Ready for holidays? If you are a vaper planning to book your next holidays, then you might want to take a few minutes and read this. Sadly some holiday destination treats vapers as criminals. Let’s examine which countries can be a bit of a nightmare for vapers.
Holiday Destination Thailand
If you are heading to Thailand or planning to go there soon to enjoy the delightful beaches, you might want to leave your vape gear at home… The Land of Smiles can turn into the Land of Nightmares as you face up to 10 years in prison for selling vape gear. Yes, it is insane but since November 2014 Thai legislation bans e-cig sales and importation. Later on, they made these restrictions even harsher by also banning possession.
Although you might have seen tourists and locals vaping there, on paper you can get in trouble for vaping in public. I was there recently and vaped in public as I was unaware of these regulations. Luckily, I did not get in trouble. However, not all tourists came off that easy as some were arrested earlier this year. In the best case scenario, they had to pay a fine on the spot after being threatened with jail by the local police.
Holiday Destination Singapore
This blooming country has a strange way of understanding human rights. It is internationally well-known for restricting citizen’s rights severely. And caning is a widely used form of legal corporal punishment in Singapore. So guess what? Yes, vaping is also banned for Singaporeans.
According to the government, you are not allowed to buy and distribute any vape related toy or device that resembles a tobacco product, capable of being smoked or mimicking the act smoking. That includes online purchasing for personal use. Offenders can face $10,000 fine and/or 6 months in jail. But that’s not all. In 2016, the Health Sciences Authority advised the public “to refrain from using vaporizers, and to discard any vaporizer they might have in their possession”.
Holiday Destination Hong Kong
Despite most vaping products being manufactured in Shenzhen (very close to Hong Kong), it looks like Hong Kong has declared war on vaping. Hong Kong already had a ban on selling liquid containing nicotine, which is categorized as a poison. Some other countries like Finland, Norway and Australia had this ban on nicotine too. But it looks like next year things are going to be different in Hong Kong. The Food and Health Bureau there draws up legislation expected to outlaw their sale and possession.
Holiday Destination Philippines
Rodrigo Duterte campaigned for the presidency promising to be tougher on drug dealers and criminals. What many vapers in this country possibly did not know is that the new anti-tobacco law would put vaping and tobacco under the same umbrella. The anti-tobacco law bans both indoor and outdoor smoking. And offenders might face a maximum penalty of four months in jail and a fine of 5000 pesos. The smoking ban also includes vaping or the use of electronic cigarettes. And it will apply in any outdoor and indoor area. At least, smoking and vaping will be allowed outside in designated areas.
Alfonso Melero
Content creator and marketer. Originally from Spain, I lived a few years in Scotland and China where I started to work for the vaping industry. Vaping is not only a profession for me but also a passion. I quit smoking thanks to vaping almost 3 years ago. I helped many smokers to switch to vaping since as I am convinced vaping is a much healthier alternative to tobacco smoking.
