Tough new crackdown on alcohol promotions in Thailand

[Neeranam]

All alcoholism is weak willed people who cannot say no. Its much harder to say my fun stops now, not the reverse.

This is one of the most inane posts I have ever read in 10 years on this forum.

[hardyr15]

The way of Thai life, I have been attacked by drunks welding swords, just the right thing for Thais to do, how long have they been drinking Lo cal, and old coconut juice??????, how are the police going to stop that???? Oh and the older Thais with the Betel nut, do you know about all the local intoxicating mind wrecking drinks so ya ba to you ,

[Nigeone]

All alcoholism is weak willed people who cannot say no. Its much harder to say my fun stops now, not the reverse

This comment is so wrong...Alcohol is probably the worst drug in the world ..It takes a hold on someone and messes so many people up...It starts like most drugs

and then its too late...In a social situation its very easy to be carried along without knowing it..

[hardyr15]

I know alcohol is the big killer of us when did you find out Nigeone????????

[MESmith]

Introduce a law limiting beer to max 4% strength.

Tax break for 3.5% beer.

Zero tax on alcohol free beer.

This is a hot country, weaker beer more refreshing.

Hike the tax on spirits, including Lao Khao.

[IAMSOBAD]

Why not EDUCATE your people how to drive.

What RED LIGHTS mean.What is a STOP SIGN. How to wait your turn. Yield to ONCOMING TRAFFIC. How to use your brain. Two objects CANNOT be at one place at one time....ITS CALLED AN ACCIDENT! Stop Mob mentally to deal with situations.

Thailand THE HUB OF CRACKDOWNS and CRACK UPS.

Alcohol combined with an idiot makes the problem.

Remove the IDIOT...PROBLEM SOLVED!

Edited August 27, 2014 by IAMSOBAD

[rotary]

Sounds like something the USA would do

[dagobert]

Did you read the post????????

[h90]

All alcoholism is weak willed people who cannot say no. Its much harder to say my fun stops now, not the reverse.

You and only you (the drinker) is responsible for their own actions both before during and after. With this in mind who's fault is it? The drinkers or the drink?

It is the same as other drug users blaming the addiction as the reason. They and only them are the ones with the power to avoid or stop it.

I am sure there were plenty of warning signs which went ignored from simple loss of control to complicated personal relationships.

I am the worst sort of advocate, an ex user. When I was young I was weak. My drug of choice was cocaine. I was aware what was happening so quickly turned the corner, it took awhile to figure the problen was indeed me. Everyone was blaming the drugs.

I can use now without the fear of addiction. The problem was all in my head. I agree this is not as easy for everyone but it is possible for everyone.

The new laws are almost babysitting drinkers. In the UK we have done that for years same as raise prices, the effect of such a campaign? Nothing! We still have growing antisocial behavoir and violence, alcoholism and crime figures.

This for me will only hurt the tourism industry further and just like the visa rules I expected a panicked turn around.

Whilst I believe the NCPO are doing a good job they can at times get carried away with fixing things or like this identify a key problem but just manage it incorrectly. A+ for effort but a C for implementation.

yes, now it isn't political correct to blame people:

They are fat not because of they eat too much....they are addicted to sugar and fat.

They can't stop smoking because of addiction while for our grandfathers smoking was just a bad habit and they could stopped if they had a reason.

They loose all their money because they are addicted to gambling or shopping....

It is time to grow up an be responsible yourself. There aren't enough nannies to have one sit beside everyone.

[NanLaew]

Why are these other-world type pronouncements consistently made in Chiang Mai? I mean we had the Immigration guy recently issuing a 'clarification' on the recent ruckus about visa-exemption abuse that flew in the face of recent events. Now we have some bizarre, Thai-style alcohol prohibition that makes promoting alcohol consumption by word of mouth illegal.

Is everyone drinking the moat water up there or what?

[theoldgit]

Offensive remark removed.

[mauGR1]

Well, it looks to me like a half-baked crackdown.

Probably all it will achieve is a further damage to the tourism industry.

What about getting tough on drunk-driving ? What about enforcing traffic rules ?

IMHO, if someone turns into alcohol addiction he has a problem, can we expect prohibition to solve his problem ?

..No way, probably we can expect him to turn into more dangerous drugs.

