Tourism minister questions Thailand’s 2pm-5pm alcohol ban

[Mac Mickmanus]

8 minutes ago, JeffersLos said:

Once again, this law has been in place since long, long before 2015. 

Although the rule was in place , it was never enforced anywhere , even 7/11's used to sell alcohol at anytime and they began enforceing the law around 2013 

[bojo]

2 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

But the nonsensical law that enables you to get the 'cheap thrill' by breaking it, at best inconveniences people and at worst is used to extort people.

 

So why have the law?

Absoltely, waste of time completely, but personally, I enjoy 'the edge' or 'cheap thrill' that you so derided........................

[Mac Mickmanus]

14 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

But the nonsensical law that enables you to get the 'cheap thrill' by breaking it, at best inconveniences people and at worst is used to extort people.

 

So why have the law?

The law is in place to stop people going out for a lunchtime beer and then drinking all day and into the evening and missing doing what they should have been doing , like working or whatever 

[JonnyF]

4 minutes ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

The law is in place to stop people going out for a lunchtime beer and then drinking all day and into the evening and missing doing what they should have been doing , like working or whatever 

Like I said, nonsensical.

 

1. People who want to drink all afternoon will buy a crate of beer or a bottle of Whiskey.

2. It's no business of the government to legislate to stop people drinking in the afternoon. That is their personal choice, even if they have other things to do.

 

The fact that it is selectively enforced just adds to the idiocy of the whole thing.

 

Seriously, I think Covid has made people lose their minds. They've forgotten what liberty and personal responsibility means and actually support increasingly authoritarian state control of their day to day life. Like turkeys voting for Xmas. I guess some people just like being told what to do.

 

 

[JonnyF]

22 minutes ago, bojo said:

Absoltely, waste of time completely, but personally, I enjoy 'the edge' or 'cheap thrill' that you so derided........................

That's great. I mean, you getting a cheap thrill is clearly more important than handing the police powers to selectively and arbitrarily extort businesses while inconveniencing the general public.

 

PS there are probably more "edgy" ways of getting a cheap thrill in Thailand on a quiet afternoon than by buying a can of Ginger beer at a Mom and Pop shop at 2.01 pm. Just sayin' ????

[Mac Mickmanus]

3 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

Like I said, nonsensical.

 

1. People who want to drink all afternoon will buy a crate of beer or a bottle of Whiskey.

2. It's no business of the government to legislate to stop people drinking in the afternoon. That is their personal choice, even if they have other things to do.

 

The fact that it is selectively enforced just adds to the idiocy of the whole thing.

 

Seriously, I think Covid has made people lose their minds. They've forgotten what liberty and personal responsibility means and actually support increasingly authoritarian state control of their day to day life. Like turkeys voting for Xmas. I guess some people just like being told what to do.

 

 

I do think that its to stop people spontaneously drinking all day, rather than those who planned to do so .

   Like a person going out for a lunchtime meal and having a alcoholic drink , then having another one and continuing drinking and not going back to work and staying drinking all day .

  Alcohol has that effect on many people "Just one more drink"

  Yes, if you don't have to work and have the money and ability to drink all day long , it can be annoying not to be able to drink between 2-5 PM , but most other people need to work and get on with other things in life and cannot be spending all their days drinking 

[bojo]

1 minute ago, JonnyF said:

That's great. I mean, you getting a cheap thrill is clearly more important than handing the police powers to selectively and arbitrarily extort businesses while inconveniencing the general public.

 

PS there are probably more "edgy" ways of getting a cheap thrill in Thailand on a quiet afternoon than by buying a can of Ginger beer at a Mom and Pop shop at 2.01 pm. Just sayin' ????

I don't give give a monkeys what the police do, it's out of my hands, I'm just an observer................and 'yes' my cheap thrill is more important, because I can't 'affect it'..............................I'm all ears on the edgy front though, please keep me informed and how did you know ginger beer is one of my favourite tipples, do you know of a local shabeen .............and on a serious note, real shame it's not available locally........................

[tomacht8]

1 hour ago, JeffersLos said:

No it isn't. 

 

It was in place, but lightly enforced when I moved here almost 15 years ago. Some cashiers at supermarkets etc would refuse to sell it, causing many a Western expat to lose the plot.

