If alcohol were illegal, would you still live here?

[Wake Up]

Yes I would leave if no alcohol allowed here. Why would anyone want to support a nanny government? 

[cnx355]

Maybe !  I do not like nanny states !

 

 

[BobBKK]

Part of life's enjoyment... a nice glass of wine.  Some like a drink, some like a smoke, some like to dress as a female and some like their own sex. Who cares? Part of the lure of living here is some freedom (which the current dinosaurs are trying to reduce). Live and let live.

[Boomhauer]

8 minutes ago, Berkshire said:

Hmmmm....since no one else will say it, here goes.  What a ridiculous question.  Why ponder something that will never happen?  It's like asking "what if they banned fast food".....or "what if they banned air conditioning"....or "what if they ban farangs from dating Thai women."  I hope the OP is not losing sleep over this because it's really an absurd notion. 

It's not such an absurd notion these days.. There is talk of the government proposing to ban the sale of alcohol throughout the entire Songkran period. This is just the tip of the iceberg IMO. If these young Thais keep on killing themselves on their dad's Honda scooters and they keep testing positive for alcohol, then that will only add fuel to the activists fire.

 

I have also noticed in recent years a general negative feeling by many locals about the consumption of alcohol, particularly the younger generation seem to have a deep dislike of alcohol and those that consume it.

 

I also don't think their will be an outright ban tomorrow, but their will definitely be more and more dry days added to the calendar in years to come.

[robblok]

8 minutes ago, Boomhauer said:

It's not such an absurd notion these days.. There is talk of the government proposing to ban the sale of alcohol throughout the entire Songkran period. This is just the tip of the iceberg IMO. If these young Thais keep on killing themselves on their dad's Honda scooters and they keep testing positive for alcohol, then that will only add fuel to the activists fire.

 

I have also noticed in recent years a general negative feeling by many locals about the consumption of alcohol, particularly the younger generation seem to have a deep dislike of alcohol and those that consume it.

 

I also don't think their will be an outright ban tomorrow, but their will definitely be more and more dry days added to the calendar in years to come.

I disagree with your reasoning, there should be many more roadside controls. That is the only way to change things. You can't say hide the fact that alcohol is dangerous. They should combat drunk driving and not alcohol. Your reasoning does not make sense.

 

I am for alcohol use (to each his own) but I am also for loads and loads more checks. Otherwise the only way to stop drunk driving is to ban alcohol. 

 

You worry too much and those dry days learn to live with them plan ahead. Just make sure you always got 6 bottles in the fridge.. stock up with you hit that limit. That way you never get caught out.

 

I don't drink much but I always got a bottle of rum  and vodka and gin in my home. 

 

You made a remark about mango juice with vodka.. i do when i want to get drunk.. but i still think without tastes better. Do you really like the taste or getting drunk.k

[fordguy61mi]

You’d need to evaluate yourself if you’d move because of alcohol. You’d have a pretty bad problem with it to let it rule your life like that.

[Boomhauer]

8 minutes ago, robblok said:

I disagree with your reasoning, there should be many more roadside controls. That is the only way to change things. You can't say hide the fact that alcohol is dangerous. They should combat drunk driving and not alcohol. Your reasoning does not make sense.

 

I am for alcohol use (to each his own) but I am also for loads and loads more checks. Otherwise the only way to stop drunk driving is to ban alcohol. 

 

You worry too much and those dry days learn to live with them plan ahead. Just make sure you always got 6 bottles in the fridge.. stock up with you hit that limit. That way you never get caught out.

 

I don't drink much but I always got a bottle of rum  and vodka and gin in my home. 

 

You made a remark about mango juice with vodka.. i do when i want to get drunk.. but i still think without tastes better. Do you really like the taste or getting drunk.k

I am all for more checks and harsher penalties for drunk drivers. 

 

I am just not for some state telling me when I can drink and when I can't.

[WorriedNoodle]

19 hours ago, Boomhauer said:

Would you still live here if they outright banned the sale/use of alcohol tomorrow?

That's like asking would you still live here if they banned water?

[Boomhauer]

13 minutes ago, robblok said:

 

You worry too much and those dry days learn to live with them plan ahead. Just make sure you always got 6 bottles in the fridge.. stock up with you hit that limit. That way you never get caught out.

 

How about when I go on holiday with my family who fly in from Europe and they can't order a glass of wine with a meal at a restaurant? How do you think they feel? And how does one plan ahead for that?

Edited March 7, 2019 by Boomhauer

[Boomhauer]

15 minutes ago, robblok said:

I disagree with your reasoning, there should be many more roadside controls. That is the only way to change things. You can't say hide the fact that alcohol is dangerous. They should combat drunk driving and not alcohol. Your reasoning does not make sense.

 

What I meant by that was when the doctors perform tests on a dead body to see if he/she was drunk or not.

[Mukdahanman]

19 hours ago, Boomhauer said:

be nice to have a cold pint at the end of a long day though? no?

Or six ????

[robblok]

1 minute ago, Boomhauer said:

How about when I go on holiday with my family who fly in from Europe and they can't order a glass of wine with a meal at a restaurant? How do you think they feel? And how does one plan ahead for that?

