Bhutan
Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the
Himalayas and
bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the
north by the People's Republic
of China. Bhutan is separated from the nearby country of Nepal to the west.
The landscape of Bhutan
ranges from subtropical plains in the south to the sub-alpine Himalayan
heights in the north, with some
peaks exceeding 7,000 m. The state religion is Vajrayana Buddhism, and
the population of about 700,000
is predominantly Buddhist. The capital is Thimphu, which is the largest.
Bhutan is rated as the happiest country in Asia and the eighth-happiest
in the world, based on a global survey.
The gross national happiness, GNH is designed in an attempt to define an indicator, that measures quality
of life or social progress in more holistic and psychological terms than
only the economic indicator of gross
domestic product, GDP.
ブータン王国、通称ブータンはインドと中国にはさまれている、世界で唯一チベット仏教を国教とする国家である。
民族はチベット系8割、ネパール系2割。公用語はゾンカ語と英語。首都はティンプー。 急速な近代化（欧米化）の
なかで、近代化の速度をコントロールしつつ、全体主義的な伝統を維持しようとする政治に世界的な注目が
集まっている。前国王が提唱した国民総生産にかわる国民総幸福量 (GNH) という概念、さまざまな環境政策、
伝統文化保持のための国民に対する民族衣装着用の強制などがある。
国民総幸福量(Gross National Happiness, GNH）とは、1972年に、ブータン国王が提唱した「国民全体の幸福度」
を示す“尺度”である。国民総生産 (Gross National Product, GNP) で示されるような、金銭的・物質的豊かさを
目指すのではなく、精神的な豊かさ、つまり幸福を目指すべきだとする考えから生まれたものである。現在、
ブータン政府は国民総幸福量の増加を政策の中心としている。政府が具体的な政策を実施し、その成果を客観的
に判断するための基準にするのが主な用途で、 1990年代からの急速な国際化に伴って、ブータンで当たり前で
あった価値観を改めてシステム化する必要があったという。2007年に初めて行われたブータン政府による国勢
調査では、 「あなたは今幸せか」という問いに対し9割が「幸福」と回答したという。
Reference: Wikipedia
Bhutanese king seeks stronger ties with Japan, consoles earthquake victims.
2011・ブータン国王夫妻日本訪問・国王夫妻結婚式典
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Bhutan：The first country in the world to establish a complete ban on smoking.
High in the Himalayas, the Kingdom of Bhutan was almost completely isolated
until 40 years ago, with no
roads, schools, electricity, phones, radios, or cars. Since then, this
Switzerland-size country has stepped
gingerly into the modern world, restricting tourists and fiercely protecting
the nation's environmental and
cultural purity. Bhutan's determination to choose its own path into the
modern world has won it recognition
as a model of sustainable development and healthcare-including its no-thank-you
to smoke. The religious
and cultural biases against tobacco use have made it easier for the popular
King J. S. Wangchuk, a graduate
of Oxford University, to introduce a total tobacco ban. With 20 percent
of the government budget devoted
to health and education, information about the dangers of smoking has had
a wide impact despite the
challenge of reaching an overwhelmingly rural population.
Still, there are problems. Though it is estimated that only 1 percent of
the Bhutanese population smokes,
respiratory illnesses are the primary cause of mortality in the country,
where life expectancy for men is 61
and women is 64. Bhutan made a pre-emptive strike with 200 percent custom's
duties, a tax on tobacco sales,
and a $232 fine-more for smoking in public. And criminal charges can be
brought against foreigners who sell
tobacco to Bhutanese. The smoking ban is part of the king's plan for "gross
national happiness," which he
says is more important than the gross national product.
Source: U.S. News March 18, 2007
First Nonsmoking Nation: Bhutan banned tobacco. Could the rest of the world
follow?
The tiny, trendy Himalayan Kingdom recently became the world's first non-smoking
nation, since 2005. It has
been illegal to smoke in public or sell tobacco. Violators are fined the
equivalent of $232, which is more than
two month'ssalary in Bhutan. Authorities heralded the ban by igniting a
bonfire of cigarette cartons in the capital,
Thimphu, and stringing banners across the main thorough fare, exhorting
people to kick the habit, as if they
have a choice. Even the country's smokers seem resigned to a smoke-free
future. "If you can't get it, you can't
smoke it,"so concludes T. Dendup, who works as a Bhtan's broadcaster.
