15 February 2026
By Chansomanita Meung – CamNess
In October 2025, Cambodia announced a regulation on tobacco control to comprehensively ban the import, sale, advertisement and consumption of the electronic smoking devices (ESDs).
This decision was a significant public health milestone and built on a government circular in 2014 that prohibited the import, sale and use of e-cigarettes.
The key question now is whether the ban can be sustained in practice amid online sales, cross-border supply and youth-oriented marketing.
Legislation alone is insufficient without health promotion and public awareness efforts. When the public is unclear about the harm and illegality of ESDs, demand can persist and informal sellers can continue operating.
ESDs are battery-powered products that deliver nicotine or other substances through an inhaled aerosol. ESDs such as e-cigarettes and vape pens have been increasingly accessible in Southeast Asia, especially among the young.
In Cambodia, the latest 2022 Global Youth Tobacco Survey found that about 0.9 percent of students aged 13–15 reported current electronic cigarette use.
It is estimated that the number and trend has continued to increase as the e-commerce platforms have faciliated discreet buying and selling. Youths and young adults are particularly attractive to e-cigarette companies because early nicotine initiation increases the likelihood of long-term consumption.
Flavoured products, social media marketing and sleek device design lower perceived risk and align vaping with lifestyle identity rather than addiction.
ESDs were introduced as the “safer alternatives to cigarettes”. This narrative has shaped regulatory hesitation across the globe. Yet emerging evidence suggests that vaping often complements rather than replaces cigarette use,sustaining nicotine dependence while expanding exposure among younger populations.
Within months of the newly announced regulation, police confiscated more than 2000 vape‑related products in the central area of Phnom Penh.
Although nationally representative statistics are limited, the continued online availability and repeated confiscations suggest persistent demand despite the ban.
An investigation from Cambodia Movement for Health (CMH), found that there is still a large demand and supply ESDs through e-commerce such as social media platfroms, where unregulated informal vendors still advertise these products despite prohibitions.
From a legal perspective, vaping laws in Southeast Asia show different approaches — from bans to regulated markets — rather than a coordinated regional policy, reflecting differing public health priorities and economic considerations.
However, Singapore demonstrated a bold stand on prohibition and strong enforcement on ESDs, anchored in framing ESDs as a public health threat.
Bringing e-vaporisers into Singapore is illegal and punishable by fines, enforcement actions against transport operators and deportation for convicted foreign nationals.
This sustained enforcement results from joint efforts. The Ministry of Health warns the public on the serious consequences of ESDs, the Health Sciences Authority enforces the nationwide ban, the Health Promotion Board runs education and health promotion campaigns, and the Ministry of Education incorporates awareness-raising material into the school curriculum.
To sustain the ban and solve the policy gap, there is a need to reinforce the implementation of the law through a clear coordination across ministries and subnational bodies.
Given that the sales and purchases are visibly online, enforcement also needs to cooperate with the social media commerce to trace the supply, monitor and take down any ESD advertisements.
Tighter law enforcement can produce a “displacement effect”, where sales and purchase are being made in the shadows, which could affect the law implementation. Hence, health promotion should be put in place not as a complementary strategy but as the foundation of effective ESD control.
Preventive approaches shape social norms, limit exposure, and reduce demand before harmful behaviours become normalized.
Article 13 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), aimed to limit the exposure to smoking by calling for comprehensive advertising bans to reduce tobacco demand. In accordance with this, Sweden with the lowest smoking rate in the EU, has almost completely bannedtobacco products in many public settings and communications media.
With the limited smoking visibility, it became less socially acceptable to smoke publicly, which eventually led to a decline. In contrast, delayed or partial regulation allows new ESDs to gain cultural and social legitimacy that is difficult to reverse.
The cost of delaying action on ESDs will accumulate over time. As using ESDs becomes normalised among adolescents, nicotine dependence is locked in for future decades, translating into higher rates of non-communicable diseases and rising health costs.
Poor law enforcement and fragmented coordination also narrow policy space, as expanding markets and entrenched commercial interests make regulation politically and administratively more difficult.
Chansomanita Meung is an Australia Awards Scholar and a Master of Public Health student at Queensland University of Technology (QUT).