Thai beaches banning smoking in an effort to reduce pollution

I was a smoker at one point in my life but I was a very polite smoker. I was not the kind of person to ever simply chuck the ciggy on the ground when I was done with it but I have seen a lot of people do this. In Thailand this is very common and I think these days, with the world considerably more concerned with environmentalism than it was when I was young, that it is just a really selfish thing for someone to do.

Beaches in Thailand are relatively clean but a lot of this is because the areas are cleaned up by paid individuals or resorts. People still leave garbage behind and as someone that has been scuba diving off both coasts of this country I can tell you from my own eyes that there is a lot of garbage in the sea.

So this ban on smoking on beaches is something that I support but I don't think it really addresses a real problem. I think it is more of a money-making scheme on the part of the Thai authorities.

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From what i have heard this ban went into effect recently at 24 of the most popular beaches and according to signs and reports I have heard the fines for breaking this rule is up to 100,000 Baht (around $3000) or up to 1 year in jail. I honestly don't think that either of these things are ever going to happen to anyone and what will more likely happen is that some official is going to shake people down for much smaller numbers. This is quite common in Thailand actually and I have seen it "enforced" on anything from weed possession (before it was legal in Thailand), driving without a helmet, or even drink-driving. The cops will issue as much smaller fine, almost certainly pocket the money, and then be on their way.

Corruption aside, I do think that banning smoking on the beaches is a good idea because what are the people going to do with the butts when they are finished? If it was me, I would stub it out or put it in an empty can that I brought with me, but not everyone is like this.

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I would prefer if they wouldn't just pick on the smokers though. It is extremely common to see a bunch of people on the beach having a picnic of sorts and when they leave they just leave a bunch of garbage behind. This isn't just foreigners either, most of the time when I see it done it is actually Thai people that are guilty of this. Also, of the creators of these new rules are serious about keeping the beaches clean, they need to provide more trash cans / bins for the public to use and maybe take it a step further and actually empty them once they are full. This was a big problem when I was in Ao Nang in Krabi recently. There weren't many bins available anywhere and the ones they did have were overflowing with trash - then the wind would come by and simply blow the excess back onto the beach anyway.

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The above image is not from Thailand, but just imagine that it is. I am sure there are other beaches all around the world where littering is illegal (as it should be) but the people who will so readily hand out fines are not providing you anywhere to put your garbage. This street needs to run both ways.

Also, as far as smokers are concerned, the beach should provide designated areas for them near or just off the beach where they can smoke with some sort of device that they can dispose of the butts into.

In the end I think that this rule is a good one, because now that i am a non smoker simply the smell of ciggy smoke irritates me and it isn't really fair to disturb all the other people on the beach just because you have a bad habit. However, I hope that they take this rule and make it something that is actually possible to adhere to and also apply it to things like plastic bottles or just garbage in general. I also hope it is actually enforced. Thailand has a wonderful reputation for putting up signs but then never actually enforcing what it says on that sign.