"Thou shalt not sell drink" - Pattaya police enforcing 48 hour booze ban

[rooster59]

"Thou shalt not sell drink" - Pattaya police enforcing 48 hour booze ban

 

Image: Sophon Cable TV

 

Sophon Cable TV reported on Facebook that Pattaya station chief Pol Col Apichai Krobpetch and his men swung into determined action at one minute past midnight yesterday to enforce the 48 hour ban on alcohol sales at the resort. 

 

Pattaya's finest were seen all over Walking Street in South Pattaya and in other bar areas ensuring that the government's orders were being strictly adhered to.

 

The ban was in force for the Asanha Bucha holiday that is the start of Buddhist Lent. 

 

Sophon said that alcohol checkpoints were also set up on roads in Pattaya. 

 

Alcohol will be on sale again from midnight tonight (Saturday). 

 

Source: Sophon Cable TV

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2018-07-28

[colinneil]

Thou shall not sell drink../.Said the drunken policeman, just slip mine in a plain bag so people think i am drinking juice.

[bluesofa]

32 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

Sophon said that alcohol checkpoints were also set up on roads in Pattaya. 

Go on then, how does that work?

 

Does it mean drink-driving checkpoints - unclear reporting, or is this some new idea of the religious police?

Checking the vehicle entirely for illegal alcohol - even though it isn't illegal?

Do any passengers smell of alcohol - even though you can still drink, as long as you didn't buy it on the "dry" days?

 

[marko kok prong]

Wow,look like a determined bunch,determined to get some cash in the old sky rocket.

[Henrik Andersen]

all respect to Buddha but yesterday I see only Thai people drinking tourists can't buy a beer but Thai people can't just buy the day before and party with alcohol and driving home it is a sick law 

it have to be Thai people can't drink

[ronrat]

Buy it the day before and put in the fridge. Not really all that hard.

[goegoe]

Road checkpoints ? Where, I drove around and didn't see any.

 

 

[Pattaya28]

5 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Pattaya's finest were seen all over Walking Street

Good use of resources.

[IAMHERE]

1 hour ago, ronrat said:

Buy it the day before and put in the fridge. Not really all that hard.

Hard for the tourist that is just arriving though.

[lanista]

First time in nearly twenty years i havent been able to buy some booze from a mom / pop store  in BKK.

Theyre definitely enforcing  the ban.

I wonder what newly arrived thirsty tourists think about it?

[balo]

I only drink 3 bottles of beer per week so no big deal. Enjoying my espresso instead.

[Gold Star]

47 minutes ago, goegoe said:

Road checkpoints ? Where, I drove around and didn't see any.

 

 

Theppraya and Pratumnak, for example was one last night, and probably tonight as well.

[Henrik Andersen]

3 hours ago, ronrat said:

Buy it the day before and put in the fridge. Not really all that hard.

only expats now this 

the other 99% tourists  don't know 

but for me it is clear Thai people don't respect their own religion and stop drinking on days like this so what is the point to continue this law because it only the tourist it target 

so my opinion the law needs change from can't sell alcohol to can't drink alcohol or better just abandon the law 

[Billy Bloggs]

Could buy in my town as long as you had the cant see into bag.

 

[fullcave]

12 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Alcohol will be on sale again from midnight tonight (Saturday). 

Sorry, no alcohol sales after midnight by orders of the nanny.

 

Will have to wait until 11:00 the following day. 

 

Alcohol sales permitted from 11:00 - 2:00 and 17:00 - 24:00

[goegoe]

6 hours ago, Gold Star said:

Theppraya and Pratumnak, for example was one last night, and probably tonight as well.

 

Checkpoint on Tapraya is usual, but didn't see anywhere else yesterday and tonight.

 

 

[AhFarangJa]

22 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Sophon Cable TV reported on Facebook that Pattaya station chief Pol Col Apichai Krobpetch and his men swung into determined action at one minute past midnight yesterday to enforce the 48 hour ban on alcohol sales at the resort. 

 

Pattaya's finest were seen all over Walking Street in South Pattaya and in other bar areas ensuring that the government's orders were being strictly adhered to.

Isn't it a shame that they cannot show the same due diligence the rest of the year to enforce the Countries Laws on the roads, and elsewhere.....might help to lower some statistics....?

Edited July 29, 2018 by AhFarangJa

[NanLaew]

19 hours ago, Henrik Andersen said:

all respect to Buddha but yesterday I see only Thai people drinking tourists can't buy a beer but Thai people can't just buy the day before and party with alcohol and driving home it is a sick law 

it have to be Thai people can't drink

But it is not a ban on drinking alcohol. Never has been. Maybe you need to get your head around how Buddhism doesn't mandate or dictate how you should behave, it only advises. Where do you think the uniquely Thai admonishment, "Up to you?" started?

 

It is a ban on buying/serving alcohol. Tough titty if tourists didn't know about it and didn't stock up the day before like thousands of savvy foreigners do every time there's a religious holiday. As for the locals, well, last time I looked, it's THEIR country, THEIR laws and THEIR religion so I tend to let them just get on with it and make my own accommodations for it... like thousands of other savvy foreigners in LOS.

