It’s illegal, I know that, but the net seems to have conflicting info, from people who took e cigs and had no problem to people being thrown into prison.
Any experience here from people who have actually visited Thailand and taken e cigs?
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By *ait88Man
over a year ago
Plymouth |
Its like booze in Saudi. Just be sensible - don't do it in public.
In reality, you will rarely see a policeman, and if one sees you, he will probably not recognise what you are doing. Bars and restaurants that allow smoking will not call the police to arrest a vaping customer.
If you are arrested it will cost you time and money to get free, but you won't be banged-up in the Bangkok Hilton for life.
The law is primarily aimed at sellers. You can't buy vaping stuff in your local Seven Eleven. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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We went to Thailand last summer and I (Mr) brought my e-cig with me. I had no problem bringing it into the country, security didn't look twice at it. However unlike you it never occurred to me to check the laws on it! It was only when we landed and were in Chiang Mai a couple of days that it occurred to me I hadn't seen anyone else vaping so I said I better check the laws. After realising that it's technically illegal I decided to throw it away before getting on our next flight down to Bangkok. I ended up buying a pack of smokes for the remainder of the holiday. I probably would have been fine with the e-cig but I said I wouldn't bother taking the risk. I bought a new one when we got home and I haven't smoked a cigarette since. I only used it discreetly or in our hotel room when we were in Chiang Mai.
I personally don't think you'll have an issue so long as you're discreet but I suppose there's always the risk you could encounter a cop with a stick up his ass. I decided it wasn't worth the risk but ultimately it's your decision. Sorry I can't give you a more definitive answer but it seems to be a gray area. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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We are just back from pattaya ...there for 2 weeks plenty of people vaping in bars also aa waking along .
Smoking is banned on the beaches so smokers given an area at back of the beach to smoke and plenty of people vaping there |
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Be extremely careful. My friend was fined 30,000 baht for using his in the LK Metro area as was spotted by a policeman. Have also heard of people getting put into jail if they don’t have money for the fine. |
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By *ait88Man
over a year ago
Plymouth |
"Be extremely careful. My friend was fined 30,000 baht for using his in the LK Metro area as was spotted by a policeman. Have also heard of people getting put into jail if they don’t have money for the fine. "
This is typical of the problems that us westerners face in different cultures.
Three Christmases ago I was stopped by the community police for throwing away a dog-end on Sukhumvit. It didn’t have a filter tip and was all steadily burning away to ash. They asked me for a fine of 24,000 baht (about 500 quid). And they saw that I was carrying 100,000 baht in a pouch around my neck, which I had just changed from sterling to pay hospital bills next morning. After a very short period of negotiation, they accepted all of the cash I had in my pockets – less than 1,000 baht (£20). I had another 4,000 baht down my socks, as usual, but I didn’t mention them, of course.
The whole thing was a moneymaking scam to tide the men over until their month-end payday. There are no places to dispose of fag ends or litter along the whole length of the road. It is all swept-up in the early hours of every morning.
Your average Bangkok cop only gets about B1,500 (£35) a week and has to buy his own gun, so all contributions are greatly appreciated. Bargaining over fines is expected – custom and practise. But of course, we don’t realise this because it’s foreign to us.
Thais regard fines levied by the community police for trivial offences as a bit of fun, and an opportunity to show their appreciation for the work done by the police. They are far more involved with the community than ours are. They help people solve all sorts of problems that are in no way connected to the legal system.
Travel broadens the mind.
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