Jakarta – When the Health Ministry recently pledged to restrict tobacco advertising, it was met by widespread skepticism. That's hardly surprising, given the degree to which cigarettes are ingrained in our society and economy.

We are one of the most "free-smoking" places in the world in an age when many other countries have sharply curtailed public use. Cigarettes are plentiful and cheap, with smokers able to light up with impunity almost anywhere.

Belief in the power of big tobacco to keep the country smoking was also reinforced by last year's "missing clause" scandal, in which a statement declaring tobacco an addictive substance disappeared from the 2009 Health Law.

But do tobacco companies themselves wield undue influence to keep Indonesians puffing away? One source from inside the tobacco lobby says it has had a sophisticated and mostly secret lobbying operation at work for years.

"More than a decade ago, each tobacco company appointed two or three employees to be part of a joint task force to study the threats the industry will face in the future," the source claimed. "Each company also pledged to provide unlimited funds for lobbying."

As a result, say health activists, health costs and illness are rising, and Indonesia is the butt of criticism for failing to ratify the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

"Indonesia is a Disney World for the tobacco industry," the WHO's Douglas Bettcher says.