Warning: Alcohol, Cold Don't Mix

[cdnvic]

Warning: alcohol, cold don't mix

Published on Dec 25 , 2005

The Public Health Ministry yesterday issued a warning on the potentially fatal effects of drinking alcohol to keep warm during the winter.

Dr Prat Bunyawongwiroj, acting permanent secretary, said that alcohol affects blood circulation resulting in the heart having to work harder to distribute blood and increasing blood pressure. The ultimate consequence could be a stroke, which could be fatal at low room temperatures.

Although alcohol makes drinkers feel warm for a short while, it actually causes the body temperature to fall to a level lower than normal, which could be dangerous in the winter, he said.

Public Health Minister Pinij Charusombat said he had instructed public-health offices across the country to educate local residents on preventive measures against wintertime illnesses including pneumonia, influenza and diarrhoea.

Meanwhile, a survey of Chulalongkorn University students released yesterday revealed that more than 65 per cent of university students regularly drink alcohol, as do 40 per cent of high-school students.

Of the 500 university students polled, 328 of them said they were regular drinkers, said lecturer Amornwich Nakhonthap, director of the university's Child Watch programme, which conducted the survey. The average age at which those surveyed began drinking was 16, while the youngest reported age was eight.

Citing information from a 2004 survey, Amornwich said that 40 per cent of junior high-school students surveyed admitted to drinking regularly and another 23 per cent said they smoked.

He added that according to a Criminal Court analysis alcohol contributed to 59 per cent of crimes involving damage to property, 34 per cent of sex crimes (plus 10 per cent of rapes) and 20 per cent of assaults.

He said Child Watch found that more than 9,000 students under the age of 25 had been involved in road accidents while under the influence of alcohol. The total number of road accidents caused by intoxicated people in Thailand reached 13,000 this year, injuring more than 270,000 people.

Meanwhile, a hospital director in Tak yesterday issued a warning to campers about malaria. Dr Worrawit Tantiwatthanasap said that more than 30 people had recently received treatment for the mosquito-borne disease at his hospital, twice the number treated over the same period last year.

The Nation

[jayenram]

The Public Health Ministry yesterday issued a warning on the potentially fatal effects of drinking alcohol to keep warm during the winter.

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Tell this to the Norwegians!

[cdnvic]

Tell it to this guy;

cv

[jayenram]

You're only sulking because your local rub-a-dub was closed on Christmas Day.

[cdnvic]

You're only sulking because your local rub-a-dub was closed on Christmas Day.

I had to invite a few friends over.

cv

[Padkapow Guy]

Warning: alcohol, cold don't mix

Published on Dec 25 , 2005

The Public Health Ministry yesterday issued a warning on the potentially fatal effects of drinking alcohol to keep warm during the winter.

Dr Prat Bunyawongwiroj, acting permanent secretary, said that alcohol affects blood circulation resulting in the heart having to work harder to distribute blood and increasing blood pressure. The ultimate consequence could be a stroke, which could be fatal at low room temperatures.

Although alcohol makes drinkers feel warm for a short while, it actually causes the body temperature to fall to a level lower than normal, which could be dangerous in the winter, he said.

Public Health Minister Pinij Charusombat said he had instructed public-health offices across the country to educate local residents on preventive measures against wintertime illnesses including pneumonia, influenza and diarrhoea.

Meanwhile, a survey of Chulalongkorn University students released yesterday revealed that more than 65 per cent of university students regularly drink alcohol, as do 40 per cent of high-school students.

Of the 500 university students polled, 328 of them said they were regular drinkers, said lecturer Amornwich Nakhonthap, director of the university's Child Watch programme, which conducted the survey. The average age at which those surveyed began drinking was 16, while the youngest reported age was eight.

Citing information from a 2004 survey, Amornwich said that 40 per cent of junior high-school students surveyed admitted to drinking regularly and another 23 per cent said they smoked.

He added that according to a Criminal Court analysis alcohol contributed to 59 per cent of crimes involving damage to property, 34 per cent of sex crimes (plus 10 per cent of rapes) and 20 per cent of assaults.