 

 

 

 

I read it was originally introduced to stop students buying alcohol at lunchtime and not going back to school. The 24 hour ban within 400 meters or whatever of schools was a few years ago.

 

Like banning alcohol on trains because some local ticket boy was drunk and drugged on yaba and raped and killed an 8 year old female passenger, it's just stupid. 

 

 

https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/Translation:Alcoholic_Beverage_Control_Act,_BE_2551_(2008)

 

 

[mahtin]

2 and 5 are numbers, a concept with which this man struggles.

[Misterwhisper]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

This has been in place in Thailand for many years but nobody, including the minister, seems to understand why, notes ASEAN NOW. 

If I recall it correctly, those strange alcohol ban time periods (2pm-5pm and 7am to 11am) were introduced by an over-zealous interior minister serving during Thaksin Shinawatra's first tenure. Can't remember his name but he also was responsible for quite a few other, rather weird and baffling ordinances.

 

As I understand it, the alcohol ban periods, which only applied to retail shops (supermarkets, 7-Elevens, etc.), were introduced to protect "schoolchildren and students" -- many of whom were hard boozers according to the interior minister.

 

In any case, even back then the measure met with a lot of confused headshaking, because after all: Pupils/students took their lunch breaks from 11am-2pm, potentially buying alcohol during exactly that "free-for-sale" period, while following afternoon classes they once again were able to purchase alcohol from 5pm onwards when on their way back home. 

[Mac Mickmanus]

5 minutes ago, Misterwhisper said:

If I recall it correctly, those strange alcohol ban time periods (2pm-5pm and 7am to 11am) were introduced by an over-zealous interior minister serving during Thaksin Shinawatra's first tenure. Can't remember his name but he also was responsible for quite a few other, rather weird and baffling ordinances.

 

As I understand it, the alcohol ban periods, which only applied to retail shops (supermarkets, 7-Elevens, etc.), were introduced to protect "schoolchildren and students" -- many of whom were hard boozers according to the interior minister.

 

In any case, even back then the measure met with a lot of confused headshaking, because after all: Pupils/students took their lunch breaks from 11am-2pm, potentially buying alcohol during exactly that "free-for-sale" period, while following afternoon classes they once again were able to purchase alcohol from 5pm onwards when on their way back home. 

Well, apart form the fact that School children cannot legally buy alcohol anyway 

[ikke1959]

Even at the Makro which is normally a wholesale store you can't buy alcohol before 11am and between 14.00-17.00.... Stupid measures, nobody knows why and everybody knows it is not working

[Mac Mickmanus]

4 minutes ago, ikke1959 said:

Even at the Makro which is normally a wholesale store you can't buy alcohol before 11am and between 14.00-17.00.... Stupid measures, nobody knows why and everybody knows it is not working

I expect that there are some people who go regularly to buy alcohol from Macro at times outside the licensing hours and get angry and annoyed every single time they go there because they cannot buy alcohol 

[JeffersLos]

1 hour ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

Although the rule was in place , it was never enforced anywhere , even 7/11's used to sell alcohol at anytime and they began enforceing the law around 2013 

It sometimes would be, but not often. 

 

I was refused at 16:50 at a Tops supermarket. I smiled, they started picking them up to put them back and I told them 'Oh wait, I'll buy them in 10 minutes, just leave them next to the check-out' then sat down on a bench behind the checkout with a book for 10 minutes. There were no more customers at they called me after 6 or 7 minutes to scan them through. 

 

I was also caught one valentines day in Siam Paragon when I went to buy a bottle of wine, the whole wine shop was locked, with the staff girls inside looking very embarrassed that an adult cannot buy a bottle of red wine while on the way home on valentines day. 

[JeffersLos]

58 minutes ago, tomacht8 said:

 

 

https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/Translation:Alcoholic_Beverage_Control_Act,_BE_2551_(2008)

 

 

You must be new here. 

 

The 2015 amendment was not about the times of day, it was amending the 10 liter threshold and locations of where it could or could not be sold. The 2-5pm law predates the amendment by years. Obviously you weren't living here before then. ???? 

 

 

Even read some of the posts in that thread.

