NOT content with being the only country in the world with a compulsory dress code, the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan is seeking another global first: to become the only nation to outlaw smoking completely.

Having already banned the sale and smoking of tobacco in all but two of its provinces, the Bhutan Government has pledged that the entire country will be free of smoking by the end of this year.

“We’ve banned smoking in public places in 18 districts. But in individual houses or behind a rock we cannot see what people are doing,” Gado Tshering, the Bhutanese Director of Health, said. “We’ve made a commitment to the World Health Organisation that Bhutan will be the first country to be tobacco-free.”

The draconian measures make much-bemoaned bans on smoking in public places in New York and elsewhere look positively liberal.

Then again, the Land of the Thunder Dragon, with a population of 750,000, is all but an absolute monarchy, allowing even the most obscure royal or governmental whims to translate almost instantly into law.

Bhutan famously held out against television until four years ago, when satellites finally brought previously unseen glimpses of the outside world into the hermit kingdom.

Among the more bizarre edicts imposed by King Jigme Singye Wangchuk is the compulsory dress code of traditional Bhutanese costume, the knee-length wraparound gho for men and the ankle-length dress known as the kira for women. Like most of Bhutan’s quirkier diktats, the dress code is intended to help to preserve the country’s unique culture from corrupting influences from abroad, a battle that has been going on for centuries.

The roots of the smoking ban go back to the 17th century when the founding father of modern Bhutan, the warrior monk Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, outlawed the use of tobacco in government buildings.

The popularity of smoking has, however, soared in recent years, some say since the advent of television made it fashionable among trendy young urban Bhutanese.

But smoking, especially at such high altitude, has led to a huge rise in respiratory ailments, prompting fears of a major public health emergency. Monks and religious leaders were enlisted to try to discourage the habit, preaching that smoking was against Buddhist scripture.

However, religion alone failed to stem the trend, prompting the more drastic solution of a total ban.

Those still hooked on the habit in the capital, Thimpu, the one place where imported cigarettes can still be bought, remain none too worried about the ban.

“You can’t stop people who want to smoke,” said one smoker, who nonetheless refused to be named. “All that this ban has done is to encourage smuggling.”

The king has yet to announce what punishment will be given to those who ignore the ban.

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