BANGKOK, May 31 – Half of the smokers responding to a Thailand poll this week were determined to stop smoking on World No Tobacco Day today, according to an ABAC poll conducted May 28-30 among 2,036 people aged over 18 years old in 17 provinces.
Puntharee Israngkul Na Ayudthaya, assistant director of the ABAC Poll Research Centre, said one in every three respondents– 33.7 per cent–knew about World No Tobacco Day while 66.3 per cent said they did not know.
Slightly more than half — 51.7 per cent– who are smokers said that they will stop smoking today and about 13.8 per cent are intent to quit smoking.
Moreover, 90 per cent said they would be disappointed if their children or their grandchildren smoke.
Interestingly, 60.5 per cent said friends have influence on the decision to smoke while 13.6 per cent and 10.3 per cent said environment and media have respectively. Moreover, 58.5 per cent said they witnessed selling cigarettes to teenagers aged below 18 years old.
About 37.6 per cent of respondents saw tobacco advertisement be revealed openly at shops or in the community areas.
Convenience stores and retail shops are places where smokers can access cigarettes most easily. (MCOT online news)
