Thailand's 'draconian' alcohol laws in the spotlight

[Mac Mickmanus]

9 minutes ago, robblok said:

Revised my opinion after looking at it from a different angle. My problem was that is hard to enforce enough to change kids their minds. As the chance to catch them is too low. No way they can change that in Thailand. 

 

However if they just go after the shops with huge fines and closure then it can be solved. Easier to police shops then to police kids.

 

My cctv thing was more about the fact that you can't have police at shops all the time and the chance that they catch a kid at a given time when they are there is slim. So a huge majority would get away and never get the message. However you need only one or two kids that result in high fines to a shop to send a message that they should police the kids or face the consequences.

 

That approach would work. 

 

The difference betwen US / EU and Thailand is that shops are more law abiding because of the trouble they can get in. So there is a lot less policing to do as laws are broken less often. In Thailand this kind of law breaking is normal would require huge amount of work. But NOT if they have tough rules for the shop and like a second time closure of shop. 

 

(not taking corruption into account as that is always a problem)

I recall in the U.K they passed a new law stating that all people on a building site MUST wear a safety helmet at all times . 

   The general opinion on building sites was that if everyone ignored the rule, they couldn't arrest every construction worker and therefore if no one wore a safety helmet then the law couldn't be enforced as they couldn't arrest 100 000 people for not wearing a safety helmet .

   The Police went to one building site and arrested the first person they saw not wearing a safety helmet , he got taken to Court and got fined $500 and the next day everyone one site wore a safety helmet 

[inThailand]

7 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

First time I ever heard a new term for me was an American guy and we were about to drive into town.

He asked if I wanted a "Road Coke". (Bottle of booze for the trip).

In Oz we call that a "Traveller" 

We called it a road pop or doggie cup. 

[DrJack54]

10 minutes ago, inThailand said:

We called it a road pop or doggie cup. 

Another one we use in Australia is "Roadie"....as stated my crowd say "traveller".

From Google it seems USA use the slang "road soda" (I hadn't heard that);

Actually generally Oz has strict driving laws re alcohol. Most stops can involve breath test.

 

Australians laugh about the "sobriety field test' that some USA states do.

What's that about? 

[LongTimeLurker]

7 hours ago, NE1 said:

Wasn't the 2 - 5 ban brought in so children leaving school could not see people purchasing or drinking alcohol , as they thought it would be a bad influence on them.

No, it was brought in to STOP the children leaving school from being able to buy alcohol and drink it on their way home.

[LongTimeLurker]

47 minutes ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

I recall in the U.K they passed a new law stating that all people on a building site MUST wear a safety helmet at all times . 

   The general opinion on building sites was that if everyone ignored the rule, they couldn't arrest every construction worker and therefore if no one wore a safety helmet then the law couldn't be enforced as they couldn't arrest 100 000 people for not wearing a safety helmet .

   The Police went to one building site and arrested the first person they saw not wearing a safety helmet , he got taken to Court and got fined $500 and the next day everyone one site wore a safety helmet 

It's also in employment contracts that refusing to wear PPE is a sackable offence.

[BangkokReady]

2 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Seeing cigarettes muted out on TV is supposed to make people less interested in smoking?

Not sure if you mean blurred out or pixilated maybe, but there is research that shows that watching people smoke in films and TV makes smokers want to smoke.  Also people do try things that they see on TV. 

 

There's certainly an argument that some things being shown on screen, particularly if they're made to look adult or "cool", make people watching more likely to do that thing.

[diddygq]

7 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

It is all about education. The alcohol laws should be reviewed. What is the use of an alcohol sell ban from 2-5?? If you want to buy alcohol and if you are over 21 no problem by doubt show id..Make bar owners bartenders responsible for serving too much alcohol and let the RTP work too in the evning and at night and check and do an alcohol test for everyone....Make Thailand an normal country

Why over 21? The rest of the world is 18 and over. 

Edited September 29, 2021 by diddygq
Wrong Fact

[Greg O]

7 hours ago, dinsdale said:

 

Thaksin brought in the 2-5 / midnight-11 law in 2004.

 

 

Students have to wait till 5 to get a pint ? Despicable

Edited September 29, 2021 by metisdead
Corrected the reply.

[hackjam]

7 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

The music can't really happen until the curfew is changed.

Really? Whats to stop bands starting at 5 and finishing at 7-30???

[DrJack54]

8 minutes ago, hackjam said:

Really? Whats to stop bands starting at 5 and finishing at 7-30???

You don't get out much for music entertainment.....do you.

 

[Nickelbeer]

It's always amusing to see backwaters like Thailand, thinking that they will succeed where others failed. Prohibition was one of the biggest mistakes ever made by the USA, yet Thailand thinks they can make it work.  ????????

[metisdead]

An off topic post has been removed.

 

A post with a quoting error has been corrected. 

[Will B Good]

26 minutes ago, diddygq said:

Why over 21? The rest of the world is 18 and over. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_drinking_age

 

Not quite.

[BangkokReady]

3 hours ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

Send some kids into shops to buy beer , if they come out with some beer , the Police waiting outside just go in and give the shop a summons to appear in Court and when they get fined , publish the news in the media and other shops will begin to comply

I would imagine that is completely incompatible with Thailand both culturally and logistically.

Edited September 29, 2021 by BangkokReady

[lesmac]

8 hours ago, NE1 said:

Wasn't the 2 - 5 ban brought in so children leaving school could not see people purchasing or drinking alcohol , as they thought it would be a bad influence on them.

