Thailand imposes significant fines on e-cigarette importers to reduce sales.
Thailand's Customs Department levied a heavy charge on e-cigarette imports, demanding double the item's
Thailand imposes significant fines on e-cigarette importers to reduce sales.
Image courtesy of Racool_studio, Freepik Thailand's Customs Department levied a heavy charge on e-cigarette imports, demanding double the item's worth plus tax in an attempt to control rising sales among the public, particularly teenagers.
Panthong Loykulnan, the spokesperson for the department, announced yesterday that importers of e-cigarettes, barakus, shishas, and e-barakus will be mandated to pay a fine equivalent to twice the cost of the product, customs tax, and VAT. All confiscated items will be treated similarly to other goods with import restrictions, such as liquor, cigarettes, garlic, onions, shallots, and goods that infringe copyright laws.
According to Panthong, this stringent measure is a response to the swift proliferation of e-cigarettes among teenagers and students.
This week, two e-cigarette related cases were reported in Sisaket and Rayong. In Sisaket, district chief Kom Sangwong led a team to raid a city municipality shop, Monkey Tattoo, following a tip-off about illegal e-cigarette sales. As a result, the police seized 4,300 pieces of e-cigarette paraphernalia, such as liquids and mouthpieces, and 8,595 baht (US$234) in cash.
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