Vaping and e-cigarettes - current laws in different countries.

[juddles]

Hi all,

just kicking off a thread regarding vaping. This thread is specifically for any discussion or info on travel, and what the current legal reality is in different countries.

Please use the "Vaping corner" thread in the Playground to discuss health, social impacts, etc. Here I just want somewhere that people can get info on travel, without having to trawl through all the moral debates.

A list of countries was recently posted in another thread where vaping had been banned. That list, as per most info out there on the internet. is not accurate. The list included Colombia, which is "home turf" for me. So I tried to correct that misinformation. Vaping in Colombia has NOT been banned. Whilst looking into it I realized that most stuff in various blogs and news articles is completely inaccurate also. So actual knowledge from people who have actually travelled to a country is very welcome......

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Coming over from the 'chit chat' thread, the law in Thailand is both clear and unclear.

It is clear that you do not want to risk vaping in Thailand. Tourists are being fined, often quite substantially (I've seen fines as high as 40,000 baht), for vaping in public.

Official statements indicate a ban on the import, sale and servicing of e-cigarettes, and other categories of 'vape type' delivery systems.

As to the 'unclear' side... there is no actual law against vaping per se. This is acknowledged by Thailand's Deputy Director of Foreign Trade. There is also a thread on tripadvisor where the Thailand Tourism Authority advised a prospective tourist - in writing - that bringing an e-cigarette into the Kingdom for personal use is not illegal. The OP in that thread also pointed out that airport check-ins in Thailand had notices requiring e-cigarettes to be placed in hand luggage, not that e-cigarettes needed to be abandoned.

As to the other types of delivery systems, the law apparently also covers 'shisha'. So while the ban on 'import, sale and servicing' may seem pretty concrete when considering e-cigarettes only, it does leave open the personal manufacture of say, a hookah. As long as you don't sell them!

Having done a bit of research over the last year it appears Thailand's ban may have its origins in the inability to tax the product, potentially evidenced the ban being on the recommendation of the Commerce Ministry. Statements by the current Prime Minister that e-cigarettes will 'remain banned' may be based on some health grounds, but this may not have been the original genesis of the ban (ie, revenue).

The bottom line however is that the risk is too high to vape in public.

 

[33kft]

Since 2018, it has been illegal to import, possess or use these devices in Singapore - so for a very clear cut case, do not take or use any vaping devices anywhere near Singapore, as the fine for such is S$2,000.

Multiple reports confirm that those who have passed through customs at locations such as Changi Airport or the Woodlands Checkpoint to/from Malaysia in any capacity / duration of visit have had all their equipment (sans batteries, if they are removable) taken and destroyed.