Tobacco smoke is a serious global public health problem, particularly, among today’s youth.
In Thailand, youth smoking prevalence is high notably among the male youth and the last
survey conducted in 1999 by the National Statistical Office (NSO) indicated a prevalence of
12.4% for male and 0.02% for female, among the 15 to 19 age group. It is realized that
tobacco companies aim to replace their declining markets in Western countries by targeting
young people of Asian countries. Many public health experts have pointed out that youth
smoking rates rose as a result of aggressive marketing by the transnational tobacco companies
and Thailand is no exception.
This study assessed the smoking pattern among Thailand’s secondary and vocational school
children. It also examined factors that may attribute to their smoking behavior. Over thirteen
thousand students who enrolled in secondary and vocational schools in the four regions of
Thailand and Bangkok, with the age range between 12 and 19, voluntarily participated in the
study. Confidentiality was reassured and consent was obtained from the participants and their
guardians.
The results indicated that the prevalence of smoking among secondary and vocational school
children aged 12 to 19 years was 6.8% (95% CI 6.4, 7.3). The last survey conducted in 1999
by the NSO reported a rate of 6.3% among individual ages 15 to 19 years. In comparison to
the same age group in this study, the prevalence rate was more than two times higher at a rate
of 15.6%. The prevalence rates increased in both male and female. The prevalence of
smoking was still much higher in male students compared to female students (13.8% vs.
0.7%). However, female students showed a much larger increase. As shown in Table E1, the
gap between rates of smoking between male and female was much smaller in Bangkok than
other regions, where in Bangkok, the prevalence of male smokers, 5.9%, was 3 times that of
the female smokers, 2.1%, while in other regions, it was approximately 26 times higher. The
high prevalence together with a more rapid increaseamong female students in Bangkok is a
significant public health concern.