Tobacco and hazardous or harmful alcohol use in Thailand: Joint prevalence and associations with socioeconomic factors Wichai Aekplakorn a , Margaret C. Hogan b,c,d, ⁎ , Siriwat Tiptaradol e , Suwit Wibulpolprasert f , Porapan Punyaratabandhu g , Stephen S. Lim b,c,d a Community Medicine Center, Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Rama 6 Road, Bangkok 10400, Thailand b Setting Priorities using Information on Cost-Effectiveness (SPICE) Project, 2nd Floor, Medical Department (5th Building), Ministry of Public Health, Tiwanon Road, Nonthaburi 11000, Thailand c School of Population Health, University of Queensland, Level 2, Public Health Building, Herston Road, Brisbane, QLD 4006, Australia d Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington, 1616 Eastlake Avenue E, Suite 300, Seattle, WA 98102, USA e Food and Drug Administration, Ministry of Public Health, Tiwanon Road, Nonthaburi 11000, Thailand f Health Technical Office, Office of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Public Health, Tiwanon Road, Nonthaburi 11000, Thailand g Faculty of Public Health, Mahidol University, 20/1 Rajvithi Road, Phaya Thai, Bangkok 10400, Thailand Abstract This study estimates the individual and joint prevalence of cigarette smoking and alcohol misuse, and examines the association between these risks and socioeconomic factors in Thailand. The self-reported data on cigarette and alcohol use are from a 2004 nationally representative cross-sectional survey of 39 290 individuals aged 15 and over. Substantially more men than women were current smokers (45.8% vs. 2.3%; p b 0.001) as well as harmful (5.4% vs. 0.9%, p b 0.0001) and hazardous alcohol users (11.2% vs. 1.2%, p b 0.001). The strongest predictor of alcohol misuse was smoking, and the strongest predictor of smoking was alcohol misuse in both sexes. There was an inverse relationship between education and family income with the odds of current smoking, whereas average levels of family income (not low or high) were associated with higher odds of harmful or hazardous alcohol use. Tobacco and Available online at www.sciencedirect.com Addictive Behaviors 33 (2008) 503 – 514 ⁎ Corresponding author. Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington, 1616 Eastlake Avenue E, Suite 300, Seattle, WA 98102, USA. Tel.: +1 206 897 2827; fax: +1 206 897 2899. E-mail addresses: rawap@mahidol.ac.th (W. Aekplakorn), mchogan@u.washington.edu (M.C. Hogan), siriwat@fda.moph.go.th (S. Tiptaradol), suwit@health.moph.go.th (S. Wibulpolprasert), phppy@mahidol.ac.th (P. Punyaratabandhu), stevelim@u.washington.edu (S.S. Lim). 0306-4603/$ - see front matter © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2007.10.010