattana Promphat, asking the ministry to pass legislation that will ban future generations from ever purchasing nicotine products.
Known as the "nicotine‑free generation law" -- or smoke‑free generation law -- the legislation would permanently ban people born after a certain year from legally buying tobacco or nicotine products, including cigarettes and vapes. Even when they turn 30, 40, or older, the ban would still apply. Such laws have already been implemented in the UK and the Maldives.
The call for a nicotine-free generation law reflects a rise in young smokers and the surging popularity of e-cigarettes, which remain illicit products in Thailand. Although conventional cigarettes are legally available, Thailand is one of 40 countries that have banned e-cigarettes, with the Prayut Chan-o-cha government introducing the ban in 2014.
However, the ban does not seem to be working. A survey released this week by the Health Systems Research Institute (HSRI) and the Thai Health Promotion Foundation (ThaiHealth) shows that 60,000 children aged 10–14 nationwide are using e-cigarettes. Some respondents reported first trying vaping as early as seven years old, while the average starting age was 11–12.
The rise of e-cigarettes is a global trend. According to WHO findings from 2024, the younger generation and children are using e-cigarettes at higher rates than adults globally across all regions.
This year, at least 40 million children aged 13–15 globally report using at least one tobacco product. Of these, 20 million smoke cigarettes and 10 million use smokeless oral or nasal tobacco. Furthermore, at least 15 million adolescents aged 13–15 are already using e-cigarettes. In countries where data is available, children are on average nine times more likely to vape than adults.
In Thailand, students can easily buy "toy pods", which are reportedly sold for as little as 99 baht apiece at street stalls. These toy pods are designed to look cute, and vape juices are available in candy and other appealing flavours.
The problem is not limited to toy pods. Drug dealers are also selling homemade liquids mixed with illicit additives such as cannabis extracts or ketamine. In December last year, Narcotics Suppression Bureau (NSB) officers arrested Chinese suspects at rented houses in Bangkok and Chon Buri province, confiscating caches of "Zombie Pods" worth 10 million baht, along with etomidate, an anaesthetic used to enhance intoxication.
The Anutin Charnvirakul government must take a more serious approach to tackling e-cigarettes. A special task force should be established to handle e-cigarette issues specifically in schools. Needless to say, the Ministry of Education and the Consumer Protection Board must be roped into a public education campaign to provide society with balanced, high-quality information.
A survey by Mahidol University's Faculty of Medicine released last year found that one-third of young users believe claims -- often amplified by tobacco-industry lobbying -- that e-cigarettes are healthier than traditional cigarettes. Many adults also use e-cigarettes as an alternative to smoking. The government should present society with data from the WHO and medical communities, which have warned that recent research links vape liquids to cardiovascular risks and ischaemic strokes -- findings that have not been widely brought into the public domain.
A broader question is what policy path the government will choose. Some lawmakers, e-cigarette supporters and lobbyists have encouraged the government to legalise the products, hoping this will open doors for regulation and wipe out the black market. Such a liberal approach is realistic and deserves debate. Similarly, the call for a nicotine-free generation law by anti-smoking advocates is an interesting idea that warrants discussion.
Yet feel-good laws are not enough. The government needs to double down on efforts to tackle the black market first and foremost. The first step must be eradicating unscrupulous officials who help the black market proliferate. Without their collusion, illicit toy pods would not find their way into students' hands.
