Thailand Customs Seized 1 Million E-cigarettes in 9 Months

According to a report in the Daily News on July 16th, Thai customs has seized 1 million e-cigarettes in the past 9 months.

The spokesperson for the Customs Department of Thailand, Panthong Loikunnan, revealed that during the period from October 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024, the Customs General Administration has identified a total of 3,611 cases of illegal import and export of goods, with a total value of 1.282 billion Thai Baht (35.38 million US dollars). Among these cases, important items include e-cigarettes, e-cigarette devices, e-cigarette liquids, Arabian shishas, and electronic hookahs, with a total of 280 cases involving 957,033 items, valued at 82.7 million Thai Baht (2.28 million US dollars). Additionally, 1,496 cases involving cigarettes were also identified, with a total of 22.8 million cigarettes valued at 1.35 billion Thai Baht (3.73 million US dollars).

Interestingly, this year the department seized nearly one million e-cigarettes, as more and more Thai people are turning to e-cigarettes instead of traditional cigarettes. Specifically, young people are increasingly shifting towards e-cigarettes, even though they are illegal products, there is still a large amount of smuggling taking place.

The General Administration of Customs has responded to policies by further strengthening the work of customs inspection stations nationwide, increasing patrols, setting up inspection points and interception points, especially at borders, natural channels, and various transit points, including major and minor routes, to prevent and deter illegal activities, particularly drug smuggling, illegal goods, and various illegal products transport, such as drugs, e-cigarettes and devices, cannabis smoke, non-compliant products (TISI), goods infringing on intellectual property rights, agricultural products (including rubber and pork and their edible parts), and fuel, etc. In addition, they are collaborating with relevant departments, sharing intelligence information, and taking in-depth actions to crackdown on the import and export of illegal goods in accordance with the policies of the Prime Minister.

According to Pan Tong, in the 2024 fiscal year, the total revenue of the Thai Customs Department was 469.62 billion baht (13 billion US dollars), with customs revenue at 88.32 billion baht (2.4 billion US dollars), exceeding expected revenue by 2.802 billion baht (77.33 million US dollars), an increase of 3.3%. In addition, revenue collected on behalf of other departments was 381.231 billion baht (10.5 billion US dollars), with 293.928 billion baht (8.1 billion US dollars) collected on behalf of the Revenue Department, 49.676 billion baht (1.4 billion US dollars) collected on behalf of the Customs Department, and 37.626 billion baht (1 billion US dollars) collected on behalf of the Ministry of Interior.

The General Administration of Customs has stated that it will continue to take measures to improve tax collection and management efficiency, as well as close tax loopholes.