This is a country that has elevated contrariness to a national trait. Convention
says an impoverished yet stunningly
beautiful nation like Bhutan should welcome a tourist with open arms, and
count the dollars. However, Bhutan
restricts the number of foreign tourists at about 9,000 in 2010, and charges
fees of $200 per day. This tourist
will be increased to $250 in 2012. The first tourists arrived in 1974.
Television and the Internet are even more novel,
having arrived in 1999. Nevertheless, Bhutan largely remains the Shangri-la
( paradise ) that wealthy tourists crave.
Thimphu is the world's only capital with no traffic lights. So, having
sat out the traditional development rush,
Bhutan hopes to steer its own course, avoiding the mistakes of the industrialized
world. For its homogenous
and small population, which estimates anywhere from 800,000 to 2 million
people, Bhutan just might succeed in
barring the demon weed. The nation's unusual culture makes a sudden and
complete tobacco ban possible. It is
a very small, poor market, and it costs a tremendous amount to import goods.
These factors have induced the
reduction of the interest in cigarettes.
There is something called personal rights that should be upheld. Educate
people rather than force or impose.
Others worry the tobacco ban will merely encourage a black market in Marlboros.
Furthermore, others chime
corruption, alcoholism, and a penchant for 'doma' or betel nut, which Bhutanese
chew habitually, rather than
the smoking problems. 'Doma', a stimulant that turns your saliva red, has been linked to the
higher incidence of
oral cancer. Bhutan's parliament, which passed the smoking ban, anticipated
complaints. It added a few sizable
loopholes. Foreigners can still smoke and import tobacco. However, if caught
selling it to Bhutanese, they will
be charged with smuggling. Bhutanese are, technically, allowed to smoke
in their homes and can even import
small quantities of tobacco for "personal use, though they'll pay
as much as 200 percent in customs duties
and sales taxes for the pleasure.
Bhutanese officials say that, by banning tobacco, they hope to set an example
for the rest of the world.
Ireland and other countries banned smoking in public places, though the
sale of tobacco remains legal. European
countries, such as Norway, are enacting less-stringent smoking bans. In
most of Asia, though, the trend is toward
more smokers, not fewer, as countries rush to emulate Western habits and
as tobacco companies look east for
new customers. Once again, Bhutan finds itself the exception to the rule.
Source: The Slate Group, a Division of the Washington Post Company Jan.
20, 2005
Bhutan, the Buddist country in Asia
Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan and the National Memorial Choeten, Thimphu
Prayer wheels, prayer wheels are used to accumulate wisdom and merit and
to purify negative act of life in the past.
(L) No-smoking sign in a restaurant/bar
(M) A note PC, which is an important goods for a travel guide, is usually
keeping in the large inside pocket space.
(R) There is no traffic signal in the country of Bhutan.
A Thimph street, a hotel and residence
Sources: Nippon Television Network December 4, and NHK broadcast, December
9, 2011
Tobacco Control Act of Bhutan 2010
The consumption of tobacco is not altogether prohibited in Bhutan, though
it is strictly banned in places of
public accommodation. The Act largely targets smoking, in particular, though
any form of tobacco is subject
to the Act. The Tobacco Control Act establishes non-smoking areas: commercial
centers, which include markets,
hotel lobbies, restaurants, and bars; recreation centers such as discotheques,
cinemas, and playing fields;
institutions and offices, both public and private. It also includes festivals,
taxi stands, and the airport; all
public transportation; and any other places declared by the Tobacco Control
Board.
Smoking areas are permitted in non-public areas of hotels, i.e., smoking
floors or smoking rooms, at the
discretion of the patron. The Act imposes a duty on persons in command
of these areas of public
accommodation to display signs prohibiting smoking, to demand smokers to
cease, to report offenders who
refuse to the police, and comply with inspections.
