Makro - Blatant Discrimination!

[Stradavarius37]

The law is the law. Lots of people find a way around it......it's the Thai way. Whether the way around it is because they are Thai, pay a bribe or simply know their way around these things better than the OP is all of little consequence. If the OP feel aggrieved with the double standards here, then I suggest he gets regular blood pressure checks, because it will be encountered very often and somehow I don't think stewing over waiting 15 minutes or a Thai getting away with something when he can't, is worth the high blood pressure, possible stroke and days of unhappiness thinking about it,

The law has been "The Law" for almost a decade - if people haven't figured it out by now - they deserve all the aggravation they get. How hard is it to just get your alcohol bought at the designated times...

Well, if alcohol dominates people's lives, I guess not getting it on time can cause delium tremons.

And also cause them to cause trouble for multiple store staff, even when its clear they don't understand the rules, AND don't understand Thai... so they end up causing a bunch of problems for a bunch of people for no reason.

[Frank James]

At the risk of being off topic, this issue about 'double pricing' for farangs comes up again and again. I'm sure this has been mentioned before (I'm new), but the way to beat that, i have found, is to obtain a Thailand driving license (American spelling, sorry UK guys). It's a good investment.

As for buying alcohol at Makro or anywhere else, I guess the answer is get there well before the 11:00 AM cutoff. Time and clocks seem to have a far different value here than they do in the time-obsessed West, but they are serious about the 'no alky' hours.

[dantilley]

The minimum is 5 liters You dont mention the size of bottle you bought, but if you got 12 bottles @ 33cl you are short about 1 liter If the other guy got 12x 0.5 liter bottles he was good to go...

No... the minimum during off hours (2-5 and midnight to 11am) is 10 liters. If you buy a case of beer (24 cans or bottles at 33cl) . you just need to buy another seven bottles .

When they tried that crap with me five minutes after 2 one day when I was buying six beers, I just oh okay, bring that case of beer over. That shut them up.

Also, a little known secret is that Villa Market will sell between 2 and 5 every day.

It's actually pretty well known that Villa is exempt from this rule, and I bought beer at about 4pm from Family Mart a few weeks ago. I'm pretty much used to this bizarre law by now, but I do get caught out occasionally though and it's always annoying when it happens.

Definitely there's no one law for Thais / another for farangs with this kind of thing. In fact, if anything, as a foreigner I'd say you have a much better chance of circumventing the rule.

[Stradavarius37]

At the risk of being off topic, this issue about 'double pricing' for farangs comes up again and again. I'm sure this has been mentioned before (I'm new), but the way to beat that, i have found, is to obtain a Thailand driving license (American spelling, sorry UK guys). It's a good investment.

As for buying alcohol at Makro or anywhere else, I guess the answer is get there well before the 11:00 AM cutoff. Time and clocks seem to have a far different value here than they do in the time-obsessed West, but they are serious about the 'no alky' hours.

Two points 1) The Thai Drivers Licence can help you get the "Thai price" SOMETIMES, but it does not work all the time. and 2) You said "get there before the 11am cutoff". The law allows you to buy between 11am and 2pm, and then again from 5pm to 12 midnight.

[asupeartea]

As my Thai lady friend put it, "That's Thailand. If you don't like being discriminated against, swindled and robbed because of the color of you skin, then leave."

Edited April 29, 2013 by metisdead
Oversize font reset to normal.

[Johnniey]

The law is the law. Lots of people find a way around it......it's the Thai way. Whether the way around it is because they are Thai, pay a bribe or simply know their way around these things better than the OP is all of little consequence. If the OP feel aggrieved with the double standards here, then I suggest he gets regular blood pressure checks, because it will be encountered very often and somehow I don't think stewing over waiting 15 minutes or a Thai getting away with something when he can't, is worth the high blood pressure, possible stroke and days of unhappiness thinking about it,

The law has been "The Law" for almost a decade - if people haven't figured it out by now - they deserve all the aggravation they get. How hard is it to just get your alcohol bought at the designated times...

Well, if alcohol dominates people's lives, I guess not getting it on time can cause delium tremons.

And also cause them to cause trouble for multiple store staff, even when its clear they don't understand the rules, AND don't understand Thai... so they end up causing a bunch of problems for a bunch of people for no reason.

The OP´s symptoms closely resemble those of delirium tremens. At last the whole thread makes sense.

[uptheos]

As my Thai lady friend put it, "That's Thailand. If you don't like being discriminated against, swindled and robbed because of the color of you skin, then leave."

Does she always shout THAT loud?

Edited April 29, 2013 by metisdead
Oversize font reset to normal.

