Thailand and its fight against Alcohol

[chilly07]

Thais do have a particular problem with alcohol. If you take it away from them they distil their own rice wine often very overproof. They enjoy social drunkeness and will continue drinking till all alcohol is finished. Unfortunately alcohol overcomes their normally strict behavioral controls hence the drunken explosion when all control has gone. Mai Pen Rai to murderous assault in a few seconds. In rural settings working in the fields all day then nocking back Lao Cow in the evening means it's a race between sleep and rage. Farangs will all have at some time experienced and been surprised by the explosion that alcohol kicks off and the lack of restraint that follows. Thais cannot hold their liquor hence the arbitrary controls to reduce their consumption

[Surelynot]

3 minutes ago, chilly07 said:

Thais do have a particular problem with alcohol. If you take it away from them they distil their own rice wine often very overproof. They enjoy social drunkeness and will continue drinking till all alcohol is finished. Unfortunately alcohol overcomes their normally strict behavioral controls hence the drunken explosion when all control has gone. Mai Pen Rai to murderous assault in a few seconds. In rural settings working in the fields all day then nocking back Lao Cow in the evening means it's a race between sleep and rage. Farangs will all have at some time experienced and been surprised by the explosion that alcohol kicks off and the lack of restraint that follows. Thais cannot hold their liquor hence the arbitrary controls to reduce their consumption

Those descriptive sections sound like every Scot I have ever met. 

[JayClay]

16 hours ago, sipi said:

Double edit..

I'm still thinking 2012/2013, but could be wrong there.

 

You're well off. I think the previous guess of 2006 sounds closer to the mark.

 

I first visited in 2004 and it wasn't in force then. I visited again in 2006.... I can't remember if it was in force for that visit. I however visited many times between 2006 and the time I moved here in 2012 and for most of my visits it was in force.

 

I remember in the early years before 7/11 had their cash registers reprogrammed  you could often get away by playing dumb with the staff, pretending you don't understand and providing age verification ID when the staff initially refused you. Sometimes they'd relent and just sell it to you anyway.

 

It's a law that I'm surprised has survived... CP group must put massive pressure on the govt to change it. I guess it's the only thing keeping a lot of the mom n pop shops afloat though so it actually serves some kind of economic purpose in that respect.

[sipi]

2 minutes ago, JayClay said:

 

You're well off. I think the previous guess of 2006 sounds closer to the mark.

 

I first visited in 2004 and it wasn't in force then. I visited again in 2006.... I can't remember if it was in force for that visit. I however visited many times between 2006 and the time I moved here in 2012 and for most of my visits it was in force.

 

I remember in the early years before 7/11 had their cash registers reprogrammed  you could often get away by playing dumb with the staff, pretending you don't understand and providing age verification ID when the staff initially refused you. Sometimes they'd relent and just sell it to you anyway.

 

It's a law that I'm surprised has survived... CP group must put massive pressure on the govt to change it. I guess it's the only thing keeping a lot of the mom n pop shops afloat though so it actually serves some kind of economic purpose in that respect.

Yeah ok. I'm not sure why they waited 5 years to start a thread about it.

https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/521583-why-you-cant-buy-alcohol-in-supermarkets-between-2pm-and-5pm/

[NoshowJones]

49 minutes ago, Surelynot said:

Those descriptive sections sound like every Scot I have ever met. 

I am a Scot, and have never even taisted  alcohol in my life let alone drank it, can anyone else truthfully say the same thing?

[Surelynot]

Just now, possum1931 said:

I am a Scot, and have never even taisted  alcohol in my life let alone drank it, can anyone else truthfully say the same thing?

My mum

[Excel]

3 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

I am a Scot, and have never even taisted  alcohol in my life let alone drank it, can anyone else truthfully say the same thing?

The problem is it is easy to sterotype people. Being English and/or Scot it is just par for the course given the rivalry between the nations. It is just that some people take that to the extreme and come out with utter twaddle, often offensive to the other side

[Surelynot]

10 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

I am a Scot, and have never even taisted  alcohol in my life let alone drank it, can anyone else truthfully say the same thing?

