People are confused. But actually, the problem is... very simple. 

 

It's politics.

 

Ask yourselves : who is behind this obsession against alcohol ? Who is pushing for always more rules and restrictions (times for sales, but after the military extended the ban... for religious days, or even election days).

 

The times restrictions come from the 70s. The story about "kids at school" was a cover (after).

 

Ask yourselves : why Thaksin, when elected prime minister, REACTIVATED this inane rule ? Yes he did.

 

You forgot this very important piece of information. Before Thaksin, this "rule" was long forgotten !

 

Thaksin was always a challenger to the establishment. He had to give "pledges" to powerfull groups.

 

We do have in Thailand powerfull "temperance leagues" (like in the USA before the Prohibition). And those leagues are linked to conservative groups, obviously.

 

I remind you that Thaksin was the one... who decided to close nightlife at midnight or 2 AM (before him, Bangkok was partying 24/24).

 

It's the same logic. He had to, in order to rally support within the establishment.

 

25 years later ? Back to square one.

 

They want to stop this madness... but they dont really want it. 😉 Because that would displease some powerful groups.

 

So what you think is sheer stupidity, is just the reflect of delicate political games.

 

It's obvious that the current government is "walking on eggs"... Its position is very fragile...

 

A huge mistake was done with the cannabis circus (Prayuth had to please his ally the Bhumjaithai Party, and probably he didn't really care)... So it's unlikely that anything would change on the alcohol front now.

 

Last think : do you know that ThaiBev (the thai giant of beers and spirits)... can't be listed... on the THAI STOCK MARKET ?

 

Rule again. Because alcohol !

 

So ThaiBev is listed... in Singapore. And ThaiBev, a thai company, gives dividends... to foreigners...

 

This simple fact shows how "deep" the issue is...

What happened to the reduction in import tax on alcohol . Nothing as usual

The time rule means nothing except in some shops.Where in the world does it matter that buying beer at that times will cause problems.If u buy a drink during those times it is hot and the gov thinks that you should observe the rule.Very silly and should be relaxed

2 hours ago, ChrisParis75 said:

People are confused. But actually, the problem is... very simple. 

 

It's politics.

 

Ask yourselves : who is behind this obsession against alcohol ? Who is pushing for always more rules and restrictions (times for sales, but after the military extended the ban... for religious days, or even election days).

 

The times restrictions come from the 70s. The story about "kids at school" was a cover (after).

 

Ask yourselves : why Thaksin, when elected prime minister, REACTIVATED this inane rule ? Yes he did.

 

You forgot this very important piece of information. Before Thaksin, this "rule" was long forgotten !

 

Thaksin was always a challenger to the establishment. He had to give "pledges" to powerfull groups.

 

We do have in Thailand powerfull "temperance leagues" (like in the USA before the Prohibition). And those leagues are linked to conservative groups, obviously.

 

I remind you that Thaksin was the one... who decided to close nightlife at midnight or 2 AM (before him, Bangkok was partying 24/24).

 

It's the same logic. He had to, in order to rally support within the establishment.

 

25 years later ? Back to square one.

 

They want to stop this madness... but they dont really want it. 😉 Because that would displease some powerful groups.

 

So what you think is sheer stupidity, is just the reflect of delicate political games.

 

It's obvious that the current government is "walking on eggs"... Its position is very fragile...

 

A huge mistake was done with the cannabis circus (Prayuth had to please his ally the Bhumjaithai Party, and probably he didn't really care)... So it's unlikely that anything would change on the alcohol front now.

 

Last think : do you know that ThaiBev (the thai giant of beers and spirits)... can't be listed... on the THAI STOCK MARKET ?

 

Rule again. Because alcohol !

 

So ThaiBev is listed... in Singapore. And ThaiBev, a thai company, gives dividends... to foreigners...

 

This simple fact shows how "deep" the issue is...

When I first moved to Thailand in 1998 there were quite a few more bar-closure days than there are today. The King's birthday was one, maybe Constitution Day & Chakri Day also. Such days have actually been reduced in recent times.

A real curfew would be 7pm to 7am, but think what that would do to TATs predicted muli millions of tourists. Three hours in the afternoon is a nonsence and is just a sad reminder of "Junta Power". The inconvenience of not being able to get a bottle of wine with a meal or (supposedly) not a beer in a bar or complete your shopping in one trip when they just let clubs stay open until 4am shows how dumb politicians can be.