That is too bad for them, and if they can't live without alcohol for a day they got a serious problem. If they let something like that spoil their holiday they got a problem. I mean that is just something minor. 

 

My parents and brother did not like it got caught out a few times but did not make much of a problem about it. Joked about it being a crazy country and forgot about it and enjoyed their holiday. That would have been different had they been dependent on alcohol.

 

Contrary to me my family does like to drink, mom with gin tonic, dad with beer and rum cola and my brother with beer. They all have been here many times and got caught out.. made a comment and a joke about it and went on enjoying their holiday.

 

I seen this argument before from people who live here  using tourist as an excuse.

[Spock]

17 minutes ago, fordguy61mi said:

You’d need to evaluate yourself if you’d move because of alcohol. You’d have a pretty bad problem with it to let it rule your life like that.

What, you'd have a pretty bad problem if you would leave the country if you can't get alcohol at all? What a load of rubbish. Why would anyone who enjoys a drink in moderation want to live in a country which outlaws it, particularly one that is not their own? What is wrong with enjoying an alcoholic drink?

[robblok]

Just now, Boomhauer said:

What I meant by that was when the doctors perform tests on a dead body to see if he/she was drunk or not.

You want to hide and cover things up.. i disagree, alcohol is a problem it should be shown to be a problem and checks should be done to combat it. Not banning alcohol. 

[Boomhauer]

5 minutes ago, robblok said:

That is too bad for them, and if they can't live without alcohol for a day they got a serious problem. If they let something like that spoil their holiday they got a problem. I mean that is just something minor. 

 

My parents and brother did not like it got caught out a few times but did not make much of a problem about it. Joked about it being a crazy country and forgot about it and enjoyed their holiday. That would have been different had they been dependent on alcohol.

 

Contrary to me my family does like to drink, mom with gin tonic, dad with beer and rum cola and my brother with beer. They all have been here many times and got caught out.. made a comment and a joke about it and went on enjoying their holiday.

 

I seen this argument before from people who live here  using tourist as an excuse.

The answer is not more alcohol free days but more stringent checks by the authorities and better education on the effects of alcohol and the dangers of drink driving. Can we agree on that, robblok?

Edited March 7, 2019 by Boomhauer

[alant]

If alcohol was illegal would it still be widely available?

Is the law is observed here? 

[robblok]

5 minutes ago, Boomhauer said:

The answer is not more alcohol free days but more stringent checks by the authorities and better education on the effects of alcohol and the dangers of drink driving. Can we agree on that, robblok?

Of course we can, as i said before I am not against alcohol just against people driving drunk (and or high). That is the problem not people drinking and minding their own business. 

[dick dasterdly]

44 minutes ago, robblok said:

That is too bad for them, and if they can't live without alcohol for a day they got a serious problem. If they let something like that spoil their holiday they got a problem. I mean that is just something minor. 

 

My parents and brother did not like it got caught out a few times but did not make much of a problem about it. Joked about it being a crazy country and forgot about it and enjoyed their holiday. That would have been different had they been dependent on alcohol.

 

Contrary to me my family does like to drink, mom with gin tonic, dad with beer and rum cola and my brother with beer. They all have been here many times and got caught out.. made a comment and a joke about it and went on enjoying their holiday.

 

I seen this argument before from people who live here  using tourist as an excuse.

Everyone to their own.

 

People pay a lot of money to go on holidays, and expect to be able to relax and enjoy their holiday - and that (generally) includes being able to have a drink when they feel like it.

 

On an expensive holiday to Jordan (over Xmas/New Year), we stopped at a restaurant for lunch and asked for a beer whilst we were perusing the menu.  It turned out to be a Muslim restaurant that didn't serve alcohol, so even though we only wanted the one beer over lunch - we moved to another restaurant.

 

Edit - It had nothing to do with 'having a problem' - just a determination to enjoy our holiday in the way that suited us best.

Edited March 7, 2019 by dick dasterdly

[robblok]

1 minute ago, dick dasterdly said:

Everyone to their own.

 

People pay a lot of money to go on holidays, and expect to be able to relax and enjoy their holiday - and that (generally) includes being able to have a drink when they feel like it.

 

On an expensive holiday to Jordan (over Xmas/New Year), we stopped at a restaurant for lunch and asked for a beer whilst we were perusing the menu.  It turned out to be a Muslim restaurant that didn't serve alcohol, so even though we only wanted the one beer over lunch - we moved to another restaurant.

Yes to everyone their own, but if you let not being able to get alcohol ruin your holiday. Especially if its just one day or a certain time of day you got a big problem. Something like that should be minor on a nice holiday with a great ocean great food and many other fun things. If you let all that get ruined because you can't get a beer then IMHO you got a problem.

 

What your describing moving from one restaurant to an other to get a beer is a fine solution but would you have considered your whole holiday ruined if you could not have gotten alcohol ? Would that have negated all the positive things ? If so then alcohol has a huge influence on you in my opinion.  If you see it as a minor annoyance (IMHO its a minor annoyance) so be it that is normal but I just can't understand how something like that would be a big enough deal to waste a whole holiday.  

