Police hit vape shops eyeing students

Police hit vape shops eyeing students

Police hit vape shops eyeing students
In a police attack on five stores close to universities and localities in Bangkok on Friday, some e-cigarettes were seized. ( Photo supplied/Wassayos Ngamkham )

Authorities in Bangkok have seize 10,000 e-cigarettes for three million baht after conducting a search of five e-cigarette stores close to universities and community centers.

Prime Minister’s Office Minister Puangpet Chunlaiad on Friday   worked with Lat Phrao police station officers and the Office of the Consumer Protection Board ( OCPB) to raid the five stores in Lat Phrao and Ramkhamhaeng.

A full of 10,000 different kinds of e-cigarettes, including regular-shaped e-cigarettes and toys seeds, which are nicotine smoking products that resemble cartoon figurines, were seized, worth a total of 3 million baht.

In the vicinity of a renowned personal school, Soi Lat Phrao 107, which is the largest of the raided retailers, is located.

The factory was run by two people, aged 22 and 23. They asserted that they were unaware of who the user was.

The store sold e-cigarettes for about 10,000 ringgit per day, and the majority of its customers were college students. According to the employees, it did not sell its goods to children under the age of 20.

According to Lertsak Raktham, assistant director of the OCPB’s Special Operations Center, all the store owners will be arrested.

In addition, Dr. Prakit Vathesatogkit, the executive director of the Action on Smoking and Health Foundation, stated that he is monitoring whether the government implements e-cigarette laws after Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin recently gave a first-time order to various organizations to do so.

There are currently authorized rules in place to stop the sale of doll pods in foreign countries like England, France, and Belgium, according to Dr. Prakit.

He added that the Northeast, followed by the South, North, and Central, is the region with the highest percentage of minors using e-cigarettes, according to a study of Thai students.