Phnom Penh (AsiaNews) – The idyllic island of Koh Rong – surrounded by beaches, 25 km off the Cambodian coast in the Gulf of Thailand – is described as the Koh Samui of yesteryear (before billionaires took control of the Thai island some 15 years ago).
Koh Rong is now Cambodia’s leading tourist destination, after the vast Angkor Wat Archaeological Park – which covers 400 square kilometres – and the surrounding areas in the far north of the country.
It has now hit the headlines due to the Kingdom of Cambodia’s aggressive anti-smoking campaign. By the end of the year, in fact, smoking in public will be banned across the entire island, including on the dazzling white beaches that make up three-quarters of its 60-kilometre coastline. Covering 78 square kilometres, it will be the country’s largest smoke-free zone, surpassing the coastal resort of Kampot.
The Cambodian anti-smoking campaign
The transformation of Koh Rong, announced on 4 August 2026, highlights the rapid expansion of Cambodia’s ‘smoke-free cities’ strategy. From the pilot scheme launched in Kampot just three years ago, there are now already nine smoke-free cities across the country, to which Koh Rong will now be added.
Smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in Cambodia, causing over 15,000 deaths a year – ten times the number of fatalities on the country’s chaotic roads. Furthermore, it costs the economy 3 per cent of Gross Domestic Product annually due to illness, deaths and lost productivity.
Ironically, despite representing such a heavy burden on the public purse, Cambodia has the second-least-taxed tobacco sector in ASEAN, after Laos. Cambodia’s ambitious and progressive social policies often fall short when it comes to implementation, but key organisations such as the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the NGO Cambodia Movement for Health (CMH) argue that the unusually low tax rate is the most serious and dangerous flaw in the country’s anti-smoking strategy.
In Cambodia, taxes account for 25 per cent of the retail price of domestically produced cigarettes and 31 per cent of imported ones, making Cambodia the country with the cheapest cigarettes in ASEAN after Laos. This is less than half the 75 per cent recommended by the WHO and the CMH.
“Increasing taxes on tobacco products is regarded globally as a win-win strategy,” Dr Mom Kong, executive director of the CMH, told AsiaNews. “The first benefit is that the state will collect additional tax revenue. The second is the reduction in health risks caused by cigarettes, which can lead to various diseases, loss of life and disability.”
Tax rates raise issues that go beyond mere revenue. Low prices encourage a deadly habit that can lead to chronic diseases such as lung cancer and heart disease, especially amongst young people. A standard 20-cigarette packet in Cambodia costs between around 50 cents for locally produced cigarettes and $1.75 for imported brands, compared with $2.50–$4.50 across the border in Thailand. “This makes cigarettes cheaper and encourages young people to become addicted to smoking,” says Mom Kong.
Smokers halved in 25 years
Just over half of Cambodia’s population is under 25. The smoking rate among 18- to 24-year-olds is 21 per cent, according to the country’s National Institute of Public Health, significantly higher than the national average of 18.6 per cent. Over the past twenty-five years, Cambodia has halved its smoking rate, which stood at 38 per cent, thanks to a series of bold measures, significantly bolstered by a 2015 tobacco control law that gave the government the power to restrict the import, distribution, sale and advertising of tobacco products.
In the same year, the government mandated that 55 per cent of tobacco packaging must feature graphic images, such as mouth and lung cancers. Cambodia banned the import and sale of e-cigarettes and vaping devices – widely regarded by global health experts as the worst tobacco products – more than a decade ago. At the end of last year, this ban was tightened to include advertising, storage, manufacture, use, distribution and even possession.
The online market
However, these products are still widely available online. This month, the Phnom Penh military police destroyed 360,000 e-cigarettes, vapes and related accessories seized during raids carried out across the city in the first half of the year. E-cigarettes and vape devices, with their range of sweet, candy-like flavours, are widely regarded as a gateway to hard drugs for the country’s young people.
A quick Google search immediately reveals a myriad of sellers with websites or who sell via the local favourite instant messaging platform, Telegram, or on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook. “Business is good,” an online seller, who asked to remain anonymous, told AsiaNews via Telegram. “People want it, especially young people. If there is enough demand, there will always be someone willing to sell it. The government doesn’t have enough staff, and it’s easy for us to cover our tracks.”
Dr Mom Kong argues that e-cigarettes pose a particularly serious health risk to children and adolescents. “These products are specifically designed to attract young consumers through appealing flavours and designs,” he says. “Nicotine interferes with brain development, memory and learning, whilst damaging the lungs, heart, kidneys and other organs.”
He estimates that the number of active online sales sites has fallen from over 1,000 to around 200. “It’s still a major problem,” says the CMH’s executive director. “But the number continues to fall because we’re collaborating with the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications to work with the platforms to crack down on these accounts. It’s a work in progress: the battle isn’t over yet.”
