Our Latin America coverage discussed "full bans," but parts of Southeast Asia take enforcement a step further — this isn't administrative penalty territory, it's criminal law with real prison time on the table. Thailand and Singapore are the two clearest examples of this model.
Thailand: enforcement hit an all-time high in 2026
Thailand has banned vaping entirely since 2014 — import, sale, possession, and use are all illegal across the full chain. The ban has been in force for over a decade, but enforcement intensity in 2026 reached unprecedented levels: Thai police established a dedicated E-Cigarette Control Centre on June 29, 2026, and ran a nationwide enforcement operation from July 1-15, backed by a public reporting hotline. Just before that operation, over 120,000 vape products were seized and 690 people arrested in a single week.
Penalties:
- Import: falls under the Customs Act, up to 10 years imprisonment
- Sale: up to 5 years imprisonment, fines up to 500,000 baht
- Public use: fines up to 30,000 baht (roughly $900) or up to 1 year imprisonment
Heat-not-burn products (HNB, like IQOS) are banned in Thailand too, under the identical penalty framework as vapes — the opposite pattern from Japan, where vaping is restricted but HNB is legal. This distinction matters for evaluating whether HNB could work as a substitute product path into a given market — the logic doesn't transfer directly from one country to another.
Singapore: also a full ban
Singapore's stance mirrors Thailand's — a full ban on import, sale, and use, with equally strict enforcement. Multiple travel and compliance guides list Singapore and Thailand together as the two strictest enforcement environments in Southeast Asia.
An easily overlooked risk: transit and transshipment
The strictness in these markets isn't limited to local sale — transit shipments carry risk too. Several sources note that vape products can be treated similarly to controlled goods under customs classifications in parts of Southeast Asia. If a supply chain routes through Thailand or Singapore as a transshipment point — even when the final destination is elsewhere — it's worth confirming the transit leg itself doesn't trigger local regulatory exposure; "it's just passing through" isn't a safe assumption to default to.
Practical guidance for channel planning
- Thailand and Singapore currently offer no compliant operating pathway — recommend excluding them from channel planning entirely; there's no "find the compliant path" option here
- If supply chain logistics route through either country for transshipment, confirm the compliance exposure of that transit leg specifically, especially given Thailand's sharply increased 2026 enforcement
- Other Southeast Asian markets (Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam) don't necessarily follow the same model as Thailand and Singapore — don't assume the whole region behaves the same way; individual markets need separate verification, and we'll expand coverage as warranted
(General information only, not legal advice — consult a lawyer familiar with local compliance requirements before making business decisions.)