PRESS RELEASE:
Puangpet Chunlaiad, Minister attached to the Office of the Prime Minister, on Thursday led the crackdown on the sale of electronic cigarettes in Khlong Thom area of Pom Prap Sattru Phai district in Bangkok.
The move was prompted by public complaints through the Office of the Consumer Protection Board (OCPB) about clandestine shops selling cheap electronic cigarettes and e-liquids. The accessibility of these e-cigarettes could lead to an addiction among children.
The operation resulted in the seizure and arrest of illegal electronic cigarette vendors at 2 locations, valued at 2 million baht in the afternoon. Later in the evening, the Minister attached to the Office of the Prime Minister personally visited the area along with teams of officials from the OCPB, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), and the Department of Disease Control, managing to seize goods from 7 more shops involved in the illicit sale of electronic cigarettes, with an estimated value of 3 million baht. Overall, the day’s efforts resulted in the confiscation of goods totaling more than 5 million baht.
Minister Puangpet stated that Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin is concerned about the situation of illegal electronic cigarette sales, which, besides being hazardous to health, could also influence and corrupt children and youth. She added that there would be an acceleration of efforts to monitor and expand operations in many areas to eradicate electronic cigarettes.
Simultaneously, discussions will be held with the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society to find ways to block the online sale of electronic cigarettes. People are urged to report illegal electronic cigarette sales through various channels. These include the OCPB hotline 1166, the website “ocpb.go.th”, the OCPB Connect application, the Damrongtham (ดำรงค์ธรรม) centers in every province, and the Traffy Fondue by the BMA.
