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News analysis |
ThaiHealth, Bangkok, Thailand;slhamann@hotmail.com
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
In November 2004, Thailand became the 36th country to ratify the WHO FCTC. Less than a month later, Thais were warned that smoking among young people is becoming a growing problem that has far reaching consequences. King Bhumipol Adulyadet, in his regular birthday address and audience stated, "...youth smoke more than in the past, especially women....smoking causes damage to many parts of the body: ears, eyes, brain and heart....smoking can shorten your life a lot."
The king is highly revered by Thais, and his address has resulted in a number of new actions and tobacco control policies. The actions include banning smoking in public parks, making the possession by minors of tobacco products illegal, and the introduction of new picture pack warnings covering the upper 50% of both large faces of cigarette packs (see Tobacco Control 2005;14:149). In addition, the point of purchase advertising ban is
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