ANGKOK, 9th November 2018 (NNT) – A new declaration has mandated that those found smoking within five meters of a no smoking sign will now be subject to at least a 5,000 baht fine. 

The Ministry of Public Health guidelines on demarcating no smoking areas have been promulgated in the Royal Gazette.

The fifth point in the guide states that no smoking signs must be posted in accordance with ministry regulations and that the areas surrounding such signs in all directions will be considered off limits to smoking.

Signs are only permitted away from doors, windows, entrances and exits, pipes and ventilation openings and must clearly state in Thai and English that smoking is not permitted within five meters.

Deputy Director-General of the Disease Control Department Dr. Kajornsak Kaeojaras explained today that the new guidelines are more flexible in terms of design but mandate that no smoking signs must be able to accommodate a circular logo of no less than 10 centimeters in diameter. The logo may depict the provincial slogan or other such messages.

The new five meter stipulation is in response to complaints that while many public areas have no smoking signs, smokers have been engaging in the behavior just outside the immediate areas, such as in front of schools and temples.

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A Bangkok man relieving himself yesterday at his Lat Prao home felt something bite him.

He was horrified when he put his hand under his body and realized that it was a large python.

Anyawut Phoamphai got the help of a friend who took him to a clinic then he was transferred to a hospital.  Despite a serious wound to his undercarriage he was allowed home after getting 15 stitches.

Daily News reported that the python – returned to nature by the snake catchers at Ruam Katanyu foundation – had bitten Anyawaut on the testicles.  “I was doing my business when I felt a nip,” Anyawut told Thai Rath in a video. “I grabbed the snake by the neck – it was huge”.

The incident happened in Lat Prao Soi 84 in northern Bangkok and was reported to the world via the “Nakorn 45” page on Facebook.

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Thai roads need central barriers to minimise impacts from road accidents, experts have told a seminar.

Witthaya Chartbanchachai, head of an accident-prevention centre working with the World Health Organisation (WHO), said the issue was discussed during the 13th World Conference on Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion 2018 (SAFETY 2018) in Bangkok. The conference started on Monday and is scheduled to end Wednesday.

The seminar was told that the condition of roads was a major factor contributing to the seriousness of accidents in Thailand, whose roads are among the most dangerous in the world. Experts said the government needs to improve the roads to tackle the issue.

Witthaya said most Thai roads lack central barriers, guard rails or guard slings. This means that when a vehicle has an accident, it tends to career into the opposite lane, resulting in a serious and often fatal collision.

He noted that while motorways do have central barriers, on most highways there is no barrier to separate fast-moving traffic in opposite lanes.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30358063

Thailand’s New Year gift to foreign tourists

The Cabinet is today considering a proposal from the Immigration Department to waive visa on arrival fees for tourists from 21 countries, including China, Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak said.

If approved, the tourists will enjoy free visa on arrival from this month until December. Somkid did not name any of the countries other than China. Somkid said the measure is aimed at boosting visits of foreign tourists during the remaining two months of this year.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30357987

A NEW REGULATION will ban the sale of cigarettes and tobacco at all prisons across the country to reduce the number of inmates falling sick or dying from respiratory diseases, Corrections Department director-general |Pol Colonel Narat Savettanan said.

Narat said the regulation banning the sale of cigarettes and tobacco, which will be implemented at a later unspecified date, was required because prisons were regarded as state facilities and hence came within the ambit of the smoking ban. Once sent to jail, an inmate can use this as an opportunity to quit smoking and do other useful activities such as disciplinary training, vocational skill training or practising meditation, he said.

The plan follows the successful pilot project that banned the sale of such products at 13 prisons: Amnat Charoen, Chon Buri, Chanthaburi, Thanyaburi, Pathum Thani Provincial Special Offenders Institution, Thonburi Women’s Correctional Institution, Sikhiu, Pathum Thani Correctional Institution for Young Offenders, Women’s Correctional Institution for Drug Addicted Prisoners, Songkhla Female Prison, Phitsanulok Female Prison, Chiang Rai and Maha Sarakham.

Narat said the ban had led to fewer inmates suffering from respiratory diseases and the eradication of a factor that was a threat to inmates already suffering from chronic illness such as high-blood pressure, and stroke, which could be worsened by being in a smoke-filled environment.

Prisons nationwide were said to have a higher ratio of smokers compared to other sites and secondhand smoke also posed harm to the health of non-smoking inmates and wardens.

He said prisons had since 2008 arranged cells as no-smoking zones and set up smoking areas outside the building.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30357934