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Original research
Successful countering of tobacco industry efforts to overturn Thailand's ENDS ban
  1. Roengrudee Patanavanich1,2,
  2. Stanton Glantz1
  1. 1 Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA
  2. 2 Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
  1. Correspondence to Professor Stanton Glantz, Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143-1390, USA; Stanton.Glantz{at}sonic.net

Abstract

Background After Thailand enacted laws to ban the import and sale of all types of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS, including e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products (HTPs)) in 2015, pro-ENDS advocacy groups pressured the government to lift the ban, particularly after Philip Morris International (PMI) started promoting its HTP IQOS in 2017.

Methods We reviewed information related to ENDS in Thailand between 2014 and 2019 from Thai newspaper articles, meeting minutes and letters submitted to government agencies, websites and social media platforms of pro-ENDS networks and Thai tobacco control organisations.

Results The tobacco industry and the pro-ENDS groups used five tactics to try to reverse the Thai ban on ENDS: creating front groups, lobbying decision-makers, running public relations campaigns, seeking to discredit tobacco control advocates and funding pro-tobacco harm reduction research. ENDS Cigarette Smoking Thailand (ECST), a pro-ENDS group in Thailand, worked in parallel to Philip Morris Thailand Limited (PMTL) to oppose the ban. The group connected with international coalitions that promote harm reduction through the PMI-funded Foundation for a Smoke-Free World.

Conclusion Although ECST and PMTL continuously worked to revoke the ban since 2017, the government still kept ENDS illegal as of October 2020. This decision resulted from the strong commitment and collaboration among Thai tobacco control organisations and their shared vision to protect the public’s health from harmful tobacco products. The similar strategies used by the pro-ENDS movement in Thailand and the tobacco companies could inform health advocates and policy-makers in other low and middle income countries facing pressure to market ENDS.

  • advocacy
  • electronic nicotine delivery devices
  • globalisation
  • low/middle income country
  • tobacco industry

Data availability statement

All data relevant to the study are included in the article or uploaded as supplementary information. All data used to prepare this paper are available from the cited sources.

https://doi.org/10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2020-056058

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    Data availability statement

    All data relevant to the study are included in the article or uploaded as supplementary information. All data used to prepare this paper are available from the cited sources.

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    Footnotes

    • Twitter @ProfGlantz

    • Correction notice This article has been corrected since its publication with several preference of wording changes to ensure the message of the article is clear. The authors would like to clarify that this article does not identify a direct or other formal relationship between ECST and PMTL.

    • Contributors RP developed the idea for the study, collected the data and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. SG assisted with revising and refining the manuscript.

    • Funding This work was supported by National Cancer Institute grant CA-087472 and the Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Thailand. The funding agencies played no role in study design; collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; writing the report; or the decision to submit for publication.

    • Competing interests RP was a deputy director of Tobacco Control Research and Knowledge Management Center from September 2018 to April 2019 and worked for Thai Health Promotion Foundation from September 2015 to April 2017.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

    • Supplemental material This content has been supplied by the author(s). It has not been vetted by BMJ Publishing Group Limited (BMJ) and may not have been peer-reviewed. Any opinions or recommendations discussed are solely those of the author(s) and are not endorsed by BMJ. BMJ disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on the content. Where the content includes any translated material, BMJ does not warrant the accuracy and reliability of the translations (including but not limited to local regulations, clinical guidelines, terminology, drug names and drug dosages), and is not responsible for any error and/or omissions arising from translation and adaptation or otherwise.