Life in Bali: Smoking (From Bali With Love)

Smoking is quite common in Indonesia. Most people here smoke and they smoke everywhere: public places, transport, etc. I remember the first time I came to Indonesia, I was getting off of my plane in Jakarta and walking down the terminal to baggage claim and I thought to myself that I smelled cigarettes. I looked around and realized, people were lighting up their cigarettes, left and right...in the AIRPORT terminal! haha It was too funny to me. Definitely different from America. 

Another difference here is cigarettes advertisements are on tv and billboards. Music events, concerts and contests are sponsored by cigarette companies as well. I don't know about the rest of the world, but I do know many countries ban such advertising. 

The popular local brand of cigarettes here are clove cigarettes called rokok kretek. They smell sweet, due to the clove, and burn very slow compared to other brand cigarettes. But for all you tourist smokers, imported brands can also be found here, such as Marlboro.

Another shock here for me, is there is no real age limit for smoking or drinking so, occasionally, I've seen a young (around 12 years old) boy hanging out at the bar, drinking and smoking. 

Indonesia, now however, is starting to put smoking bans into place for public areas, playgrounds and government buildings. I really don't see a big ban of smoking in Indonesia's future, but hey, it could happen. Only time will tell.