Digital Economy and Society Minister Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn said on Friday he would continue efforts to legalise e-cigarettes, which were safer than tobacco and would bring in added tax revenue.
He confirmed his position when he met a group of people campaigning for legalisation at his ministry on Friday.
Mr Chaiwut said legalisation of e-cigarettes would enable the country to tax sales and would provide people who found themselves unable to quit smoking with a safer option.
He would form a working group to study legalisation and invite people to sign in support of a request next month that the Constitutional Court rule if the ban on imports of e-cigarettes violated people's rights, especially the right to have access to less dangerous products.
Later, there would be forums and seminars to expand public knowledge about e-cigarettes, Mr Chaiwut said.
The minister was insistent he had no vested interest in legalising vaping.