 

Quote

The only change from the old rules, as far as I can see, is that the provision for purchasing "bulk" quantities

Quote

 this the same rule and hours that has been going for years at 7-11 , Villa, foodland etc 

Quote

 

I agree.

That seems to be the only change from the old law.

A law that has always been ignored in my area by all except Seven eleven and Tesco.

 

Quote

That has been the law for many many years already.

 

Do you understand now?

[tomacht8]

17 minutes ago, JeffersLos said:

You must be new here. 

 

The 2015 amendment was not about the times of day, it was amending the 10 liter threshold and locations of where it could or could not be sold. The 2-5pm law predates the amendment by years. Obviously you weren't living here before then. ???? 

 

 

Even read some of the posts in that thread.

 

 

Do you understand now?

Do not worry.

I am here since 27 years.

 And quoted the laws and the ratification dates. What people made of it before and after is different. But let's stop the hair splissing. Brings nothing.

[Andrew65]

Up until 2006 there was still 24 hour drinking, I'm sure the law was brought in to try to stop children from drinking booze.

[Misterwhisper]

52 minutes ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

Well, apart form the fact that School children cannot legally buy alcohol anyway 

Schoolchildren also cannot legally ride motorcycles under the age of 15 and without proper license...

[RedRoadRunner]

Stupid is as stupid does…. 

[RedRoadRunner]

8 minutes ago, Andrew65 said:

Up until 2006 there was still 24 hour drinking, I'm sure the law was brought in to try to stop children from drinking booze.

????????????????

[Mac Mickmanus]

1 minute ago, Misterwhisper said:

Schoolchildren also cannot legally ride motorcycles under the age of 15 and without proper license...

Yes, but having another law stating that school children  cannot ride the motorbikes at certain times, will then not stop them from riding them, will it 

[Virt]

One of the most stupid rules i have ever seen in a country, and i constantly forget which period it is.

 

Result.

I stock beer and wine and because of that i drink more, when i'm on vacation in Thailand.

[ChrisKC]

He has a pint though, sorry, 'point'

[vandeventer]

4 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

2-5 is stupid that's all there is to it

Their ghost writer must be a real ghost because nobody knows about the 2-5 alcohol freeze.

[toolpush]

2 hours ago, JeffersLos said:

Once again, this law has been in place since long, long before 2015. 

Purachai Piemsombun , Thaksin's Interior Minister brought in this mandate circa 2001-2002 to supposedly cut down on school kids purchasing alcohol during school hours.

[ikke1959]

the reason for schoolkids is just laughable, because schoolkids are in school from 2-4 and if there can not be any dout because IF they should come and buy, everyone can see that are wearing a schooluniform. It would be better that adults can buy always and the group who is targetted, have to show their id to see if they are old enough. 

[Andrew65]

2 minutes ago, vandeventer said:

Their ghost writer must be a real ghost because nobody knows about the 2-5 alcohol freeze.

2-5 has been a thing for a long time, with shops. There is a loophole, if you're buying 10 litres or more, because of businesses needing it. So, next time you're out of booze at 14:45, you can just head around to 7/11 and buy 14 bottles of whisky, no problemo!????

[KhruGin]

2 hours ago, Kildonan said:

Was it not Thaskin that introducd this law,,,, To stop school kids drinking?

Yep the 2 to 5 was his baby. was it about schools I'm not sure. Nice to see this minister asking why though albeit 15 odd years later. It's no biggy of a law as if you really want a beer then mom n pop will sell you one, for sevens it's a loss in revenue every day.

 

Lol I'm glad he's gone but there are many posters here think he's great ....lest folk forget and without having my post removed ...Chiang Mai lawyer, land deals, phone company no tax, money politics and so on ..go goggle it yourselves and maybe realise how horrible and selfish this man was ....good riddens to him.

[Mr Meeseeks]

2 hours ago, Kildonan said:

Was it not Thaskin that introducd this law,,,, To stop school kids drinking? 

Correct. A later addition to the 2am closing law and other nonsense he brought in with the help of his puritan mate Purachai.

[Andrew65]

1 minute ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

Correct. A later addition to the 2am closing law and other nonsense he brought in with the help of his puritan mate Purachai.

"Cotton Mather"????