Yes and stop the parents drinking and drive them home. total fail as any mom and pop shop ignore it

[Scouse123]

7 hours ago, cyril sneer said:

thats what i heard

 

now they just opt for weed, tramadol and cough medicine

And Glue!

[ChipButty]

I guess you dont want the kids coming out of school on their Honda clicks 3 or 4 up no helmets stopping off at the shop for a chiang

[PaDavid]

What alcohol control laws?  I live in rural Loei and cycle most mornings. I regularly stop at a village shop en route for a rest - around 7.30am. I’m used to drivers pulling up in lorries to neck a few drams of Lao Kao. I’ve even seen a school minibus pull up and whilst the children stocked up on candy, the driver imbibed a few 20฿ tots. Yesterday, a young girl about 7 or 8 arrived on her electric bike(!) and departed with a large bottle of the stuff. 
 

As I said, ‘What alcohol control laws?’

[Srikcir]

'Thailand's draconian alcohol laws"

Consistent with Buddhism:

"One is to refrain from drinking even a drop of alcohol ... because they are the cause of heedless essential."

https://kuenselonline.com

As 90%+ of the Thai population identifies as Buddhist (practically considered the state religion), by extension alcohol should be banned permanently for them, no matter their rank in society. 

 

[Smokey and the Bandit]

7 hours ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

After he and Purachai brought in the 2am closing which I think happened in 2001 iirc. 

 

Then there were the continuing raids on non-Police owned venues throughout the country in particular Bangkok, where venues deemed immoral were arbitrarily shut down. They had the pee-test bus rock up and test all the ladies, occasionally if they didn't like the look of you they may make a foreigner take a test too. 

 

Things certainly changed for the worse under Thaksin from the glory 'anything goes' days of the 90's and before. 

Are you saying things are better now???

[Lopchan]

8 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

First time I ever heard a new term for me was an American guy and we were about to drive into town.

He asked if I wanted a "Road Coke". (Bottle of booze for the trip).

In Oz we call that a "Traveller" 

In West Oz we call it a "roadie"

 

[Deli]

8 hours ago, Farangdk said:

 

And Thailand, please stop all your Mickey Mouse laws and regulations regarding expats and tourists.

Will be hard as long as Dagobert Duck runs the show

[thailand49]

Personally, like many things the l????aws and enforcement are not enforced consistently!  You got large stores that can't see between certain hours go to any local distribution wholesaler and you can get what you want any time you want.

 

The when the restriction are lifted and you can buy there is no age checked even at 7/11 locally it is a free for all I've seen kids 10 younger come into stores and and buy for their parents. Then the nightlife 24/7 drinking and driving reasons for all the accidents in Thailand the greatest killer of them all. Party all you want but lets have some self control maybe call it a night at 2am and live for another day.

[VocalNeal]

4 minutes ago, Srikcir said:

by extension alcohol should be banned permanently for them,

That is not how religion works? They abstain by choice because they believe not because they are forced to. There is nothing stopping Catholics from eating meat on Fridays, except their belief. 

Strangely one can buy beer in a restaurant in Indonesia. Muslims don't drink but they don't stop others.

[Srikcir]

1 minute ago, VocalNeal said:

There is nothing stopping Catholics from eating meat on Fridays, except their belief. 

 

And perhaps because "the church is ok with it."

https://chicago.suntimes.com

 

[spidermike007]

1 hour ago, BangkokReady said:

Not sure if you mean blurred out or pixilated maybe, but there is research that shows that watching people smoke in films and TV makes smokers want to smoke.  Also people do try things that they see on TV. 

 

There's certainly an argument that some things being shown on screen, particularly if they're made to look adult or "cool", make people watching more likely to do that thing.

Well, have there been any studies that show that pixelating nudity, and smoking makes people want to smoke, or have sex less? I certainly doubt it.

 

And in terms of making smokers want to do it more, not sure what that means. Do studies show that when a smoker watches people smoking on TV, or in film, they smoke a higher number of cigarettes per day?

 

I just seems puerile, prudish, foolhardy and looks very, very silly. 

[jaiyen]

Thailand is one of the top countries for the supply and use of illegal drugs but they turn their attention to stopping people having a few beers in the evening ! A Totally screwed up country led by screwed up politicians.

[hotchilli]

9 hours ago, webfact said:

The move is drawing criticism from the food and beverage industry, but also highlights the nation’s strict alcohol control laws.

Time to get things up to date, instead of using draconian measures to control people and drinking.

[VocalNeal]

14 minutes ago, Srikcir said:

And perhaps because "the church is ok with it."

https://chicago.suntimes.com

 

Oops outed as not catholic????

[James105]

4 hours ago, robblok said:

Tell me how you would enforce it, give some practical examples. 

It's incredibly easy to enforce.  I think the UK police just send some kids undercover every now and again to attempt to buy alcohol from shops they suspect might be selling it to minors.  If they were allowed to buy then the shops were fined which is then publicised and no shop really  bothers after that as there really isn't much money to be made from selling alcohol to kids and certainly not worthy of a risk of a fine.   

 

You don't punish the kids, you simply punish those that sell this stuff to kids.    Not sure why this is considered difficult to some on here and if this is the reason behind the law then if they are doing this instead of actual enforcement then it probably doesn't really make any difference to the problem it is trying to solve.   Which is why I suspect more puritanical reasons are involved in the law as I doubt even the law makers here are that dumb.