Starting Dec. 1, over a thousand chain convenience stores, coffee shops, fast food restaurants and other stores in Kaohsiung City will start to implement a smoking ban under arcades. Violators will face fines of NT$2,000 to NT$10,000. On the first day, five people were fined and some say that they weren't aware of this new regulation yet.


Kaohsiung announced an arcade smoking ban outside 1,000 convenience store, coffee shop and fast food restaurant locations, and under covered areas on Sept. 1. The ban went into effect on Dec. 1. Five smokers were fined on the first day.

On Dec. 1, we sent out inspectors to 83 locations. Five people were fined.

The Department of Health says anyone caught with a lit cigarette will be fined NT$2,000 to NT$10,000. Some residents support the ban, while others say smokers will just find new places to smoke and the ban won't necessarily reduce the number of smokers or secondhand smoke.
Non-smokers and pedestrians won't have to inhale as much secondhand smoke. This is reasonable.

There aren't that arcades outside convenience stores anymore. Us smokers are in a pitiable situation. We have nowhere to smoke. All we can do is try to find a place that's hidden from view to smoke. It's so hard to find a place to smoke.

Taipei and New Taipei launched similar bans on Sept. 1. In these two special municipalities, both smokers and businesses providing ashtray dustbins have been fined. Arcade smoking bans will go into effect in Taichung and Taoyuan next year. Tainan will also implement a smoking ban at 15 bus stops, but an arcade smoking ban is still under consideration.



雖然宣導3個月，不過隨機到連鎖超商騎樓，還是看到民眾坐在椅子上就點菸來抽，高雄市9月1號起，全市1000多間連鎖便利商店、咖啡店以及速食店的騎樓以及庇廊全面禁菸，宣導期到上個月底，第一天稽查就有5人違規。

高市衛生局社區心理衛生中心技正 黃英如表示：「12月1號，也就是昨天，我們開始進行了一個稽查，稽查取締的工作，昨天一共兵分多路，一共稽查了83家，然後取締了5位行為人。」

衛生局表示，只要現場發現民眾有點菸的事實，依法開罰2千到1萬元以下罰金，對此，有民眾認同，但也有人認為可能導致吸菸者躲往看不到的區域，不見得能有效降低菸害。

民眾表示：「比較不會去妨害到沒抽菸的人，在騎樓走路的人，對呀，這樣是合理的。」

民眾表示：「便利商店的騎樓都越來越少了，我們抽菸的人也很可憐，也不知道去哪裡抽，只可以盡量躲呀，不知道躲到哪裡去。」

六都中，除了高雄12月1號開始取締，累積開罰5人，台北與新北則已經從9月1號開始取締，除了民眾違規，也有業者因提供熄菸器具遭罰，台中和桃園則是明年起全面取締，台南則針對全市15處候車亭全面禁菸，騎樓禁菸仍在研議。