My mum......not quite true......she had a single Advocaat the night my dad died........never tasted it before or after.

[Saltire]

21 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

I am a Scot, and have never even taisted  alcohol in my life let alone drank it, can anyone else truthfully say the same thing?

My twin brother (Scots) - I was the evil twin ???? he is still teetotal since birth.

[khunPer]

22 hours ago, daviddunham said:

- No alcohol in quarantine (only country in the world)

Have you heard about muslim countries...????

 

If you look 50-70 years back a number of Western countries also had weird alcohol restrictions to provent their population from alcoholism; starting with taxation so the poorer people couldn't afford to drink too much.

 

In my Nordic home country white spirits, which we call "snaps", and herrings were the poor mans food, today both are expensive, the snaps because of taxes, the herrings because there are far less of them, and prices therefore have gone up.

 

Some areas, or Nordic whole countries had alcohol regulations, in Sweden, for example, only the government could sell alcohol in dedicated government shops called "Systembolaget" and the population were rationed in how much the could buy. Systembolaget still exists and is a government monopoly for sales of alcohol of more than 3.5%, actually the World's largest alcohol importer according to Wikipedia.

 

When I was working in Sweden in 1968 I sometimes bought alcohol using my Danish passport in Systembolagt - foreigners were not restricted - for my Swedish work companions. It was common knowledge that people from Sweden would commute over the narrow strait between Sweden and Denmark to drink in Denmark, and folks from Finland would also come down to drink, and some stayed put and became alcoholics.

 

In 1968 some Swedish communes were "dry", i.e. no alcohol allowed, I remember being to a night club having orange juice, instead of wine, served in champagne glass. Also my home country Denmark had "dry" communes, ofte very Christian religious communities, my grandfather had a bathing hotel in one of these communes, but as his guests came from outside, actually many from Sweden, he was the only one in the commune that was allowed to serve alcohol; Thailand could perhaps learn something here, let it be allowed for foreign tourists...???? After he closed the hotel when WWII broke out, no new alcohol permission were given before 1972 when a new hotel was build, on the condition that it could obtain an alcohol permission; the hotel owners simply waited until enough old members of the council had died, and there was a one vote majority for a new permission.

 

My friends on Faroe Islands told me in the 1980s, that each citizen were allowed a certain amount of alcohol a month, so every first day in the month most of the people would buy their whole alcohol ration and keep on drinking, until it was finished. By that time you were cool if you had a crate of beers in the trunk of your car...????

 

By experience all the restrictions didn't stop the Nordic populations from heavy drinking - rather the contrary, Danish youth are still among the heaviest alcohol consumers in the World - and if the restriction got too severe, like in Norway, people start to destill alcohol at home; however, sometimes a home would explode when the process got out of control, yes it really happened.

 

And don't forget the probation period in USA that didn't work either.

 

Thailands protection of it's population, how weird it may sound for foreigners not used to alcohol restrictions, seems to show the same as the Nordic countries, it doesn't stop people from drinking, just makes it little more complicated, and perhaps resulting in people even drinking little more when allowed to do it. But as I said above, in some way Thailand seems like many Western, or European, countries was some 50-70 years, or even more, ago; if you know your own home-country's history, you may sometimes better understand "the Thai way of thinking"...????

[khunPer]

50 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

I am a Scot, and have never even taisted  alcohol in my life let alone drank it, can anyone else truthfully say the same thing?

No, but I'm a Dane, and I love the Scottish peoples alcohol...????

[jomtienisgood]

23 hours ago, Surelynot said:

Their own moonshine!!!.......Father in law invited me to sit in one night with the 'gang'.......no way Giuseppe 

Why not??????

[DefaultName]

1 hour ago, possum1931 said:

I am a Scot, and have never even taisted  alcohol in my life let alone drank it, can anyone else truthfully say the same thing?

I can say I'm a Scot too.  I think you wrote the rest in some sort of foreign language, it makes no sense to me at all.  ????

