BANGKOK, Sept 8 — The director of Mongkutwattana Hospital in Bangkok has announced plans to confine defiant smokers to “gas chambers” if they light up on its premises.
Major General Dr Rienthong Nanna, who leads the private hospital in the Laksi district, reportedly made the announcement on Facebook that repurposed public telephone booths will be used for this purpose, Thai media reported, with some like Matichon Online calling it the “Hitler room”.
“In the innovative gas chambers, those who defy the smoking ban at Mongkutwattana Hospital can fully inhale the smoke from their own cigarettes.
“The smoke will not be released to the outside and annoy or harm the public but will ruin the health of the smokers themselves,” Dr Rienthong was quoted by the English-language The Bangkok Post as saying today.
The telephone booths were reported to have previously been used for Covid-19 screening.
Dr Rienthong said the booths will be equipped with sensors that detect smoke and that the doors will unlock automatically once the smoke clears.
He said that the new approach replaces his previous method of directly confronting and physically disciplining smokers, a practice that recently led to legal trouble.
The director landed in court previously for reportedly slapping and stripping a teenager who was caught smoking in the hospital grounds – a move that has sparked significant backlash.
Dr Rienthong justified his harsh methods by citing concerns about secondhand smoke affecting patients and visitors through the hospital’s air-conditioning system.
The director’s new plan aims to prevent smoke from spreading to other areas while addressing what he describes as “selfish” behaviour by smokers.