He said Child Watch found that more than 9,000 students under the age of 25 had been involved in road accidents while under the influence of alcohol. The total number of road accidents caused by intoxicated people in Thailand reached 13,000 this year, injuring more than 270,000 people.

Meanwhile, a hospital director in Tak yesterday issued a warning to campers about malaria. Dr Worrawit Tantiwatthanasap said that more than 30 people had recently received treatment for the mosquito-borne disease at his hospital, twice the number treated over the same period last year.

The Nation

If they put this in a news paper in wisconsin they would be laughed out of the state. What else is there to due in the winter time.

PKG

[Ronpang]

To me, drinking definitely keeps me warm in winter.

[suegha]

As if I will stop drinking because it's cold here in the UK! I always laugh when I see these types of articles, do they have any effect on anyone? Or are they a total waste of time?

PS drinking alcohol does, however, lower your body temperature - so wrap up warm!!!

[Gumballl]

I heard this "news" on RadioBangkok. I cannot believe that that the Public Health Minister thinks that the "cold" and the consumption of alcohol are issues in Thailand.

I guess he worries that someone will fall asleep on the curb side, and suffer from hypothermia, if not death, with nightly temperatures near 20C. That is rich!

It seems that this Minister had no original ideas of his own, so he posted something that he clipped from the Russian press, and changed a few things so that the word "Thai" or "Thailand" are in there. Is this what he was taught to do in school... plagiarize?

Anyhow, seriously, if you are going to drink a lot of alcohol this Xmas/New Years season, please do so cautiously if you plan spending any time in a freezer at a Thai restaurant or 7-11.

[cdnvic]

I heard this "news" on RadioBangkok.  I cannot believe that that the Public Health Minister thinks that the "cold" and the consumption of alcohol are issues in Thailand.

I guess he worries that someone will fall asleep on the curb side, and suffer from hypothermia, if not death, with nightly temperatures near 20C.  That is rich!

Keep track of the news, people die of exposure every winter up north where the temperatures fall far below 20 at night. I think they're aiming this at the people living in places like Mae Hong Son, who they want thinking twice before they drink a bottle of Mekong and decide to lay down outside where the numbing effects of the alcohol will fool the body into thinking it isn't 4 or 5 degrees outside, and not waking the person up like would happen if he were sober and out in the cold.

In a temperate climate with a real winter this is not even an issue, because its so cold nobody, drunk or sober would even think of falling asleep outside. In a country where the day and night temps can vary by 20 degrees or more in the winter it's more likely that an intoxicated person would fall asleep, feeling artificially warm in 14 degree heat, then die of hypothermia when the temperature drops to 5 for a few hours overnight.

For most people, sober, indoors, at rest, and in light clothing (shorts&t-shirt) their bodies will maintain their temperatures adaquately until about 20c, after which the body will start to lose heat faster than it can naturally produce it. Alcohol, wind, humidity, and transfer of heat to cooler objects (floor, earth, etc) accelerate the heat loss. Put this person outside on a foggy 5c night, and if they're too drunk to feel the cold and wake up, they're going to die.

And they do it up north every year.

cv

[Gumballl]

If temps in Thailand fall to 5 C, at any time of the year, please let me know where. To me, that is the place to buy property!

For those who cannot afford property, but can afford a drink or two, at least buy a jacket.

Cheers to all. Be careful not to become a statistic this winter.

[h90]

if you drunk press the "max" button of your aircon.

have a big box size deep freeze and fall inside while trying to find a bottle wodka.

sure there are many more possible accidence...

I heard this "news" on RadioBangkok.  I cannot believe that that the Public Health Minister thinks that the "cold" and the consumption of alcohol are issues in Thailand.

I guess he worries that someone will fall asleep on the curb side, and suffer from hypothermia, if not death, with nightly temperatures near 20C.  That is rich!

It seems that this Minister had no original ideas of his own, so he posted something that he clipped from the Russian press, and changed a few things so that the word "Thai" or "Thailand" are in there.  Is this what he was taught to do in school... plagiarize?

Anyhow, seriously, if you are going to drink a lot of alcohol this Xmas/New Years season, please do so cautiously if you plan spending any time in a freezer at a Thai restaurant or 7-11. 

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