Thai tobacco maker plans cheap cigarettes to offset new tax

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand's state tobacco company said Saturday that it would launch a new, cheaper brand of cigarettes to keep smokers from rolling their own or buying illegally imported untaxed ones due to higher prices from a recently imposed tax hike.

According to Daonoi, there are 10.5 to 11 million smokers in Thailand.

"Producing cheap cigarettes that are affordable to the poor and the young is a strategy common to all tobacco manufacturers, whether private or state-owned, to keep tobacco products affordable in order to keep poor people addicted, entice young people to start smoking, and ultimately to maintain industry profits," he said.