[winstonc]

leave the guy alone hes only contributing his experience ,,,you ever so PERFECT people,,,,

[harrry]

As my Thai lady friend put it, "That's Thailand. If you don't like being discriminated against, swindled and robbed because of the color of you skin, then leave."

Does she always shout THAT loud?

Remember she is Thai..if she is shouting loud do not worry. If she goes very very quiet watch out.

[uptheos]

As my Thai lady friend put it, "That's Thailand. If you don't like being discriminated against, swindled and robbed because of the color of you skin, then leave."

Does she always shout THAT loud?

Remember she is Thai..if she is shouting loud do not worry. If she goes very very quiet watch out.

Wise words of experience.

Edited April 29, 2013 by metisdead
Oversize font reset to normal.

[Slip]

Just as a point of information, locally since Songkhran this 'law' is being enforced more strictly- I turned up at the mom&pop store at the end of my soi the other day at about 2.15pm. The poor girl got terribly flustered and explained that the police had been round instructing them to enforce the 'no sale' law. They even have a little sign made up with the details and times. Of course I still got my beer but they had to wrap it up in newspaper first. Now there's a decent T.I.T. story

[ALFREDO]

So the real root of all this is a Thai for whatever reason went through and you had to wait 10-15 minutes before being served, this you found so outrageous and unfair you called your wife, the manager, HQ too !

Sorry mate but if thats right I suggest its diazapam you need not Laos, I mean really, all that stress and upset over 10 minutes, and before someone shouts its the principal, just remember you are in the East not West, chill out, life will be so much more enjoyable and stress free if you learn to roll with things a little and calm down its just not worth it.

Sometime, the steam has to go somewhere!

Not everybody lives after the Bibel. "He strikes you on one cheek, let him hit you on the other cheek to!"

[ALFREDO]

I like beer

I do not "like" beer!

[anthobkk]

I think it depends of the cashier sometimes.

I went there with a friend, it was 4.00pm and we forgot about the time. We went to two separate cashiers and mine told me that they couldn't sell me alcohol before 5pm, but my friend went through without any problems...Then I went back inside and used the same cashier as my friend, and I could buy it without any problem.

[ALFREDO]

Just yesterday, a barber tried to charge me B.100 for a haircut despite the fact that the price of B.60 was shown up on his mirror.

60 baht is overpriced. 50 baht at my wife's local barber.

If the barber charged me one hundred baht, he only absorbed his tip anyway. If I'm in a good mood, he may well have lost an additional 50 to 100 baht, but he wouldn't have known that.

You like it cheaper, go to a local hairdresser in Cambodia. Even in Sihanoukville they charge for a Barang a Dollar, so less than 30 Baht!

[ALFREDO]

The minimum is 5 liters You dont mention the size of bottle you bought, but if you got 12 bottles @ 33cl you are short about 1 liter If the other guy got 12x 0.5 liter bottles he was good to go...

The minimum is 10 litres during the restriction hours. 2 cases of 12 by 630ml no worries. The 630ml are the large bottles

Sure?

OP wrote, "contacted Makro HQ and they told me that the policy is Zero alcohol sales outside of the stated times"

[carlspencer]

Really the floor manager as well?

[ALFREDO]

Maybe they are not allowed to sell to people who are intoxicated.

Or,

the OP wrote, "contacted Makro HQ and they told me that the policy is Zero alcohol sales outside of the stated times"

[ram133]

what is the price of beer there by the way. makro

[Skytrain2hell]

Learn Thai...That would have helped. I also agree with the others that you need to relax. If you look at things negatively, then yes, the world is out to get you.

I tried to buy a case of beer between 2-5 PM at MAKRO one day, and the staff told me (in Thai), that if I bought 3-4 more bottles, it wasn't against the rules. I said ok, and the staff went and brought me 3-4 more bottles while they rang me up. No problems there.

These people are just doing their jobs. I doubt they were bending the rules for the Thai guy because that would get them fired if anyone found out...not worth it. I'm hoping you didn't, but I'm guessing you looked like the typical angry farang (extra points for angry farang who needs beer) who no speaka da Thai.

Do everyone a favor, including yourself, and relax. Usually the world isn't out to get you

[richard_smith237]

A Foreigner doesn't get serve outside of the law and he calls it Blatant Discrimination. I call that Blatant Exaggeration, but I won't start a thread about it.

Meanwhile somewhere else in the cyberspace a thread may have been started by a Makro employee describing how a Thai business man was served alcohol using his Makro business card, but a foreigner flew off the handle and created a right old stink because they wouldn't bend the law for him.

Any lesson to learn from this ? i.e. Don't fly off the handle if you can't understand the explanation or are not open minded enough to recognise that sometimes there are valid reason for what you see.

