Presently, instead of cutting scenes, shots showing people smoking are "mosaic'ed" - electronically blurred out. Characters in the hit US television soaps vanish in a mosaic blur when a cigarette is brought to their mouths. Even public service announcements condemning smoking must obscure the screen whenever someone smokes.

UBC, a local pay-TV operator, has had to monitor shows to ensure that displays of smoking are censored. An unnamed source inside the company commented that UBC would soon end the blurring, which viewers find irritating, and switch to overlaying a warning message on the screen whenever cigarettes are smoked.

Whether the government will accept this is uncertain. Mirroring the opinion of many in the media, the source thought that scenes on TV "probably do not affect people's lives."

In the past year, authorities have banned the depiction of homosexuality on TV and tried to discourage the portrayal of transvestites, and this has led some critics to wonder whether the prohibition on smoking on TV is a trend spiraling out of control, or whether it actually violates media freedom as enshrined in Thailand's new constitution.

Early in the 1990's, similar rules governing drinking and smoking on TV were discarded when the broadcast media was partially deregulated.

Meanwhile, health advocates argue that the media have a duty to serve the public good. The Straits Times quoted Dr. Varabhorn Bhumiswasdi, director of the Institute of Tobacco Consumption Control as commenting soon after the ban was imposed, "The media always influences people, particularly teenagers, who always imitate whatever they see on television. The media's duty is to create a quality product for the consumer--particularly for teenagers."

Indeed, Thailand has been praised for its aggressive anti-tobacco activities. In the past 15 years, its has gone from having a tobacco industry that excluded foreign brands (controlled by the aptly-named Thai Tobacco Monopoly) to a free market with the determination to stand up to powerful foreign tobacco concerns.

In 1988, Thailand passed a series of measures that included a ban on cigarette advertising, which led to a complaint by the US Cigarette Export Association (USCEA). In their petition to the US Trade Representative USCEA requested "the removal of all restrictions on the importation and sale of cigarettes; the removal of discriminatory cigarette import duties and taxes; and the right to distribute, advertise, and promote cigarettes in Thailand."

Whether these demands were legitimate or just a bargaining position, they were widely perceived by Thais as an attempt by US tobacco concerns to force rules on them (such as open advertising of cigarettes) that would be considered illegal in the US.

Eventually, the GATT ruling obliged Thailand to open its tobacco industry to imports, but Thailand resisted demands by tobacco companies to advertise and instead embarked on a sweeping anti-smoking campaign.

The controversy surrounding the GATT talks has resulted in a hardening of attitudes against cigarettes in general, and a redoubling of efforts to stop their spread.

Despite early fears, Thailand has not emerged as a major market for Western brands. The big boom expected by foreign firms never materialized. After an initial surge in sales, non-Thai brands today are experiencing only slow growth (85 million packs in 1997) and comprise only a small fraction of the total market.

Thailand has been very successful in reducing overall tobacco consumption. In 1999, 20.5 percent of the population smoked, down from 26.3 percent in 1991. The decrease is especially steep among 20 - to 24-year-olds, where the proportion of smokers plummeted from 28.3 percent to 18.3 percent.

The latest measure of banning cigarette smoking from television is yet another step in the aggressive anti-smoking campaign.

It represents an attempt to label smoking as a “taboo” activity. In the absence of regional precedents, this will be an interesting case to watch.