© Bangkok Post (file photo)
The survey was carried out among passengers on a total of 72 trains on four routes, according to Roengruedi Pathanwanit, deputy director of the centre.
These are the Bangkok-Chiang Mai, Bangkok-Ubon Ratchathani, Bangkok-Nong Khai and Bangkok-Hat Yai-Surat Thani routes.
Conducted last year, the research was based on interviews with 578 passengers.
Dr Roengrudi said the study aimed to find out whether the smoking ban under the 2017 Tobacco Control Act had been well observed.
The law bans smoking on on platforms and on trains, as well as banning the sale of cigarettes on trains, with a maximum penalty of 5,000 baht.
The law also imposes a maximum fine of 50,000 baht for failing to display no-smoking signs in areas designated as no-smoking zones as required under the law.
Despite laws and penalties being in place, 67.4% of respondents said they had seen people smoking on board trains, while 61.5% witnessed people selling cigarettes on trains.
About 71% of respondents said they have seen people smoking on platforms, while 33.3% said they had never noticed any no-smoking signs in the platform area or on trains.
As many as 80% of respondents didn't know smoking at station platforms or on trains was against the law.
Meanwhile, the number of smoking-related deaths continues to rise despite a gradual decrease in the number of smokers over the past decade, according to Dr Kanittha Bunthamcharoen, head of the office of the Public Health Ministry's International Health Policy Programme.
One medical study in 2014 showed 54,512 people died of diseases associated with cigarette smoking, despite publicity about the dangers.
I was standing in the entrance of The Barbican Arts Centre, London, the other day. I lit up a ciggy and a security person rushed over to me and directed me somewhere-over-yonder if I wanted to smoke. Being in a bit of a stroppy mood, I looked the guy in the eyes and just dropped a laconic "Nah, I ain't doing that, mate" and he didn't know how to react, so he ended up walking off with his tail behind his legs in a confused muddle, probably two minutes later trying to kid himself that the event hadn't happened
Most of the people put in charge of enforcing this kind of stuff, in all practicality, have no way of actually enforcing the smoking ban anyway, and let's face it, usually the kind of people who are employed to take care of such stuff are only employed on the basis that they're capable of breathing.