Hong Kong’s new smoking rules just kicked in. Is everyone sticking to them?

Some smokers are still lighting up at bus stops in Hong Kong despite new rules banning them from doing so while queuing, the South China Morning Post has observed, with authorities saying they have stepped up inspections at tourist spots and ramped up promotion efforts.

The new rules that took effect on Thursday included a ban on anyone smoking at designated boarding points for public transport when waiting in a queue of two or more people.

But on the first day of the policy, a Post reporter spotted someone smoking as he lined up with several people at a bus stop along Tsim Sha Tsui’s Canton Road.

The man, a freelance worker who only gave his name as Ray, said he was unaware of the new rules. “I just passed by and lit a cigarette,” he said when approached, before walking away.

Meanwhile, Matthew Ong, 38, a lawyer visiting from the Philippines, avoided breaking the rules while smoking an e-cigarette, as no one else was waiting at the bus stop near the Star Ferry Pier.

He said he learned about the ban from an earlier Post report, but was unfazed by the change as a tourist.

“No one has ever accosted me to tell me ‘Hey, you cannot smoke here’ … I have never been fined,” Ong said, adding that he had travelled to Hong Kong more than 50 times to visit family in the city.

The lawyer also said he believed doubling the fine for smoking-related offences to HK$3,000 (12,000 baht) was having a deterrent effect, as he was already keeping an eye out for no-smoking signs.

In addition to the ban on smoking while queuing, authorities have clamped down on people lighting up while entering venues such as cinemas, sports facilities and theme parks.

Statutory no-smoking areas have also been extended to within three metres of entrances or exits for childcare centres, residential care homes, schools, hospitals and designated clinics or health centres.

Manny Lam Man-chung, head of the Tobacco and Alcohol Control Office, said on Thursday morning that officers had conducted inspections in Tsim Sha Tsui and had not observed anyone violating the law.

“The morning operation went pretty smoothly, [our officers] did not encounter anyone who failed to cooperate,” Lam said.

The office assigned 10 to 20 officers to inspect tourist hotspots, as well as locations previously mentioned in complaints about smoking in non-designated areas.

Lam said the office was targeting tourists as part of its information campaign to ensure that they were made aware of the new rules before arriving in the city.

“We would like to enhance [tourists’] awareness when they are travelling in Hong Kong. In fact, we maintain very close communication and a relationship with the hotel and tourism sector,” he said.

The promotion efforts include pamphlets and advertisements at hotels and various border checkpoints.

Lam said that authorities were also engaging with social media users to get the word out about the policy change. He stressed fines would apply to residents and tourists alike.

Under the new rules, smoking is still allowed near rubbish bins unless they are inside non-smoking spaces.

Lam said the office was talking to the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department about removing bins placed next to bus stops, and pledged to review whether more bins should be removed from streets.

Out in Tsim Sha Tsui, a mainland Chinese tourist, who only gave their name as Driva, said he knew about some of the rules on designated smoking areas as he had visited the city several times before.

“It’s always been like this, hasn’t it?” the 25-year-old dance teacher said, adding the increased fine was definitely a deterrent.

But Driva said he was initially unaware of the latest measures, but would make sure to abide by them.

The Post also observed signs being put up at public hospitals and other facilities that warned of the new fines and stated: “smoking is prohibited within three metres outside this entrance or exit”.

Source – Bangkok News