Thailand Bans Smoking on Beaches
Smoking will be prohibited on Thailand’s beaches starting from November, according to the Phuket Gazette.
The Director General of the Marine and Coastal Department announced that the decision came after a cleanup operation on Phuket’s Patong beach found a large amount of discarded cigarette butts.
“After collecting trash from Patong Beach, we found that there is an average of 0.76 cigarette per square metre, with a total 101,058 collected so far. This is a serious problem”, he said.
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Smoking on beaches has actually been illegal for two years under the Act on the Promotion of Marine and Coastal Resources Management 2015, but until now, this law hasn’t been enforced.
Smoking on offshore boats is also prohibited under this law, and the maximum punishment for offenders will be a fine of up to 100,000 baht and/or a prison sentence of up to one year.
Greenpeace Thailand’s Heart for the Ocean
Earlier this year, Greenpeace Southeast Asia organized a waste to art gallery called “Heart for the Ocean” to bring awareness to the dangerous impacts of littering on beaches. See the video below for Thai Law Forum’s interview with the organizers.
Read the full story here
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Image: Shannon Holman