[JayClay]

2 hours ago, sipi said:

Yeah ok. I'm not sure why they waited 5 years to start a thread about it.

https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/521583-why-you-cant-buy-alcohol-in-supermarkets-between-2pm-and-5pm/

 

Who are "they?"

 

And from the content of the responses in that thread would seem to confirm that the law had already been around a long time by then. ????????‍♂️

[jomtienisgood]

1 hour ago, khunPer said:

No, but I'm a Dane, and I love the Scottish peoples alcohol...????

How about aquavit????????

[ChipButty]

I think that would go down well in Thailand, Only serve alcohol to farang ban Thai's from drinking

Edited June 19, 2021 by ChipButty

[jomtienisgood]

4 hours ago, tinca tinca said:

if they wanted to buy then they could go to any warehouse, selling booze and buy   out side the hours..

I always buy from warehouse anytime during the day....like i bought some leo yesterday at 3.10 pm

What do you call a warehouse?? Any shop with a clocked cash register ( 7/11 , Makro , Tesco, etc ) applies this law, with some exceptions where they know you since a long time... 

[jomtienisgood]

11 minutes ago, ChipButty said:

I think that would go down well in Thailand, Only serve alcohol to farang ban Thai's from drinking

More reasons to hate farang. 555555

[LawrenceN]

7 hours ago, Chris747 said:

a bit OT but i wonder if there's a Thai word or phrase that can be translated to "Addiction" or "being addicted to something" in the same (negative) context as in other languages.

Not supposed to do this outside the Thai language forum, but since you asked:

ขี้เมา=drinks too much

ติดส่รา=alcoholic 

ติดยาเสพติด=addicted to drugs 

ติดใจ=stuck on anything else. 

[khunPer]

1 hour ago, jomtienisgood said:

How about aquavit????????

No thanks...????

[jomtienisgood]

8 minutes ago, khunPer said:

No thanks...????

????????

[robsamui]

On 6/18/2021 at 2:54 PM, WineOh said:

I think I can.

 

As Thailand is a Buddhist country and has a solid conservative core, many older Thais view drinking as a sin.

 

Hence why, since the ultra right-wing conservative army stole power in 2014, there has been a war waged on the alcohol industry via heavy taxation and regulation.

 

Ultimately the junta would love to do away with drinking all together, though they know that it is practically impossible so they opt for the next best thing - milk as much money from the sale of booze as they can whilst simultaneously being actively seen trying to discourage the promotion of alcohol to appease their right wing core constituents.

 

QUOTE /snip
"Hence why, since the ultra right-wing conservative army stole power in 2014, there has been a war waged on the alcohol industry via heavy taxation and regulation."/snip

 

I'm not sure about that. The same was true on the evenings before elections and on the voting day, back before this military junta took over. My old restaurant lady explained it by saying that Thai men were like children and if you put them in a group with alcohol they would drink until they fell down drunk. It's not just the present government which seems to think this . . . . I've been here 24 years and they have always banned alcohol on election days and religious holidays.

Anyway, other Buddhist countries don't have this fear of alcohol . . . 

Edited June 19, 2021 by robsamui

[Sydebolle]

Buddhism can be left out of this subject; Burma/Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia are all buddhist countries and there is no alcohol ban on religious holidays or special days of their leadership - except Thailand!

To tackle the problem I would suggest to tax the entire booze with the same rate. For some reason or another (we all know why), local firewater like "Lao Khao", "Blend" or "Saengsom" do all have one thing in common; they "enjoy" a different, alas, considerably lower tax rate. If named spirits would be taxed like the good stuff, the voters upcountry would go bananas and ransack the good public offices of the Phuyays to drive their unhappiness home!

As a restaurateur you can sell alcohol on an Over-The-Counter-basis so you can get blurred anywhere ........ except in the restaurant or a bar.

Since the handpicked elitarian oligarchy in charge of booze and beer production is not crying out foul, I would assume that the bottom line, to them, is "business as usual". 

Many restaurants went out of business for good due to the complete absence of tourism. Many others fold(ed already) up now because the money is in the drinks and less in the food. 

