There was a big no-smoking sign posted in the aisle of the market

No smoking sign written in Thai — Shot in Bangkok, Thailand

I walked into the dimly lit market in front of Thon Buri Railway Station. The aisles in the deserted market were laid out like a grid, and the one I was walking down was straight. As I walked forward, a large sign appeared above my head. Although I couldn't read Thai, I knew immediately what the sign was for. It was a no-smoking sign. The entire market, which is quite large, is non-smoking. I don't know if all the people who work here follow this rule, though.

According to statistics from the World Health Organization in 2016, the male smoking rate in Thailand was 41.4% and the female smoking rate was 2.3%. In Japan, the rate is 33.7% for men and 10.6% for women, so as far as men are concerned, there are more smokers than in Japan. It seems that the anti-smoking wave is coming to Thailand as well.

Anyway, the effect of pictograms is wonderful. The no-smoking sign is written only in Thai, so without the pictogram, I would not have known that the sign indicated no smoking. The expression by the pictogram can easily overcome the language barrier.

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