Groups want liquor sellers to be held accountable for alcohol-related road accidents

[webfact]

Groups want liquor sellers to be held accountable

By The Nation

 

FILE photo

 

CIVIL SOCIETY has demanded that bars and restaurants take responsibility for alcohol-related road accidents, emphasising that it is high time law-enforcers dust off a long-ignored law.

 

Section 29 of the 2008 Alcohol Control Act makes shops liable to a one-year jail term, a fine of Bt20,000 or both for selling alcohol to people who are already drunk.

 

However, the law is rarely enforced and alcohol retailers are never prosecuted, Songkran Pakchokdee, director of the Stop Drink Network, said yesterday. He said alcohol companies had been lobbying policymakers to impose punishment solely on drunk drivers involved in alcohol-related accidents. “When a high-ranking police officer recently mentioned enforcing the [dram shop] law, the industry went silent,” Songkran said. 

 

“Although we have had [the law as] a preventive tool in place for 10 years, it is not enforced. We have to see if this law will be used during this New Year holiday season. Otherwise we will continue to count the number of dead and injured like we have been doing,” he said.

 

Tackling road accidents has long been on the national agenda, but little has been achieved. In the past 10 years, 3,000-4,500 people have been injured and 350-450 killed in road accidents every year during major long holidays like Songkran and New Year, said Chuwit Jantaros, coordinator of Alcohol Watch. He said alcohol retailers must take responsibility for the deaths and injuries caused by their drunken customers. 

 

When an alcohol-related accident takes place, we should be able to trace it to the store or restaurant and punish them for selling more drinks to drunk customers, Chuwit said. 

 

“This will ensure that the vendors take more responsibility. They shouldn’t just aim to boost sales without caring how likely the customers are [to cause accidents],” he said.

 

Chuwit advised booze shops to buy a device to check the blood-alcohol level of their customers. 

 

“These days, a breathalyser is very affordable. All shops should use the device to help their customers return home safely and avoid breaking the law,” he said.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30361386

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-12-31

[kannot]

Groups  should hold  themselves  accountable instead.

Only one  person is responsible, how  hard  can it  be ? "the  consumer"

[smedly]

18 minutes ago, kannot said:

Groups  should hold  themselves  accountable instead.

Only one  person is responsible, how  hard  can it  be ? "the  consumer"

totally agree and also the police for not doing their jobs to make a reasonable effort (365 days a year) in detecting those that insist on driving while drunk, ultimately it is the chance of being caught and the severe penalties they will receive that are the best deterrent

[Prairieboy]

Typical - blame anyone or anything except yourself - don't accept responsibility for your actions.  Have the bar owners and liquor vendors do the policing!  A breathalyzer in every 7-Eleven!!

[kannot]

1 hour ago, smedly said:

totally agree and also the police for not doing their jobs to make a reasonable effort (365 days a year) in detecting those that insist on driving while drunk, ultimately it is the chance of being caught and the severe penalties they will receive that are the best deterrent

Just  passed  2 r soles near my house, clear road 5 am, both overloaded pick ups, 2  separate incidents, both in the central ditch, always  laugh when I see them.

Dont ask what I was doing out at 5  am but she said she was a bitch and she was right..........bloody dogs

[Prairieboy]

This may work for cars - not sure about motorcycles.

https://www.intoxalock.com/ignition-interlock-devices/drunk-driving-prevention/

[YetAnother]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Chuwit advised booze shops to buy a device to check the blood-alcohol level of their customers. 

face it, they want to outlaw alcohol

[stanleycoin]

How Thai is this.

Blame someone else.

Carry on Thailand. 

 

 

 

Edited December 30, 2018 by stanleycoin

[ChipButty]

Stop selling drink that would really finish tourism then we can all live happy ever after

[OneMoreFarang]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

However, the law is rarely enforced and ...

The law? Most laws in Thailand are rarely enforced and that is the main reason why many people don't care about them. Or in short: TiT

[faraday]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

blood-alcohol level of their customers.  

Get the retailer to check when he thinks someone who is pished up, & probably a bit belligerent.

 

Yes mate.

 

*Faraday does shakes his wrist ( circulations poor)

Edited December 30, 2018 by faraday
too many biscuits...

[Lungstib]

Maybe this 'law' should be extended and crashes caused by the sober should be blamed on the vehicle maker. Makes about as much sense. 

[rkidlad]

As a person who believes we are all ultimately responsible for our actions, Thailand can be a hard place to live in. Reminds me of a local girl who told me she drove home drunk. I told her how stupid drink driving is and how she could have injured or killed someone. She looked at me shocked and disappointed with my attitude and said, “Killed or injured someone? What about me?!”. 

 

Only way to make selfish and irresponsible people learn is by giving them no other choice. 