ブータン、タバコ販売を禁止するものの、ホテル客室での喫煙規制はない？？
Bhutan: the country that has no concept of the 'third-hand smoking'
ブータンは2004年12月に世界初の「禁煙国家」となった。タバコ規制は厳しく、外国人ツーリストであっても免税店の
袋はほぼ100%、手持ちのかばんなどもかなりの確率で中身をチェックされる。しかし、観光客に禁煙を強制するもの
ではなく、 たばこ200本まで、他のたばこ製品は150グラムまでであれば100%の関税と100%の付加価値税 (合計200% )
を払えば持ち込み可能である。しかしブータン滞在中は税関でのドキュメントを必ず携帯する必要がある。国内
すべての公共の場所は全面禁煙で、規制除外されているホテルの喫煙客室のみが合法的に吸える場所である。
しかし、明確に禁煙客室を備えているホテルのない現状では、旅行者にとっては「サードハンドスモーク」被害を
受けるリスクが大きい。三次喫煙といわれているものは、喫煙者が密閉した部屋の中でタバコを吸った後に蓄積された
有害残留タバコ成分によって、次にその部屋を使用した人たちが受動喫煙被害を受けることを指す。特に古いホテル
では客室内の壁や衣類に発がん性のタバコ残留物質が数層にわって付着、堆積しており、そのリスクは大きい。
ネット上でブータンのホテルサイトを開き禁煙客室の有無につき見たところ、 一流ホテルでも、禁煙客室ついては
全く記載がない。ブータンでは レストランを禁煙とするなど、受動喫煙（2次喫煙）の知識はあっても、喫煙者が
部屋や衣類に残す残留有害物質 （3次喫煙）に関する知識はない。消費者はホテルの選択が出来ても、喫煙に
関しては選択出来ないという現状も、こうした状況を放置する要因となっている。
ブータンではタバコ販売を禁止しても、それははあくまでも自国民に対するものであり、世界のホテルが次々に
スモークフリーへ転換するなか、ホテル客室において国外からの非喫煙旅行者をタバコの害から守るという姿勢は
見られていない。ブータン入国査証を取得するには、必ず独占的なブータン航空の航空券発券とブータン国内の
旅行斡旋業者のツアーに参加契約なしには取得出来ない。日本の旅行代理店も、すべてブータンの現地エイジェント
との了解なしには動けないなど、自国の商業活動を手厚く保護している。ブータン国内滞在中は1日、一人、最低
250ドルの金を支払うこことを要求され、それがブータン入国の要件でもある。ここで低予算の個人旅行者は排除され、
政府と業者とが一体化した半鎖国状態が続いている。
Bhutan is the first nation to prohibit the sale of tobacco. As a Buddhist
country, most oppose tobacco on the
religious grounds. Few of the county's 700,000 people actually consume
tobacco, making it one of the lowest
smoking-rate countries in the world.
However, the tobacco control law bans smoking in the most of a public place;
like restaurants, it does not restrict
smoking in a guest room in hotels. The government does not have the distinct
ability to consider the health hazard
from the tobacco smoke contamination, that remains in wall, carpet, curtain
and textile fabrics after cigarette has
been extinguished. This risk can be much higher at the old building, like
at hotels, which have been in use for a
tourist smoker. No hotel in Bhutan designates their guest rooms are smoking
or non-smoking. According to a travel
agent, a tourist can freely smoke at all hotel guest rooms. Therefore,
when you visit Bhutan, you have to aware
the health risk caused from a frequent smoking inside hotel rooms.
In Bhutan, nobody can obtain a visa to the country, unless you pay an air
ticket fee to Druk Air, the sole carrier
of the Royal Government of Bhutan, and also to pay to an authorized Bhutan's
travel agent, which provides
a tour guide and accommodation. This rule, which is never seen in most
countries, is applied for all tourists.
Th country is still partly in national isolation, and it is a Bhutan's
way of the impact from tourism low, and earning
from it high, maintaining a long-standing system of requiring each visitor
to spend at the minimum of $250 a day,
while staying in the land of Bhutan. As a result, budget travelers were
excluded from a chance to visit a Buddhist
country in Himalaya.
Article was written by Junhaku Miyamoto, M.D.,PhD, in January 2012.
Third-hand smoking 三次喫煙解説
2011年11月執筆 2012年1月加筆
「禁煙席ネット」 主宰 日本禁煙学会認定専門医 医学博士 宮本順伯
本文および写真の著作権は宮本順伯に帰属
写真複写禁止
★「禁煙席ネット」へのリンクは自由
The articles were written in November 2011, by Junhaku Miyamoto, M.D.,PhD.
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