Abstract
This study is a mixed methods research between quantitative and qualitative research focusing on action that aimed to develop a Trang province tobacco control model by using healthy public pol¬icy concept. Purposive sampling was employed to recruit the target groups including: 1) 50 leaders of the central and local government and people sectors, and 2) 120 cigarette sellers and 120 restaurant owners; 240 persons, altogether. The operation comprised two phases: preparation phase and the 5 steps of healthy public policy process phase (as agenda setting, policy formulation, decision-making, policy implementation and policy evaluation). Data were collected by the survey, group discussions, and in-depth interviews, and analyzed by descriptive statistics for quantitative data, and by content and thematic analysis for qualitative data. The results showed that the model of driving public policy to tobacco control of Trang province consisted of 1) provincial network coordination, 2) team estab¬lishment, 3) exploration on the tobacco control awareness of the people, 4) the establishment of tobacco control measures in the province, 5) driving tobacco control measures into practice, as 5.1) measures to understand the law: focusing on the outreach campaign at the provincial and district levels to inform the effects of smoking in all media accessible to the public (such as location-based, radio campaigns, posters and leaflets, and 5.2) non-smoking enforcement measures: starting from government offices and expanding to public areas (such as markets, bus stations, and parks), and 6) performance evaluation. The research found the increases in the perception of non-smoking law enforcement in the restaurant without air condition, hospitals and health care services, other gov¬ernment offices and fresh markets (21.16%, 19.71%, 15.39%, and 15.16%, respectively). The cigarette sellers were more aware of the cigarette/tobacco vending law that selling cigarette to those under 18 years of age is illegal, and displaying cigarettes in the window even without seeing brands also consid-ered advertising (4.11% and 3.7%). The key success factors were identified: 1) having a non-smoking leader (the governor of Trang province himself) 2) having a dedicated and capable team to coordinate the network and 3) having a variety of communication channels. Therefore, the provincial tobacco control model requires strong public communication management to empower network partners to participate in the public policy process and to develop people to be an active citizen and care for the health and well-being of the society.
