Pubdate: Fri, 6 Nov 1998 Source: Examiner, The (Ireland) Copyright: Examiner Publications Ltd, 1998 Contact: http://www.examiner.ie/ THAI MEN GIVEN IMPOTENCE WARNING ON CIGARETTE PACKS THAI men who smoke may have shrugged off threats of heart and lung disease, but a new warning appearing on cigarette packets should grab their attention - "Smoking Causes Impotence." However, not everyone believes it. "I've been smoking for 20 years, and my sex life is fine," said Somboon Thonglee, 35, a taxi driver. "I have two kids and one on the way to prove it. Unless the government is slipping something we don't know about into the cigarettes, I'm not worried." One government body, the Thai Tobacco Monopoly, is obliged to obey the regulations of another, the Health Ministry, in printing warnings on the packs of the 16 brands of cigarettes it makes. So are foreign tobacco companies. The impotence warning is the latest of 10 that are required to be rotated after every 5,000 packs. The others stress concerns ranging from passive smoking to "Smoking Leads People to Other Addictive Substances". Adulvit Kitchakarn, deputy managing director of the Tobacco Monopoly, said bringing sex into the issue was clever but could hurt sales. "This might just scare them away," he said yesterday. - --- Checked-by: Patrick Henry