[Jim7777]

The current government would like to ban alcohol outright if they could but that’ll never happen because it would crush their economy here and lead to lots of other problems and mass civil disobedience and possibly even violence and rioting because people would just be pissed off.  It’s never gonna happen.  Study your history about all the problems prohibition caused in the United States, prohibition in the United States Back in the 1920’s didn’t last long overall before it was eventually repealed by a constitutional amendment.  Can you imagine how the Thai people would react if that happened?  Thai people take a lot of crap but they will only be pushed so far until they react violently the riots prior to the coup in 2014 are a good example of that.  Unfortunately those riots led to the military coup that we’re under now which is the only reason why they ever even have any temporary alcohol bans in the first place.  Even when they do have the temporary alcohol bans during some holidays and other events there are still places that sell it, and you can still drink at most restaurants and bars as well.  Depending on the election (hopefully it’s a real election) all that might go away soon. Currently they’re pushing for the legalization of marijuana so there’s no way they’d ever completely ban alcohol.  I wouldn’t worry about it dude.    

[dick dasterdly]

1 minute ago, robblok said:

Yes to everyone their own, but if you let not being able to get alcohol ruin your holiday. Especially if its just one day or a certain time of day you got a big problem. Something like that should be minor on a nice holiday with a great ocean great food and many other fun things. If you let all that get ruined because you can't get a beer then IMHO you got a problem.

 

What your describing moving from one restaurant to an other to get a beer is a fine solution but would you have considered your whole holiday ruined if you could not have gotten alcohol ? Would that have negated all the positive things ? If so then alcohol has a huge influence on you in my opinion.  If you see it as a minor annoyance (IMHO its a minor annoyance) so be it that is normal but I just can't understand how something like that would be a big enough deal to waste a whole holiday.  

True, if there were not other restaurants serving alcohol that particular day we would not have considered our holiday ruined.

 

But we decided to spend our money elsewhere - i.e. a restaurant that would give us a beer over our lunch - and never bothered visiting that restaurant again.

[CharlieH]

As with most things, in moderation and control there is no problem.

Its the minority that take it to excess, and those that are dependent, that spoil it for the rest and cause problems.

[brewsterbudgen]

6 minutes ago, Jim7777 said:

The current government would like to ban alcohol outright if they could but that’ll never happen because it would crush their economy here and lead to lots of other problems and mass civil disobedience and possibly even violence and rioting because people would just be pissed off.  It’s never gonna happen.  Study your history about all the problems prohibition caused in the United States, prohibition in the United States Back in the 1920’s didn’t last long overall before it was eventually repealed by a constitutional amendment.  Can you imagine how the Thai people would react if that happened?  Thai people take a lot of crap but they will only be pushed so far until they react violently the riots prior to the coup in 2014 are a good example of that.  Unfortunately those riots led to the military coup that we’re under now which is the only reason why they ever even have any temporary alcohol bans in the first place.  Even when they do have the temporary alcohol bans during some holidays and other events there are still places that sell it, and you can still drink at most restaurants and bars as well.  Depending on the election (hopefully it’s a real election) all that might go away soon. Currently they’re pushing for the legalization of marijuana so there’s no way they’d ever completely ban alcohol.  I wouldn’t worry about it dude.    

You have no evidence that the current government would like to ban alcohol if they could.  The current restrictions on alcohol during Buddha days and elections are not new, nor are they restricted to Thailand.  This is a fairly ridiculous thread.

[ianezy0]

Is there sand on the beach?

[Boomhauer]

23 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

 The current restrictions on alcohol during Buddha days and elections are not new, nor are they restricted to Thailand.  This is a fairly ridiculous thread.

You are right. The restrictions regarding the sale of alcohol are nothing new on religious holiday's. What is new, however, is the rise of anti-alcohol groups and campaigners pushing for laws to be implemented based on road deaths and other sensationalized horror stories in the Thai news media involving alcohol. Wasn't alcohol banned on trains a while back due to an incident involving a young girl? So due to one isolated incident, now the whole country cannot enjoy a relaxing can of beer on a long train journey to ease the tension.

 

This type of action is out of proportion IMO.

Edited March 7, 2019 by Boomhauer

[connda]

20 hours ago, Boomhauer said:

Would you still live here if they outright banned the sale/use of alcohol tomorrow?

Yep.  And I'd consider it a safer place to live. 

[sawadee1947]

If you need for happiness your (daily) booze and you're definitely a poor man. 

[Jimbo2014]

I like a relaxing drink in the evening.  This would be a case of over nanny - tourism would die with the exception of Arabic countries.  Wouldnt be much to stay for.  Cant see it happening.  Too many Thai's drink.

[tlcwaterfall]

20 hours ago, Boomhauer said:

I'm not sure they would if it was suddenly outlawed overnight. Then it would be akin to them selling illegal drugs.. all it takes is a few more negative news stories involving alcohol in the thai news media and we could be looking down the barrel at a dry future.

Unlikely to happen given all the tax the government receives from alcohol sales.

[pgrahmm]

Imagine, Pattaya, Patpong, Soi Cowboy, & similar places without being alcohol fueled....