 

15 hours ago, Henrik Andersen said:

only expats now this 

the other 99% tourists  don't know 

but for me it is clear Thai people don't respect their own religion and stop drinking on days like this so what is the point to continue this law because it only the tourist it target 

so my opinion the law needs change from can't sell alcohol to can't drink alcohol or better just abandon the law 

And we all know how well received your opinion will be. The locals, especially those of the poorer demographic will easily spend their last penny on a spontaneous purchase of lao khao or a beer. It  a cultural trait that the ruling classes leverage to make it appear they have a real concern for the well being of the peasants. By removing the obvious means to this 'temptation', the religious leaders hope to keep the great unwashed on the straight(er) and narrow(er)... and look good in the process.

 

But taking your ridiculous proposition to it's conclusion, how exactly would you plan on implementing and enforcing a ban on alcohol consumption? I can see a whole lot of thought went into your suggested solution.

 

Anyway, who died made you arbiter of religious matters here?

[overherebc]

21 hours ago, ronrat said:

Buy it the day before and put in the fridge. Not really all that hard.

Your beer or mixer might be if the fridge is too cold though, hard that is. ?

[LennyW]

Going by the Thais on the beaches at Banchang Friday and Saturday i thought it was mandatory start 07,00 flat out drinking days!!, just watch out for the carnage when they all leave here tomorrow after 4 days on the binge!!

[Henrik Andersen]

3 hours ago, NanLaew said:

But it is not a ban on drinking alcohol. Never has been. Maybe you need to get your head around how Buddhism doesn't mandate or dictate how you should behave, it only advises. Where do you think the uniquely Thai admonishment, "Up to you?" started?

 

It is a ban on buying/serving alcohol. Tough titty if tourists didn't know about it and didn't stock up the day before like thousands of savvy foreigners do every time there's a religious holiday. As for the locals, well, last time I looked, it's THEIR country, THEIR laws and THEIR religion so I tend to let them just get on with it and make my own accommodations for it... like thousands of other savvy foreigners in LOS.

 

And we all know how well received your opinion will be. The locals, especially those of the poorer demographic will easily spend their last penny on a spontaneous purchase of lao khao or a beer. It  a cultural trait that the ruling classes leverage to make it appear they have a real concern for the well being of the peasants. By removing the obvious means to this 'temptation', the religious leaders hope to keep the great unwashed on the straight(er) and narrow(er)... and look good in the process.

 

But taking your ridiculous proposition to it's conclusion, how exactly would you plan on implementing and enforcing a ban on alcohol consumption? I can see a whole lot of thought went into your suggested solution.

 

Anyway, who died made you arbiter of religious matters here?

OK boss 

[mikebell]

On 7/28/2018 at 4:17 PM, lanista said:

First time in nearly twenty years i havent been able to buy some booze from a mom / pop store  in BKK.

Theyre definitely enforcing  the ban.

I wonder what newly arrived thirsty tourists think about it?

Not much.  My family- two grown-up daughters/son arrived for a family holiday.  They were amazed that Buddhist beliefs could be inflicted on non-Buddhists.

[Peterw42]

10 minutes ago, mikebell said:

Not much.  My family- two grown-up daughters/son arrived for a family holiday.  They were amazed that Buddhist beliefs could be inflicted on non-Buddhists.

Isnt that the same as religious days/holidays in the west ? Buddhists cant buy alcohol on Christmas day etc.

[sammieuk1]

The tourists now staggering from bar to bar from memory and boredom.?

[Vacuum]

1 hour ago, mikebell said:

Not much.  My family- two grown-up daughters/son arrived for a family holiday.  They were amazed that Buddhist beliefs could be inflicted on non-Buddhists.

How can anyone prove that they are non-Buddhists?

[lanista]

Pattaya cops put far more effort into enforcing childish alcohol bans than they do stopping the massive yaba drug market in Chonburi.  You cant take those clowns seriously. Its all about money not the law.

[bluesofa]

1 hour ago, Vacuum said:

How can anyone prove that they are non-Buddhists?

Going into Starbucks and asking them to make you one with everything, without smiling?

 

[mikebell]

22 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

Isnt that the same as religious days/holidays in the west ? Buddhists cant buy alcohol on Christmas day etc.

No.  Here alcohol has a blanket ban even if the restaurant/bar is open. In the West anyone over 18 can buy alcohol if the shop/bar is open.

[Horace]

On 7/28/2018 at 4:17 PM, lanista said:

First time in nearly twenty years i havent been able to buy some booze from a mom / pop store  in BKK.

Theyre definitely enforcing  the ban.

I wonder what newly arrived thirsty tourists think about it?

These restrictions are really silly, and they do seem to be getting tighter.  Not sure why.  More days are subject to bans and the rule about the hours when alcohol can be sold make no sense.  They don't reduce teenage drinking or alcoholism generally, but they do annoy tourists.

 

Thailand's excise tax system on alcoholic beverages is another example of this silliness. Although they seem to be aimed at protecting local liquor barons, I don't see how they even achieve that goal.  If health is the issue, this is accomplished by imposing a lower excise tax on wine and beer since you want to discourage the drinking of hard alcohol and nudge people in the direction of drinking lower alcohol beer and wine. 

 

But in Thailand, high octane lao-kao is sold for a pittance while a ridiculously high excise tax is imposed on wine.  Why?  Tourists don't come here for cheap Thai liquor (although some might try a sip for kicks), but even "quality tourists" will often want some wine with their dinner.  They find the high prices annoying, and its just another aspect of Thailand that puts them off.  

 

I don't get it.  Its not like the local liquor barons are going to lose business because Thai men (and it typically is men, but not always) are going to switch from lao-kao to wine.

 

Edited July 31, 2018 by Horace

[bristolgeoff]

what u don't see outside of town quite soi stays they.in town everything shut