[retell]

what is the price of beer there by the way. makro

for me the same at the thai wholesale drinks place i usallu buy as makro 425 for a case big archa

but i do not get my beers from makro but there cos at makro i have to haul that heavy car with 20 cases trough the store over the parking lot into the car and my normal place loads it all in the car so leaves me with just unload it into storage and a few in the fridge

[Stradavarius37]

what is the price of beer there by the way. makro

for me the same at the thai wholesale drinks place i usallu buy as makro 425 for a case big archa

but i do not get my beers from makro but there cos at makro i have to haul that heavy car with 20 cases trough the store over the parking lot into the car and my normal place loads it all in the car so leaves me with just unload it into storage and a few in the fridge

20 cases? Time for some http://www.aathailand.org/

[retell]

what is the price of beer there by the way. makro

for me the same at the thai wholesale drinks place i usallu buy as makro 425 for a case big archa

but i do not get my beers from makro but there cos at makro i have to haul that heavy car with 20 cases trough the store over the parking lot into the car and my normal place loads it all in the car so leaves me with just unload it into storage and a few in the fridge

20 cases? Time for some http://www.aathailand.org/

hahaha not all for personal use ,, got a small resort and a restaurant/ bar here

Edited April 29, 2013 by retell

[sms747]

All this restriction is NOT the result of any law. Andrew Biggs did a good piece explaining why it was not law in the Bk post mag about 3 years ago and backed up by a lawyer. Can anyone name a case where somebody was prosecuted for selling outside of the hours?

[NewlyMintedThai]

All this restriction is NOT the result of any law. Andrew Biggs did a good piece explaining why it was not law in the Bk post mag about 3 years ago and backed up by a lawyer. Can anyone name a case where somebody was prosecuted for selling outside of the hours?

Whether it is a "law" or a "regulation" or a "rule", some places (admirably, for a change) don't want to break it.

So what's the big deal? Either shop at the right time, buy a bunch of stuff, or find a vendor who has no respect for rules.

Quite simple, really.

[Frank James]

I meant to say (in my earlier post) the 2:00 PM cutoff, not 11:00 AM. Sorry. Haven't tested the cutoff time too closely, but the 7-11's in CM seem serious about enforcing it, so just get there before they drop the curtain. Same goes for the lovely Rimping chain. I didn't know about the 10 liter exception, but that's hard for me to carry on my bicycle.

[TexasRanger]

I have always gone the 10 litre exemption route, but then I usually buy boxes of wine so it's easy done.

[Berkshire]

A Foreigner doesn't get serve outside of the law and he calls it Blatant Discrimination. I call that Blatant Exaggeration, but I won't start a thread about it.

Meanwhile somewhere else in the cyberspace a thread may have been started by a Makro employee describing how a Thai business man was served alcohol using his Makro business card, but a foreigner flew off the handle and created a right old stink because they wouldn't bend the law for him.

Any lesson to learn from this ? i.e. Don't fly off the handle if you can't understand the explanation or are not open minded enough to recognise that sometimes there are valid reason for what you see.

Exactly right. This thread is a good example of why foreigners are simply not held in high regard in Thailand any more. There are just too many low class farangs, lacking in the social graces, losing their cool over petty things, and for no good reason. Some farangs just have a chip-on-their-shoulder, calling everything "discrimination" without the slightest clue what is really happening.

[robblok]

A Foreigner doesn't get serve outside of the law and he calls it Blatant Discrimination. I call that Blatant Exaggeration, but I won't start a thread about it.

Meanwhile somewhere else in the cyberspace a thread may have been started by a Makro employee describing how a Thai business man was served alcohol using his Makro business card, but a foreigner flew off the handle and created a right old stink because they wouldn't bend the law for him.

Any lesson to learn from this ? i.e. Don't fly off the handle if you can't understand the explanation or are not open minded enough to recognise that sometimes there are valid reason for what you see.

Exactly right. This thread is a good example of why foreigners are simply not held in high regard in Thailand any more. There are just too many low class farangs, lacking in the social graces, losing their cool over petty things, and for no good reason. Some farangs just have a chip-on-their-shoulder, calling everything "discrimination" without the slightest clue what is really happening.

I totally agree here, just got back from the Makro never a problem. Just speaking a bit of Thai helps but the alcohol times are usually strictly enforced as it could lead to heavy fines.

An other good reason not to drink .

Fun too security outside of Makro made a big deal about being in shape saying something not many farangs are. Just a little bit of Thai and a smile can make a day a lot nicer. Sure I have been cheated too and there are times I dislike things in this country a lot but in general i love it.