The 12 September 2019 marks the entry into force date of the regulation on plain cigarette packaging in Thailand that was officially gazette on 14 December 2018. The law permits a 90-day phase-out period for old cigarette stocks, meaning that by 12 December 2019, all cigarettes in Thailand must be sold in brown-coloured packs with cigarette brand names printed in a standardised font type, size, colour, and location, without brand colours or logos.

Thailand, as the first country in Asia and the first middle-income country to adopt plain packaging for tobacco products, has joined 15 other countries around the World that already require standardised tobacco packaging.

More information is available from Pantip Chotbenjamaporn, Bureau of Tobacco Control Department of Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand (e-mail: pantipatk@yahoo.com).