Thais Urged To Stop Drinking

[crazyOZ80]

I still cannot understand why booze is legal and cannabis is illegal. Maybey it's because if people started smoking the "herb", their alcohol consumption would decrease, which the liquor companies would not like one little bit.

100% correct my friend . Well said . We all know this is true in many countries , Australia has a big drink problem , if only they'd legalize the 'erb.

[dom samui]

Posted Today, 12:37

Female Uni Student Stabbed to Death in Drunken Brawl

BANGKOK: -- A group of intoxicated young females were involved in a drunken brawl in Bangkok on Friday. The fight, between two groups of university students, ended in the vicious stabbing death of a 21-year-old female.

Bangkok, the 23rd of July 2010: At approximately 3:00am on Friday, Lieutenant Colonel Kamonrat Panoi (Klongloung Police Investigator) was notified of a fatal stabbing in front of the “Diamond Place” apartments in Soi Rungsit Pirom near Bangkok University. At team of officers was immediately dispatched to the incident to investigate.

At the scene, a small local restaurant, officers explained that there was significant evidence of a large fight/brawl outside the premises. The ground was heavily stained in blood and the restaurant furniture had been displaced around the area. Police were informed by witnesses that the young girl stabbed in the incident had been transported to the hospital, but had subsequently died of her injuries.

[jaideeguy]

Also the blame should go to the culture [and Buddhism being a big part of the culture] not only condoning the abuse of alcohol, but profiting from it. Our local watt here in the rice fields of CM regularly sponsors fund raising events that have whiskey vendors selling alcohol until the wee hours and bands and music with the whole village getting [more than] stupid drunk. The last event that I attended was closed by gun fire to break up a fight on stage.

Law says no alcohol on watt premiss, but the wat owns the adjacent land where the events are held and collect from vendors pushing their liquid narcotics to the stupid locals.

Sorry if I offend anyone, but those are the facts that I have witnessed.......

[cup-O-coffee]

At the present, I am lead to believe that it is a cultural behavior. I have several Thai neighbors with upper to middle class jobs; house, kids, etc. Nice people by and large.

The men-folk seem to gather often in the evenings to pow wow and pass around a bottle of whiskey, etc. They drink in a fashion that I would call responsible. All the women and children (about 12 to 15 all told - big family) will sit around at the outer edge and have their own pow wow.

This goes on for awhile. If I am out letting the dog do his business, and they see me, they will shout out a good evening to me and wave. Everything is good.

Perhaps it is the lower class of income earners who take the behaviors of the upper class and turn those behaviors bad. Perhaps it is the reason those lower class people are lower class; no self-control, self-esteem, self image that is redeeming or edifying. And in defence of these lower class people; one is urged to ask, "what hope do they have?". Take away a man's hope, and you take the away the fire that makes a man. There is not a lot for most Thais to look forward to in this country. Most of them are living their lives the same way as 2500 years ago. The only difference is they have concrete walls and a TV and a motorbike, instead of bamboo, fire, and walking.

And the behaviors are passed on to the next generations as "the thing to do, because dad did it, and that seems to be a right of passage to manhood".

A Thai woman drinking is always seen as a negative thing. It is mostly a male dominated behavior and no one questions it in the little social circles.

It is easy to point finger at a problem and make a broad brush-stroke as a solution, but when you get down into the lives of each one of these people, things can become a bit complicated and really affect the emotions.

[robsamui]

What niggles me about the 'Buddha Days' and other non-alcohol events is the blithering way that the administration goes about implementing this.

The beer bars are closed - which the tourists and expats use but the Thais do not.

Supermarkets and 7-11s can't sell booze, but all the karaoke bars and sing-a-song bars are open - mostly with their lights off - which the Thais use and the farangs do not.

And so are all the Thai 'granny' shops - in fact my local police station regularly uses the one close by when they can't buy their Regency at 7-11!

If any of the Thai authorities were at all serious about enforcing alcohol bans, then the entire police force would be out on the streets like they are when they decide to check for road traffic infringements - but in 11 years I've never seen it happen.

R