Easing Alcohol Ad Rules May Boost Small Producers in Thailand

[snoop1130]

File photo for reference only

 

The Thai Alcohol Beverage Business Association (Tabba) believes that relaxing restrictions on alcohol advertising could benefit small-scale producers by providing greater marketing opportunities. Under Article 32 of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act (2008), advertising is severely limited, banning direct or indirect promotion and any display of alcohol brands or their benefits.

 

Following a proposal by Pheu Thai MP Chanin Rungtanakiat, the House has accepted a bill potentially easing these restrictions. This bill would allow alcohol advertisements to focus on factual information as defined by a ministerial regulation. Tabba Chairman Kawee Sakawee expressed optimism, hoping for clear guidance and compliance across the industry.

 

Kawee anticipates that ministerial regulations will specify permissible communication actions focused on factual content, such as description of origins and flavours, rather than promotional allurements. The proposed changes aim to give consumers greater access to product information, enhancing their purchasing decisions at points of sale.

 

 

 

If implemented, the new law would particularly benefit small producers by allowing them to more visibly promote their unique offerings, helping consumers appreciate differences between brands. Highlighting product characteristics more effectively could lead to increased consumer choice and market diversity.

 

With the bill having passed the lower House, it now awaits further approval from the Senate and needs royal endorsement to become law. While Tabba remains uncertain about the timeframe for these changes to take effect, they welcome the potential for growth and innovation this legislative adjustment could bring to the alcohol industry, reported Bangkok Post.

 

-- 2025-03-25

 

 

[dinsdale]

I can't remember how many litres a year small producers need to produce in a year to be legit but I know it's huge. 100,000 litres springs to mind but that could be way off. Maybe 10,000 litres. Like I say I can't remember the number. Point is I'm certain that reducing this amount buy A LOT will help establish smaller producers and boutique breweries and IMHO is far more important than advertising. Being able to advertise would of course also be good.

[Tropicalevo]

4 hours ago, dinsdale said:

I can't remember how many litres a year small producers need to produce in a year to be legit but I know it's huge. 100,000 litres springs to mind but that could be way off. Maybe 10,000 litres. Like I say I can't remember the number. Point is I'm certain that reducing this amount buy A LOT will help establish smaller producers and boutique breweries and IMHO is far more important than advertising. Being able to advertise would of course also be good.

 

Parliament has passed a law to allow smaller breweries but it needs to appear in the Royal gazette for it to be finalised.

 

https://tpnnational.com/2025/03/12/thai-senate-approves-law-allowing-small-producers-to-make-all-alcohol-types/

[dinsdale]

42 minutes ago, Tropicalevo said:

 

Parliament has passed a law to allow smaller breweries but it needs to appear in the Royal gazette for it to be finalised.

 

https://tpnnational.com/2025/03/12/thai-senate-approves-law-allowing-small-producers-to-make-all-alcohol-types/

Cheers for the link. Jeez it was 30,000 litres a day to be licensed. I was way off. I do wonder if other hurdles will be put in the way of small producers so as to continue to protect the big producers.

[hotchilli]

14 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

The Thai Alcohol Beverage Business Association (Tabba) believes that relaxing restrictions on alcohol advertising could benefit small-scale producers by providing greater marketing opportunities. Under Article 32 of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act (2008), advertising is severely limited, banning direct or indirect promotion and any display of alcohol brands or their benefits.

Advertising won't make much difference, people know what they like to consume and where to get it.

[Garouda]

14 hours ago, dinsdale said:

I can't remember how many litres a year small producers need to produce in a year to be legit but I know it's huge. 100,000 litres springs to mind but that could be way off. Maybe 10,000 litres. Like I say I can't remember the number. Point is I'm certain that reducing this amount buy A LOT will help establish smaller producers and boutique breweries and IMHO is far more important than advertising. Being able to advertise would of course also be good.

Good to mention, this article is not serious. Indeed, there is a new law in preparation in favour of small local production, but it is not the one mentioned in this article. However, I look forward to knowing the rules for the application of this new law. Furthermore, I suspect that the government's main concern is to raise taxes on a broader basis, like, for example, expat income tax. In fact, there are already many websites selling ingredients and brewing equipment. In addition, this volume of 30,000 litres per day is not correct. So far, there are two types of licences, and for microbreweries, such as the German Tawan Daeng, the minimum is 100,000 litres per year. Let's see what the new law has in store for us.

[rough diamond]

29 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

Advertising won't make much difference, people know what they like to consume and where to get it.

That does not apply to new products.

[hotchilli]

16 minutes ago, rough diamond said:

That does not apply to new products.

They will see the new products as they arrive on the shelf..

[spidermike007]

This is a great topic as the beer industry, and the oppression of craft brewers here has a rather fascinating history. 

 

Thaopipob Linjittkorn, or Thao as he is more popularly known, a lawyer and homebrewer, was very publicly arrested in 2017 for making beer. He used that publicity to win an election to Parliament in 2019, along with 80 other members of the Future Forward Party. This progressive, pro-democracy party included in its platform a detailed plan to deregulate the beer industry, as well as a proposal for the legalization of marijuana, citing both as ways of putting money into the pockets of small businesses and local farmers. 

 

The opposition that Future Forward was up against is a military-backed, hardline government that supports the duopoly with strict regulations that allow it to control over 99% of Thailand’s estimated 180 billion baht ($5.8 billion) beer industry. The duopoly was originally made untouchable with the first Thai Liquor Control Act in 1950, a law which has been amended several times since to push legality even further out of reach of any small brewer. Prayuth's administration has done much to reinforce the isolationist and nationalistic policies that Phibul established in the 1940s and ’50s, and has called again and again for citizens to display a certain level of “Thainess,” which the PM defines in part as unquestioning loyalty to the government. Do not be disobedient! 

