Vape rules in Thailand
HOW
Do not bring a vape to Thailand. Importing one is banned, selling one is banned, and officers have been checking visitors and Thai users on the street since 2025.
- IMPORT
- BANNED
- CUSTOMS ACT
- ≤ 10 YR
- IN FORCE
Import ban from the Ministry of Commerce notice of 2014; penalties from the Customs Act and the Consumer Protection Act.
Short answer
Checked against the official pages on 5 November 2026 · Last change: 18 February 2026
E-cigarettes and hookah devices have been prohibited from import since the Ministry of Commerce notice of December 2014, and the Department of Foreign Trade still lists it as in force. The Customs Act sets up to 10 years in prison for smuggling goods and up to 5 years for knowingly buying or holding goods linked to such smuggling. Selling is banned by a 2024 order, with up to 3 years or 600,000 baht under the Consumer Protection Act.
In a smoke-free place, using one can bring a fine of up to 5,000 baht under the Tobacco Products Control Act. What visitors meet in practice is seizure and an on-the-spot demand at the airport or on the street. Amounts in the reports differ widely, so they are listed below as reports.
This page summarises the texts we read; it is not legal advice.
Show the official wording
Quoted as published, with the source. Thai text is followed by our translation.
Ministry of Commerce notice, 12 December 2014, item 4
“ข้อ ๔ ให้บารากู่และบารากู่ไฟฟ้าหรือบุหรี่ไฟฟ้าเป็นสินค้าห้ามนําเข้ามาในราชอาณาจักร”
Item 4: hookah and electronic hookah or e-cigarettes are goods prohibited from import into the Kingdom.
Ministry of Commerce (copy on the Customs Department site), 26 December 2014
Customs Act B.E. 2560, section 242
“ผู้ใดนําเข้ามาในหรือส่งออกไปนอกราชอาณาจักรซึ่งของที่ยังมิได้ผ่านพิธีการศุลกากร ... ต้องระวางโทษจําคุกไม่เกินสิบปี หรือปรับเป็นเงินสี่เท่าของราคาของซึ่งได้รวมค่าอากรเข้าด้วยแล้ว หรือทั้งจําทั้งปรับ”
Whoever imports goods that have not passed customs formalities faces imprisonment of up to ten years, or a fine of four times the value of the goods including duty, or both.
Customs Department (gazette copy), 17 May 2017
Order of the Committee on Safety of Goods and Services, 8 July 2024, item 3
“ห้ามผู้ประกอบธุรกิจผลิตเพื่อขาย ห้ามขายหรือให้บริการสินค้าบารากู่ บารากู่ไฟฟ้าหรือบุหรี่ไฟฟ้า หรือตัวยาบารากู่ น้ำยาสำหรับเติมบารากู่ไฟฟ้าหรือบุหรี่ไฟฟ้า”
Businesses are prohibited from making for sale, selling or providing hookah, electronic hookah or e-cigarettes, or their refills.
Committee on Safety of Goods and Services (gazette copy on a municipal site), 18 July 2024
Tobacco Products Control Act B.E. 2560, section 42 and the definition of tobacco product
“มาตรา ๔๒ ห้ามผู้ใดสูบบุหรี่ในเขตปลอดบุหรี่ เว้นแต่เป็นเขตสูบบุหรี่ที่กําหนดตามมาตรา ๔๑”
No one may smoke in a smoke-free zone, except in a smoking zone set under section 41. (The Act counts any nicotine product, and the vapour it makes, as tobacco product and smoking.)
Office of the Attorney General (gazette copy), 5 April 2017
The laws behind the ban
Each row was read in a Gazette copy; the law’s name links to its source.
| Law | What it bans | Penalty in the text |
|---|---|---|
| Ministry of Commerce notice, 2014 | Importing e-cigarettes, e-hookahs and the liquids brought with them. | The notice sets none itself; it is enforced through the Customs Act below. |
| Customs Act B.E. 2560, sections 242 and 244 | Importing goods outside customs formalities (242), or avoiding a ban or restriction on goods (244). | Section 242: up to 10 years, or four times the value including duty, or both. Section 244: up to 10 years or up to 500,000 baht, or both. |
| Customs Act, section 246 | Buying, holding, selling or hiding goods one knows come from a section 242 offence. | Up to 5 years, or four times the value, or both (section 244 goods: up to 500,000 baht). |
| Safety Committee order of 8 July 2024 | A business making for sale, selling or providing e-cigarettes and refills. It replaced the 2015 order and does not cover a person carrying one. | Consumer Protection Act, section 56/4: up to 3 years or 600,000 baht, or both. |
| Tobacco Products Control Act B.E. 2560, sections 42 and 67 | Smoking in a smoke-free zone. “Tobacco product” includes other nicotine products and “smoking” includes making vapour. | A fine of up to 5,000 baht. |
Which Customs Act section a vape import falls under is our reading: the texts do not name e-cigarettes. Some articles say the fine is five times the value; the Act we read says four times, or up to 500,000 baht under section 244.
Some articles say the sales ban was repealed in 2019 or that the sale fine is 60,000 baht. The 2019 amendment added the power to ban sales; the 2024 order replaced the 2015 one; 60,000 baht is the penalty for advertising in the same Act. Whether nicotine-free liquid falls under the Tobacco Act is not settled by the texts we read.
Written law and what people see
Official rule
The texts above ban importing and selling vapes and using them in smoke-free places, and the Customs Department seized over 192,000 e-cigarette items in the case it presented on 18 February 2026.