Lets wait and see, what the "Mother of all Circuses" will come up next with in their chosen way of absolute destruction of Thailand's economy. As long as the Thais themselves do not complain ...... the place will be heading unhindered into its own, chosen, abyss - Thailand Quo Vadis?

How sad and what a pity! 

[sipi]

2 hours ago, JayClay said:

 

Who are "they?"

 

And from the content of the responses in that thread would seem to confirm that the law had already been around a long time by then. ????????‍♂️

Facey.

Nowhere in the thread does it say the law had been around for a long time.

It was definately after 2006, and 2010.

We did numerous alcohol runs to the supermarkets for weddings and the like and they were definately open mid afternoons.

I'm sticking with late 2011. This thread lines up.

[spidermike007]

The goons in charge are focusing their efforts in all the wrong areas. They are trying to make Thailand a Quaker State. A land of purity. Total BS. Nonsense. Misplaced priorities, and wasted efforts. And likely completely fake and hypocritical.

 

It is not just about limiting drinking by the locals. Anyone who wants to drink, is going to find the booze to get drunk with. Limiting the hours of selling booze, only serves to make the authorities look even more ridiculous than they already appear to be. 

 

No doubt these terribly misguided fools are trying to rid Thailand of one of it's most popular attractions. The nightlife. And we are not just talking about the "industry". Little do these ninnies know, the girls will just go underground, and online, but it will operate more in line with the enormous sex industry in the US. Illegal, underground, unprotected, unregulated, potentially overpriced, and potentially more dangerous for all involved. So, they would be moving the nation backwards, and harming their people, and tourism, in the process.

 

They should be focusing their efforts on traffic and public safety, easing import tariffs, making visa policy simpler, and more friendly, boosting Western tourism (of that is even possible at this late stage, after spending ten years sabotaging the industry), real crackdowns on slavery, illegal fishing (instead of nonsensical hyperbole), and police corruption, cleaning up the water, the air, the rivers, and the beaches, and other things that actually improve lives. 

Edited June 19, 2021 by spidermike007

[JayClay]

21 minutes ago, sipi said:

Facey.

Nowhere in the thread does it say the law had been around for a long time.

It was definately after 2006, and 2010.

We did numerous alcohol runs to the supermarkets for weddings and the like and they were definately open mid afternoons.

I'm sticking with late 2011. This thread lines up.

[2008

[BritManToo]

On 6/18/2021 at 4:44 PM, ed strong said:

Seems to be working ok in every other country, its only Thailand that banned it, whats diffrent about Thailand or the Thai people?

extreme hypocrisy.

[sipi]

25 minutes ago, JayClay said:

[2008

Nup. Hiltons funeral was 2010 and we did an afternoon beer run, it was after that.

Edit... Not that it matters a toss.

Edited June 19, 2021 by sipi

[JayClay]

37 minutes ago, sipi said:

Nup. Hiltons funeral was 2010 and we did an afternoon beer run, it was after that.

Edit... Not that it matters a toss.

 

If you were doing a beer run you may have been permitted to purchase under a volume exemption that I believe is/was a part of the legislation. I seem to recall stories in the past where people were able to buy in "bulk" from wholesalers at any time.

 

Or it's possible that the shop just sold it to you in spite of the law. 2010 was only 2 years after the law was passed so enforcement was almost certainly still more lax then than it is now.

 

Anyway the article I linked quotes the actual legal directive and the date it started from.

 

I was only trying to help you satisfy a curiosity that you expressed a wish for clarification on. I wasn't expecting such a defensive response. I shall think twice before doing so again.

[tinca tinca]

3 hours ago, jomtienisgood said:

What do you call a warehouse?? Any shop with a clocked cash register ( 7/11 , Makro , Tesco, etc ) applies this law, with some exceptions where they know you since a long time... 

a shop other than tesco, makro, 7/11, family mart. There are 5 so called warehouses not far from me....

one on thereppasit road, one on wat boom, one on second road 3 down chairypreuk road