 

For small breweries, it requires production of at least 100,000 liters (852 barrels) but no greater than 1,000,000 liters (8,520 BBLs), and stipulates that all beer must be sold on the premises. At the same time, the minimum amount for an industrial license was increased from one million liters to 10 million liters (85,200 BBLs) per year, as well as requiring that the brewer demonstrate available capital of at least 10 million baht ($320,000).

 

Just to make sure small brewers were thoroughly intimidated, the rewrite also increased inflated penalties. Fines were increased from their original, almost quaint 200 baht ($6) for possession of bootleg alcohol to 10,000 ($300). For actually brewing without a license, fines were increased from 5,000 baht ($150) to a range of 50,000–100,000 baht ($1,600–$3,200), plus jail time. Reporting in 2017, The Bangkok Post estimated that in order to meet the new regulations, a brewer would need to have a billion baht—around $30 million—in start-up capital. 

 

For some, craft beer is associated with anti-establishment politics. “It’s very similar to the French Revolution, which started from a cafe in Paris, where people drank coffee,” says Taopiphop. “The fuel of the revolution is not coffee any more, it’s craft beer.” Taopiphop adds that, after the 2014 coup in Thailand, many pro-democracy activists chose to meet in Bangkok’s craft beer bars.

 

If only the younger Thais were allowed to express themselves, be inventive, be creative, be industrious, and use their smarts and ambition, Thailand could have a future. Craft beer is needed here, and so are the young entrepreneurs. But, that future appears to be suppressed at every turn by dinosaurs, who only answer to money, money, and even more money. Money is the God of lesser men. The money first attitude is holding back Thailand on so many levels.

[petedk]

So suddenly we won't see these huge adverts for soda water any more. I am sure the breweries spend more on promoting soda water than they actually earn on selling it.

[AustinRacing]

Backward country. Most decent countries have total ban on cigarette and alcohol advertising. We know how shallow and impressionable young Thai males are. Watch for rise in alcohol related violence by the target group. 

[KhunLA]

12 minutes ago, AustinRacing said:

Backward country. Most decent countries have total ban on cigarette and alcohol advertising. We know how shallow and impressionable young Thai males are. Watch for rise in alcohol related violence by the target group. 

 

As long as alcohol & tobacco products are used it movies & TV series, you really don't need to advertise, as that is more than enough to influence people, to copy people they admire.

[portisaacozzy]

4 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

This is a great topic as the beer industry, and the oppression of craft brewers here has a rather fascinating history. 

 

Thaopipob Linjittkorn, or Thao as he is more popularly known, a lawyer and homebrewer, was very publicly arrested in 2017 for making beer. He used that publicity to win an election to Parliament in 2019, along with 80 other members of the Future Forward Party. This progressive, pro-democracy party included in its platform a detailed plan to deregulate the beer industry, as well as a proposal for the legalization of marijuana, citing both as ways of putting money into the pockets of small businesses and local farmers. 

 

The opposition that Future Forward was up against is a military-backed, hardline government that supports the duopoly with strict regulations that allow it to control over 99% of Thailand’s estimated 180 billion baht ($5.8 billion) beer industry. The duopoly was originally made untouchable with the first Thai Liquor Control Act in 1950, a law which has been amended several times since to push legality even further out of reach of any small brewer. Prayuth's administration has done much to reinforce the isolationist and nationalistic policies that Phibul established in the 1940s and ’50s, and has called again and again for citizens to display a certain level of “Thainess,” which the PM defines in part as unquestioning loyalty to the government. Do not be disobedient! 

 

For small breweries, it requires production of at least 100,000 liters (852 barrels) but no greater than 1,000,000 liters (8,520 BBLs), and stipulates that all beer must be sold on the premises. At the same time, the minimum amount for an industrial license was increased from one million liters to 10 million liters (85,200 BBLs) per year, as well as requiring that the brewer demonstrate available capital of at least 10 million baht ($320,000).

 

Just to make sure small brewers were thoroughly intimidated, the rewrite also increased inflated penalties. Fines were increased from their original, almost quaint 200 baht ($6) for possession of bootleg alcohol to 10,000 ($300). For actually brewing without a license, fines were increased from 5,000 baht ($150) to a range of 50,000–100,000 baht ($1,600–$3,200), plus jail time. Reporting in 2017, The Bangkok Post estimated that in order to meet the new regulations, a brewer would need to have a billion baht—around $30 million—in start-up capital. 

 

For some, craft beer is associated with anti-establishment politics. “It’s very similar to the French Revolution, which started from a cafe in Paris, where people drank coffee,” says Taopiphop. “The fuel of the revolution is not coffee any more, it’s craft beer.” Taopiphop adds that, after the 2014 coup in Thailand, many pro-democracy activists chose to meet in Bangkok’s craft beer bars.

 

If only the younger Thais were allowed to express themselves, be inventive, be creative, be industrious, and use their smarts and ambition, Thailand could have a future. Craft beer is needed here, and so are the young entrepreneurs. But, that future appears to be suppressed at every turn by dinosaurs, who only answer to money, money, and even more money. Money is the God of lesser men. The money first attitude is holding back Thailand on so many levels.

Its true, every morning when i wake up my wifw says 'money first ' !

[jcmj]

Should be shot down like they are doing with the vapes. They can’t control who sees their adds or sells to the kids. We don’t need more kids drinking new booze smoking cigarettes and marijuana.  Can they not see how backwards they are yet?