Customs Department briefing, 18 February 2026.
Site owner’s experience (4 November 2026)
Vaping is plainly illegal, yet many Thai and foreign people do it. Until last year Thai users were rarely punished hard. Recently the police began a large crackdown on Khao San Road (laughing-gas balloons and other illegal things), and I hear Thai people were fined heavily for vaping too. Do not take the sight of others vaping to mean it is fine; enforcement is active now.
One person’s experience, not a rule.
If it is found at the airport
- Reports (terms.law, canibringto, LADbible) describe seizure of the device and an on-the-spot fine at Suvarnabhumi and elsewhere. The amounts differ by article, from 5,000 up to 20,000 baht, while the official texts we read contain no fee schedule.
- The Customs Act texts allow far more for smuggling (up to ten years). Whether a person is charged under them depends on the officer and the amount; do not rely on a small fine.
- Vape batteries are lithium batteries, and airline rules keep them out of checked bags. That is a separate rule from the import ban: it does not make it legal to carry one into Thailand.
If an officer stops you on the street
- Use in a smoke-free place falls under the Tobacco Products Control Act, up to 5,000 baht. Buying or holding one can fall under the Customs Act (up to 5 years in the text).
- Informers can report sales in the Thang Rath app (Department of Disease Control, October 2025). Press articles from March 2025 say a reporter can receive up to 60% of the fine after a conviction; no rule we read sets the share.
- The Nation reported a police announcement of 690 arrests in 666 cases from 26 February to 4 March 2025; the number of items seized varies between reports (454,958 in this one).
Cases reported
| 30 January 2025 | A French tourist arrested; the court fined 827 baht, after four nights in custody, and he was deported. | canibringto.com |
|---|---|---|
| June 2025 | A 5,000 baht fine for vaping outside a 7-Eleven in Pratunam. | Reddit, r/ThailandTourism |
| 7 April 2026 | A report of 40,000 baht per person asked of tourists at Kamala beach, Phuket. | LADbible |
Heated-tobacco devices (IQOS, glo)
Reports say the same ban covers heated-tobacco devices. By the official texts no clause names them, and by reports they are covered, so this is a report, not a reading of the texts. The Tobacco Act’s definition does cover other nicotine products.
STEP BY STEP
What to do
Before you travel, and if you are stopped.
Leave it at home
Do not pack a vape, refills or a heated-tobacco device. Check coat pockets and carry-on before the flight.
Ask for the officer’s ID
Real officers show a badge or card. Note the name and place, and photograph the card if the officer agrees.
Call the Tourist Police: 1155
Say where you are and ask for help. This is the Tourist Police hotline.
Ask for it in writing
Ask for a written charge, a receipt and where it is settled. A fine-only offence can be settled by agreement with an authorised person (Tobacco Act, section 74), so ask who is authorised, and be wary of cash demanded in the street with no paper. The French case above went to a court with a set fine.
What changed, and when
Rules, fees and counters that changed, oldest first. A row is added for every change; earlier rows are never rewritten.
| Date | Change | Basis | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| 26 December 2014 | Ministry of Commerce notice bans importing hookah, e-hookah and e-cigarettes, and the liquids brought with them; in force the next day. The Department of Foreign Trade lists it as in force. | Official | Ministry of Commerce (copy on the Customs Department site) · Department of Foreign Trade |
| 28 January 2015 | Consumer Protection Committee order 9/2558 (28 January 2015) bans selling e-cigarettes; repealed in 2024. | Official | Committee on Safety of Goods and Services (gazette copy on a municipal site) |
| 5 April 2017 | Tobacco Products Control Act published: smoking in smoke-free zones bans; nicotine products are tobacco products (in force 90 days later). | Official | Office of the Attorney General (gazette copy) |
| 17 May 2017 | Customs Act B.E. 2560 published, with the smuggling sections 242, 244 and 246. | Official | Customs Department (gazette copy) |
| 27 May 2019 | Consumer Protection Act (No. 4) adds a safety part: the committee can order sales banned, with penalties up to three years or 600,000 baht. | Official | Royal Gazette |
| 18 July 2024 | Safety Committee order of 8 July 2024 bans making for sale, selling and providing e-cigarettes and refills, replacing the 2015 order. | Official | Committee on Safety of Goods and Services (gazette copy on a municipal site) · Royal Gazette |
| 9 March 2025 | Police crackdown (26 February to 4 March): 690 arrested, 666 cases; reports of a reward for informers. | Two sources agree | The Nation · The Thaiger · South China Morning Post |
| 18 February 2026 | The Customs Department presents seizures that include over 192,000 e-cigarette items. | Official | Customs Department |
Questions
- Can I bring a vape to Thailand?
- No. Importing e-cigarettes has been banned since a 2014 notice and the Customs Act sets prison terms for smuggling.
- Can I vape in Thailand if it is only for me?
- Owning and buying one can fall under the Customs Act, and using one in a smoke-free place under the Tobacco Act (up to 5,000 baht).
- Are IQOS and heated tobacco allowed?
- Reports say they are banned in the same way. By the official texts no clause names them.
- What is the fine at the airport?
- Reports give 5,000 to 20,000 baht plus seizure. The official texts we read contain no fee schedule.
- Is the fine 4 times or 5 times the value?
- The Customs Act we read says four times, or up to 500,000 baht under section 244. “Five times” appears in some press and government summaries, not in the Act we read.
- An officer asked me for cash. What now?
- Ask for the ID, call the Tourist Police on 1155, and do not pay in the street.