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On the occasion of Valentines Day, Mr. Somsak Kiatsuranont, the President of the House of Representatives, invited Thai people who smoke to take the occasion of Valentines day (14 February) to love themselves by quitting smoking.
Mr. Somsak said that he had been a cigarette addict since he was a child. He smoked strongly, 5 6 cigarette packs per day, and he used only 2 matches a day in the morning with the second match used in case the first one did not work. He continually smoked all day and stopped smoking only when he went to bed and took a shower. Sometimes, he smoked while he was taking a shower, and he also used one hand to hold a spoon when smoking while eating. He repeated this behavior until he was 44 years old. One day at the Don Muang Airport, he stood in the sun to smoke instead of sitting in a VIP room. A senior lady walked passed him and looked at him with cynical, terrible eyes when seeing him smoking. Then, Mr. Somsak thought to himself, Why do I look ugly to other people Then he decided to quit smoking on his 44th birthday anniversary. He gave a speech to his guests, to over 300 people who came to bless him on his birthday anniversary. He said, Thank you for blessing me and bringing a lot of birthday presents. On my birthday this year, I would like to give a valuable present to myself: I will quit smoking. After he ended this speech, all 300 guests gave him loud applause as if there were over ten thousand people there. Mr. Somsak had to fight with himself several times at the beginning when quitting smoking; many times he almost surrendered back to smoking. He told himself that if he returned to smoke, he would be like a dog as he had already announced to the public that he had quit smoking.

Mr. Somsak would like to tell smokers that If you would like to know how good it is to quit smoking, please try to quit smoking and then you will know how good quitting smoking is. For me, I have already concerned. He encourages smokers to make the decision to select Valentines Day as the day to provide love for yourself by quitting smoking; this is the best way to be successful.

Prof., Dr. Prakit Vathesatogkit, the Executive Secretary of ASH Thailand said that the latest research from the US found that smokers quitting smoking at the age of 44 will have an average of 9 years longer life compared with smokers who carry on smoking. Mr. Somsak s decision to quit smoking is a very important decision in his life because quitting smoking helps him to escape the many illnesses caused by smoking and also provides him 9 years longer life. Mr. Somsak has taken the opportunity to do a good thing for himself, his family and Thai society. Therefore, now is a good time for other smokers to be thoughtful about the personal benefits of quitting in order to create will power to quit.

Request additional information, please contact:
Prof. Dr. Prakit Vathesatogkit, Action on Smoking and Health Foundation (ASH Thailand) Tel.: 0-2278-1828 / 08-1822-9799