His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej Is The King Who Always Pays Attention And Has Concerns For All His Subjects. His Majesty Has Strong Desires To Provide Health For All To His People, Works Seriously And Continuously On Public Health Covering Diseases Control And Health Promotion, Treatment And Rehabilitation As Well As Tobacco Consumption Control, Which Is One Of The Major Health Problems. Thai People Are Highly Appreciative Of His Royal Kindness.
Obviously, The Works Of The First Two Awardees Of The Prince Mahildol Award Foundation Are Related To Tobacco Control. The Prince Mahidol Award Foundation Was Instituted With The Cabinet’s Solution Day 9 July 1991 To Commemorate And Publicize The Honor Of His Royal Highness Prince Mahidol Of Songkhla, Father Of His Majesty The King. The Foundation Has Been Embraced To Be Under The Royal Patronage Since It Was Founded.
Sir William Richard Doll, An Awardee In The Field Of Medicine And A Specialist In Thoracic Medicine, Revealed In His Research That Smoking Is Associated With Lung Cancer; Smokers More Likely To Suffer From Many Diseases Like Heart Disease, Pulmonary Disease, To Have High Risk To Death And In Premature Aging Than The Non-Smokers. Moreover, Dr.Chen Minchang, An Awardee In The Field Of Public Health And A Specialist In The Field Of Gastrointestinal, Is The Key Figure In Anti-Smoking Campaigns In The People’s Republic Of China.
The Medical And Health Circle In Thailand Has Taken Different Measures In Combating Tobacco. It Is Recognized By The World Health Organization And Various Countries Of Having Explicit Concrete Measure In Controlling Tobacco Consumption. The Success That Thailand Has Achieved Despite Being A Developing Country, Facing Budget Restriction And Having Less Power To Deal With Cigarette Manufacturing Countries Which Have Vast Capital Is Attributed To The Management Following In His Majesty’s Footsteps.
Many Private Organizations Which Are Public Benefit And Embraced To Be Under The Royal Patronage Such As The Medical Association Of Thailand, The Anti – Tuberculosis Association Of Thailand, Thai Cancer Society All Have Significant Roles In Anti-Smoking Movement From The Beginning. They Provide Information About The Dangers Of Cigarettes To Health For The Government And Public, Calling The Government For Measures To Prevent The Youths From Starting Cigarettes, The Mass Media And State Organization To Give Health Education About Harms Of Smoking And To Advise Means Of Prevention Danger From Smoking During The Meeting To Set A Good Example For The People.
Consequences Of The Campaigns Carried Out By Organizations Under The Royal Patronage Subsequently Alerted The Government To The Fact That It Was Necessary To Employ Legislative Measure Along With Measure Of Health Education. Therefore, Two Laws Were Proposed To The Naional Legislative Assembly. Then In 1992 His Majesty The King Graciously Ordered The Legislation Of Non-Smokers’ Health Protection Act B.E.2535 And Tobacco Production Control Act B.E.2535. This Encourages Thailand To Be Widely Recognized By Many Countries As A Country That Has Legislative Measure For Strengthening The Tobacco Control Action.
The Smoking Cessation Project In Order To Celebrate The Fifty Anniversary (Golden Jubilee) Of His Majesty’s Accession To The Throne, Which Was One Of The Major Projects Of The Public Health Ministry Specially Organized For Thai People Across The Country To Express Thir Loyalty, And Receiving Good Cooperation From All Organizations Both Public And Private Sectors, Is Regarded As The Project In Response To His Majesty’s Address On Better Quality Of Life Of The People, And Of The Government’s Policy, And On The World No-Tobacco Day Of That Year (1996), The Thai Government Had Defined A Campaigning Slogan “Sports And The Arts Without Tobacco : Play It Tobacco Free” In Order To Correspond With This Greatest Auspicious Event. Furthermore, On The Occasion Of His Majesty The King’s Sixth Cycle Birthday Anniversary 5th December 1999, The Ministry Of Public Health Was Granted A Permission To Convey The Emblem Of The Event To Be Printed On The T-Shirt For Campaigning Clean Air, Smoke Free And For Distributing To The Public Throughout The Country.
In The Appreciation Of His Majesty’s Kind Contribution To Tobacco Control Activities Which Breeds Fruitful Success To The Country’s Offorts In Combating Tobacco Consumption Up To The Level That Is Globally Accepted, Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, The World Majesty The King On The World No- Tobacco Day 31 May 2000 Since The Achievement In Thailand Represents The Success Of The World Health Organization Too.
