Thailand clamps down on vapes

A beach puff in Thailand can now turn into a police stop, a fine, and in some cases a trip to a station before you ever get to dinner. Thai authorities have spent the past year reviving a hard ban on electronic cigarettes and warning visitors that “everybody does it” is not a defense there. (tobaccocontrollaws.org) (bangkokpost.com) Thailand did not suddenly ban vaping in 2026. The country has barred the import and sale of electronic cigarettes since 2014, and a 2024 consumer-protection decree kept the ban in place for manufacturing, sales, and related services. (tobaccocontrollaws.org 1) (tobaccocontrollaws.org 2) That catches tourists because the rule is broader than “don’t vape indoors.” In Thailand, even bringing a vape into the country can trigger trouble because the device itself falls under an import ban. (tobaccocontrollaws.org 1) (tobaccocontrollaws.org 2) The recent shift is enforcement, not lawmaking. Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra ordered a nationwide crackdown in early 2025, with police told to target illegal imports, online sellers, and areas around schools. (bangkokpost.com 1) (bangkokpost.com 2) Police numbers show how big that campaign became. In one week between February 26 and March 4, authorities said they arrested 690 suspected sellers in 666 cases and seized 454,958 vape devices, cartridges, and liquids worth 41.9 million baht. (nationthailand.com) By September 2025, Thai officials said the wider campaign had produced more than 3,200 arrests, seizures of over 4 million electronic cigarettes worth 580 million baht, and blocks on 11,000 sales web addresses. (nationthailand.com) Officials have tied the crackdown to young users as much as tourists. Bangkok Post reported that vape use among people aged 15 to 29 in Thailand rose from 5.8 percent in 2019 to 12.2 percent in 2024, which gave the government a public-health argument for moving faster. (bangkokpost.com) Tourist zones are where this becomes visible to foreigners. Places like Pattaya have already seen police raids on nightlife businesses linked to shisha pipes and vapes, so the rule is no longer just a line in customs law that nobody enforces. (pattayamail.com) The penalties sound extreme because they are written like smuggling penalties, not littering tickets. Thai reports on the 2025 campaign said possession can bring up to five years in jail or a fine worth four times the product’s value, or both, while travelers have also reported on-the-spot fines in the tens of thousands of baht. (nationthailand.com) (au.lifestyle.yahoo.com) So the practical rule for travelers is simpler than the legal code: if you are flying to Thailand, do not pack a vape, do not buy one there, and do not assume a resort beach is treated differently from a city street. Thailand’s ban covers the device, the import, and the sale, and the government has spent 2025 and 2026 showing that it is willing to enforce all three. (tobaccocontrollaws.org) (bangkokpost.com)