THAI MEN GIVEN IMPOTENCE WARNING ON CIGARETTE PACKS

THAI men who smoke may have shrugged off threats of heart and lung
disease, but a new warning appearing on cigarette packets should grab
their attention - "Smoking Causes Impotence."

However, not everyone believes it. "I've been smoking for 20 years,
and my sex life is fine," said Somboon Thonglee, 35, a taxi driver. "I
have two kids and one on the way to prove it. Unless the government is
slipping something we don't know about into the cigarettes, I'm not
worried."

One government body, the Thai Tobacco Monopoly, is obliged to obey the
regulations of another, the Health Ministry, in printing warnings on
the packs of the 16 brands of cigarettes it makes. So are foreign
tobacco companies.

The impotence warning is the latest of 10 that are required to be
rotated after every 5,000 packs. The others stress concerns ranging
from passive smoking to "Smoking Leads People to Other Addictive
Substances".

Adulvit Kitchakarn, deputy managing director of the Tobacco Monopoly,
said bringing sex into the issue was clever but could hurt sales.
"This might just scare them away," he said yesterday.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry