Thailand Extends Alcohol Sales Hours Nationwide

I've finally looked it up. The 11:00 am start was put in place for the same reason as the 2-5 pm prohibition. If the 2-5 pm prohibition has now been lifted why maintain the 11:00 am start which was based on the same premise?

6 minutes ago, dinsdale said:

Inside supermarket carparks? Where I am the car parks are outside. Apart from that supermarket shopping isn't always the only shopping. For instance I prefer to buy my fruit and vegetables at the market. Also I only have one car and maybe the missus is using it so I'll hop on the bike. Bottle of red or maybe vodka from Lotus then off to the market a couple of kms away and back home. Round trip a bit shy of 25 km. Again 32°C or 38°C.

All up it's a matter of being able to do this at 8:30 am rather than 11:00 am and I have seen no reason why I and others can't do this due to some antiquated law that seems to have no rational basis, if any basis at all, other than someone once said 11:00 am will be the time.

No one said it would be easy to emigrate to a foreign Country , you have to expect hardships .

Soldier on and keep fighting .

3 minutes ago, Nick Carter icp said:

No one said it would be easy to emigrate to a foreign Country , you have to expect hardships .

Soldier on and keep fighting .

Nope. It's stupid and should be scrapped . This affects Thais as well as us and it's not a "hardship" it's a ridiculous law that now has no reason for existing (see above post).

For once I'll agree with dinsdale. Ridiculous rule that doesn't make any sense. I went outside for my weekly shopping at 08.00 this morning, if I would have wanted alcoholic drinks I would have to go elsewhere or return later. Just doesn't make sense.

3 hours ago, redwood1 said:

At least the Stupid Stupid Stupid Stupid Stupid Stupid 2PM to 5PM sales ban seems to be gone..

Now the stupid pre 11am ban should go too so that I can pick up a bottle of scotch when I do my supermarket shopping, which I like to do early in the morning. You can't even browse the booze section outside of booze hours because they rope it off.

1 hour ago, dinsdale said:

Ridiculous comment that adds nothing to the discussion about the 11:00 am start.

You are the one crying about it, not me.

1 hour ago, stevenl said:

For once I'll agree with dinsdale. Ridiculous rule that doesn't make any sense. I went outside for my weekly shopping at 08.00 this morning, if I would have wanted alcoholic drinks I would have to go elsewhere or return later. Just doesn't make sense.

I did my weekly shop at 8.30 this morning.

Grabbed 2 bottles of JD and a box of Beer Lao on the way home.

Whats the issue ?

3 hours ago, dinsdale said:

Got nothing to do with that. It's about being having the ability stock up (or even buy a can of beer) before 11. Some people prefer to do their shopping earlier in the day. Obviously you don't have an answer to WHY 11:00 am?

With a convenience store on nearly every soi, a craving for a beer can be satisfied very easily if you run out.

2 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

You are the one crying about it, not me.

Pointing out that a law is redundant is not "crying about it". It's pointing out a madness of policy that the 11:00 am start of alcohol sales needs to be scrapped as there is no basis for it. The 11:00 am start to alcohol sales and the 2-5 pm prohibition were put in place at the same time for the same reasoning. I would now like to know what's the reason for maintaining the 11:00 am start having gotten rid of the 2-5 prohibition. No negative effects were found in the trial period for scrapping the 2-5. Now it's time to do the same thing for the 11:00 am start, bringing it back to 8:00 or 8:30 am (for example) for a trial period where once again IMO no negative effects will found. The only effect I can think of would be increased revenue.

As for "You are the one crying about it, not me." that's purely because you have displayed a self-centred view as shown in your previous posts.

29 minutes ago, Patong2021 said:

With a convenience store on nearly every soi, a craving for a beer can be satisfied very easily if you run out.

Depends what you mean by convenience sore. 711 is a convenience store as are mom and pop shops. One can't sell before 11 and the other can. As for M&P shops being on every corner (if M&P shops is what you're talking about ) it's not always the case in the cities but it it sure seems to be in villages where there is definitely no shortage of them. Again though M@P shops are limited when it comes to choice of stock and if someone wants to buy a bottle of something other than beer or Thai spirits when doing their shopping earlier in the morning I can't see why not. 11:00 am is a stupid as the 2-5 pm and that's GONE.

4 hours ago, johng said:

It's to 'protect the children' stop them from buying a drink on the way to school 😋

This is actually right. As I have now pointed out the 11:00 am and the 2-5 prohibition were the same law which was initially brought in to stop civil servants from getting on the booze. This changed when Thaksin reinforced it in 2004 I think it was and it became about 'protecting' school children. Both ridiculous. 2-5 gone but 11:00 am start remains in place with no reason given (as far as I have seen).

4 hours ago, dinsdale said:

9:00 am 32° C. 11:00 am 38° C. Fairly simple to discern which time is best to avoid the heat of the day.

And in the morning near empty parkings.

Makro opens at 6 o'clock 👍

5 hours ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

This law is to inconvenience the foreigner, it's to stop the drunks on soi Buakhou drinking in the morning before breakfast.

Garbage. The law was in place when Soi Bukhao was bamboo huts.

Yes, full of drunks, but Thai drunks, not a foreigner in sight, other than taking in the view from a bahtcab.

2 minutes ago, sandyf said:

Garbage. The law was in place when Soi Bukhao was bamboo huts.

Yes, full of drunks, but Thai drunks, not a foreigner in sight, other than taking in the view from a bahtcab.

Aaah, looks like I found another hater, probably one of my many phantom thumbs down members

I see you made NO attempt to pass on your knowledge to the member (dinsdale) I replied to, you're just here to antagonize.

8 minutes ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

Aaah, looks like I found another hater, probably one of my many phantom thumbs down members

I see you made NO attempt to pass on your knowledge to the member (dinsdale) I replied to, you're just here to antagonize.

The enquiry was answered several times, the law was intended to protect children.

However, there are some that cannot reist the opportunity to try and link Thai law to foreigners.

Just now, sandyf said:

The enquiry was answered several times, the law was intended to protect children.

However, there are some that cannot reist the opportunity to try and link Thai law to foreigners.

Or to put down other foreigners given the chance to do so. I also see most drinkers here as locals, being they are the large majority and also love to drink at all times of the day.

I know there are more foreigners in tourist areas, as that's where partying is mostly done, but even there are the majority of locals drinking.

Here in the country I see foreigners in bars as I walk by, along with locals, but in the villages it's almost all locals imbibing, at all times of the day. The man who was doing some work on my house asked me every day he was there for a little extra for a beer, and couldn't come back to my house to finish some work nor do any more as he was drunk.

1 hour ago, sandyf said:

Garbage. The law was in place when Soi Bukhao was bamboo huts.

I didn't realize that Soi Bukhao was just bamboo huts in 1972 when this law was enacted. Thanks for the history lesson.

Yes, now my Local Tops daily don't have to ...... I always got got 24\7

9 hours ago, dinsdale said:

Because I like to buy wine whilst doing the shopping in the morning and only the supermarkets have this where I am. Apart from that the issue remains that their seems to be no rational reason not to open at 8 or 9 for example just as there was no rational reason for the 2-5 prohibition hours.

Yes, I don't really get the point of prohibition until 11 am. Also, Im a bit mystified why this is suddenly news again during the past 24 hours. This was all announced many weeks ago and the 2-5 disappeared following the announcement. I've been buyin wine and whisky in the afternoon for many weeks. Is the 'new' news just that it has passed the Royal Gazette? Or maybe the airports, hotels and other places that got a reprieve were awaiting the formal approval? Is that what's new?

9 minutes ago, ronnie50 said:

Yes, I don't really get the point of prohibition until 11 am. Also, Im a bit mystified why this is suddenly news again during the past 24 hours. This was all announced many weeks ago and the 2-5 disappeared following the announcement. I've been buyin wine and whisky in the afternoon for many weeks. Is the 'new' news just that it has passed the Royal Gazette? Or maybe the airports, hotels and other places that got a reprieve were awaiting the formal approval? Is that what's new?

Yes. Means it has become law.

11 hours ago, Nick Carter icp said:

When would you feel the heat ?

From an air conditioned car , park inside supermarket car park , then into air conned supermarket and then back home .

When would you be in the heat ?

Well there’s the walk to and from the supermarket. And the car would get hot while in the supermarket. And then the initial walk from the house to to a car that would be hot.

So there would be some heat involved for sure, even though the bulk of the time would be in an air conditioned environment.

5 hours ago, sandyf said:

The enquiry was answered several times, the law was intended to protect children.

However, there are some that cannot reist the opportunity to try and link Thai law to foreigners.

It’s a bit strange though. I’d have thought banning alcohol sales to anyone under 18 would be the way to go. Or under 20 since 20 is the age of majority in Thailand.

Using sales hours to protect kids doesn’t work so well if they can buy alcohol after 11am. And if there is already a law prohibiting sales to under 18’s, then kids are already protected and the 11am rule is superfluous.

Anyway, it is what it is and I guess it must make sense to the Thai authorities, even if it’s a strange one to foreigners.

9 hours ago, dinsdale said:

Pointing out that a law is redundant is not "crying about it". It's pointing out a madness of policy that the 11:00 am start of alcohol sales needs to be scrapped as there is no basis for it. The 11:00 am start to alcohol sales and the 2-5 pm prohibition were put in place at the same time for the same reasoning. I would now like to know what's the reason for maintaining the 11:00 am start having gotten rid of the 2-5 prohibition. No negative effects were found in the trial period for scrapping the 2-5. Now it's time to do the same thing for the 11:00 am start, bringing it back to 8:00 or 8:30 am (for example) for a trial period where once again IMO no negative effects will found. The only effect I can think of would be increased revenue.

As for "You are the one crying about it, not me." that's purely because you have displayed a self-centred view as shown in your previous posts.

You need a tissue Bro ?

3 hours ago, ronnie50 said:

Yes, I don't really get the point of prohibition until 11 am. Also, Im a bit mystified why this is suddenly news again during the past 24 hours. This was all announced many weeks ago and the 2-5 disappeared following the announcement. I've been buyin wine and whisky in the afternoon for many weeks. Is the 'new' news just that it has passed the Royal Gazette? Or maybe the airports, hotels and other places that got a reprieve were awaiting the formal approval? Is that what's new?

It has now been made official after the completion of the 180day trial period.

20 hours ago, Peterphuket said:

You’ve probably never realised that there are people, like me, who enjoy drinking a particular type of wine that’s only available in the big shopping centres, and that those same people, like me, for example, live 50 km away from there.

When I go shopping, once a week or every ten days, I always set off at 9 o’clock, and it’s a nuisance when you can’t buy alcohol until after 11.

Right, over to you again.

Set off at 10 instead of 9. You'd get to the shops around 10:30 to 10:45 and spend an hour or so shopping or grabbing something to eat. Buy your booze well after 11 and go home. I suspect where you are shopping is air-conditioned as is your car so the heat of the day isn't an issue unless you struggle pushing a shopping cart 50 meters or so from the shop to your car, and, as you say it's only once a week or every ten days.

Improve your planning rather than stressing over booze buying times.

Face reality, you have to adapt to the country - the country isn't going to adapt to you.

20 hours ago, Peterphuket said:

You’ve probably never realised that there are people, like me, who enjoy drinking a particular type of wine that’s only available in the big shopping centres, and that those same people, like me, for example, live 50 km away from there.

When I go shopping, once a week or every ten days, I always set off at 9 o’clock, and it’s a nuisance when you can’t buy alcohol until after 11.

Right, over to you again.

Lot of me me me and I I I in that post. Do you have your own lane at the aiport?

1 hour ago, emptypockets said:

Set off at 10 instead of 9. You'd get to the shops around 10:30 to 10:45 and spend an hour or so shopping or grabbing something to eat. Buy your booze well after 11 and go home. I suspect where you are shopping is air-conditioned as is your car so the heat of the day isn't an issue unless you struggle pushing a shopping cart 50 meters or so from the shop to your car, and, as you say it's only once a week or every ten days.

Improve your planning rather than stressing over booze buying times.

Face reality, you have to adapt to the country - the country isn't going to adapt to you.

Nice try but the fact is there are other reasons e.g. less people at 8 or 9 o'clock so less cars in the car park and checkout is faster. Apart from that as I have previously pointed out the supermarket shopping may only be part of the journey. Also as I have pointed out there is no logical reason for the 11:00 am start as there was no logical reason for the 2-5 prohibition. If you can give a logical reason why the 11:00 am start has remained in place and a let's say 8 or 9 o'clock start would be somehow deleterious please share it. This isn't about "stressing over booze buying times" it's about a law that was put in place in 1972 to stop civil servants from buying alcohol before 11:00 am and during the hours of 2-5 pm.

22 hours ago, dinsdale said:

Sadly the equally "Stupid Stupid Stupid Stupid Stupid Stupid" 11:00 am start remains in place. I still haven't seen any reasoning for this ridiculously late start to sales. If anyone knows why this insanely late start to alcohol sales is in place please post it.

Plenty places to grab a beer or other booze at 6am...comes with concrete table and a continuous assortment of customers from taxi drivers seeking their lao khao to students getting there snacks...you should try it, great times to be had

59 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

Lot of me me me and I I I in that post. Do you have your own lane at the aiport?

Silly attack comment. Fact is only supermarkets in some areas stock particular alcohol items and due to an archaic law these items cannot be purchased before 11:00 am.

1 minute ago, baansgr said:

Plenty places to grab a beer or other booze at 6am...comes with concrete table and a continuous assortment of customers from taxi drivers seeking their lao khao to students getting there snacks...you should try it, great times to be had

So I can buy a bottle of red or a bottle of Absolut vodka there can I or would I have to go to a supermarket to get these?