 

 

[Darcula]

What liquor sellers? All I see is advertisements for soda water.

[Megasin1]

lol...the shop owners who sell the alcohol to the thais that have driven to their store drunk in order to get too drunk to drive safely can then sue the previous bar, shop owner or refrigerator that supplied the beer to the irate drunk Thai driver that shoots the shop owner for refusing to sell him more beer.....I really like that they have drunk driving...that's ok...but only driving too drunk to drive safely is not ok...where exactly is that line ?

[zzaa09]

Might this proposed agenda include local home brew sellers?

[quandow]

Hasn't this drum been beaten too many times already? Blame the gun retailer for the mass shootings, blame the tree limb for the lynchings, blame anyone BUT the person who knowingly drank too much. I grow weary of the bullshit.

[Hayduke]

 

That's like holding food retailers responsible for people who eat too much.

 

 

Edited December 31, 2018 by Hayduke

[bkkbudddy]

Greetings,

Police are doing an excellent job enforcing the roads!  Also, you can't blame the bars and restaurants because New Year holidays are the busiest time of the year interms of making money selling liquors! 

[hobz]

I have this radical idea that the drunk drivers should be held responsible. And maybe the incompetent traffic police, they have blood on their hands.

 

I was extremely tired yesterday and was let through a useless checkpoint without having to blow.. I must have looked Drunk yet they let me go without checking. They are useless and lazy.

[Old Croc]

Even the story's accompanying picture is BS.

It should look like this:

 

 

[Lupatria]

4 hours ago, kannot said:

Groups  should hold  themselves  accountable instead.

Only one  person is responsible, how  hard  can it  be ? "the  consumer"

Phase 2:
Somchai massacred his five family members after watching “A Nightmare on Elm Street”. The newly formed group “Guardians of Morality” urges authorities to hold Wes Craven, who created the character of Freddie Krueger, as well as the producers and seller of the DVD responsible for the murder. The Chinese manufacturer of his DVD player was cleared of any wrongdoing.
 

[robblok]

Just let the cops do a better job, 

[Puchaiyank]

12 minutes ago, Lupatria said:

Phase 2:
Somchai massacred his five family members after watching “A Nightmare on Elm Street”. The newly formed group “Guardians of Morality” urges authorities to hold Wes Craven, who created the character of Freddie Krueger, as well as the producers and seller of the DVD responsible for the murder. The Chinese manufacturer of his DVD player was cleared of any wrongdoing.
 

I'm beginning to understand why gun, knives, smokes, alcohol and even mild forms of nudity are censored on Thai TV programming...as Jack Nicholson said in "A Few Good  Men"..."You can't handle the truth".

Edited December 31, 2018 by Puchaiyank

[Assurancetourix]

4 hours ago, kannot said:

Groups  should hold  themselves  accountable instead.

Only one  person is responsible, how  hard  can it  be ? "the  consumer"

Maybe it's too difficult for thai to understand that ?

 

I never drink alcool , but I have a lot of alcool bottles in my house  ;

find the mistake ..

 

Some of them are for decoration because the bottles are very beautiful and some others are for my friends who drink alcools while I drink orange juice .

[alation]

2 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

The law? Most laws in Thailand are rarely enforced and that is the main reason why many people don't care about them. Or in short: TiT

I think that's one of the main reasons expats live and or come to Thailand for the very reason of the lack thereof of enforcement of the law I think that the westerners enjoy that freedom yet they whinge all the time about what the authorities are or are not doing.

 

SO JUST LET THAILAND BE THAILAND. 

Come on leave it behind you and step right into 2019 happy and confident you are happy in Thailand God Bless and 

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL 

[kannot]

1 hour ago, rkidlad said:

As a person who believes we are all ultimately responsible for our actions, Thailand can be a hard place to live in. Reminds me of a local girl who told me she drove home drunk. I told her how stupid drink driving is and how she could have injured or killed someone. She looked at me shocked and disappointed with my attitude and said, “Killed or injured someone? What about me?!”. 

 

Only way to make selfish and irresponsible people learn is by giving them no other choice. 

 

 

dead  people  have  no  regrets

[jingjai9]

One thing that can be changed is the manner in which alcohol is served in Thailand. Many times I will sit and chat with friends while we have a few beers. The servers stand close by and keep the glasses full. It you are in a conversation having a good time, it is easy to not notice exactly how many bottles of beer you consumed personally. Since blood alcohol level is the metric used, legally drunk varies from person to person. The bigger people can consume more than small people. You cannot go by how you feel. If I have one beer after a long day when I am tired, I feel intoxicated, but I would not be legally drunk. You need to know the quantity you consumed.

[Aussieroaming]

If they were made to pass an IQ Test in order to drive then the roads would be empty.

[IAMHERE]

What they need to do is restrict the hours alcohol can be sold.