[PREM-R]

Once again "Official" Thai policy is eminating from the very extreme parts of the country and not from "Head office" ie Bangkok. George recently broke the story of the :'Visa run crackdown' which caused huge consternation and was ultimately shown to be something of a 'storm in a teacup'. The visa story was due to statements attributed to IO's in the south of Thailand but then rebuffed by more senior officers in Bangkok. I can see that this will be much the same, why launch a campaign that will have such a fundamental effect on so many in Thailand, individuals and businesses alike, from Chiang Mai when it would have had far more credibility if it had been announced by the General in Bangkok.

It should also be remembered that one of the families that would be considered 'Amart' and therefore behind the coup, are major players in the Thai alcohol business, they are not going to be very amused by this, are they?

[I knew this would happen]

A dry Thailand only affect falang. Thai people are Buddhist and drinking is against believes anyway. This is a Buddhist country.

Drugs, porn found in temple raid

CHON BURI: Authorities arrested a monk and a layman and seized weapons, drugs and pornographic DVDs from a Buddhist temple in Si Racha district today (August 26).

Phuket News 2014-08-26

You troll us, we troll you

[hardyr15]

Good work its all coming to view now,

[thaiguzzi]

It aint gonna happen up here in Isaan. Fact. I will still be able to send my kids to get me a bottle of beer from the local village shop. No alcohol at a temple fair with a Morlam and dancing girls? Yeah, right. Nobody takes a blind bit of notice of what new laws are dreamed up in the metropolis of BKK. And rightly so.

[SteveFong]

And the the reason for this is.......

productivity and control

you dont see alcohol in prison, or "work and re-education" camps either

Military Dictatorship............ its that simple and yes, it IS different this time

[Zeegator]

Next up: Huge pictures of diseased livers on every bottle of Chang.

A knee jerk reaction from a knee jerk government.

As opposed to knee-jerk reactions from ThaiVisa posters?

[waynethor]

I challenge anyone who promotes the use of alcohol to walk in my shoes This includes seeing my own life family wrecked due to it. Sure some good times were had and alcohol can be fun if you are one of the lucky ones.

Alcohol is evil in this country - I've been going weekly to the biggest alcohol rehab in the country for more than 10 years to try help others and could write a book about all the misery I've seen.

if you can't do without alcohol 24 hours a day or think promoting such a substance is morally correct, take a good look at yourself.

Do you have any idea how many people in this country are killed because of alcohol every day? Take a guess.

I can understand that alcohol has had a very bad effect in your life. I lost a loved one because of liver failure from alcoholism but do you really think that these kinds of laws will make much difference? I am sure that if these types of laws were in effect when my loved one drank heavily it wouldn't have made any difference at all. I asked some of my workmates about how much effect advertising or promotions has on what and how much they drink, and in every case they laughed and said "none at all".

Because of my situation of worrying about a loved one's drinking, I did research into the causes of alcoholism, and what I found was that people often starting drinking because of boredom. When they are in an environment that doesn't offer enough activities for young people, those young people will often turn to alcohol for something to do first and sometimes progress towards other drug abuse. I know when my loved one went into AA, there was a big emphasis on the recovering person to keep busy so that boredom doesn't push them back into the bottle.

It seems that Thailand doesn't offer enough activities for young people, especially in places like Isaan. If you educate these young people about the dangers of alcohol and give them lots of choices of activities when in their teen years, there is a much greater chance they won't abuse alcohol or other drugs.

I just don't believe that these laws will make a real difference.

Edited August 27, 2014 by waynethor

[Fullstop]

Promoting alcohol through word of mouth is also illegal

"Hi Bob. How was your evening?"

"Great! Had a great meal at an Italian restaurant with a nice bottle of Leo......."

BUSTED!!! 6 months jail!

"LOS" ... "Land Of Silliness"

[Zeegator]

Why not take a look and study same in western countries before putting into effect such harsh and unenforcable laws. How about farangs arriving at the airport wearing a heineken t-shirt. Sorry sir, you have to take off your shirt.

How about reading the report properly? This is nothing to do with branded clothing unless it is worn by people working in bars or restaurants.

[Tham1]

Can't promote wine of beer tasting - lol who thinks this crap up.

[bkkgooner]

Honestly who gives a shit, as long as i can buy my 5 large LEO a day i dont care.

So i dident even bother reading the post. "Im 4 down one more and "good night"

Hate to break this to you - but you are an alcoholic and should seek help

[GuestHouse]

h90 said:

yes, now it isn't political correct to blame people:

They are fat not because of they eat too much....they are addicted to sugar and fat.

They can't stop smoking because of addiction while for our grandfathers smoking was just a bad habit and they could stopped if they had a reason.

They loose all their money because they are addicted to gambling or shopping....

It is time to grow up an be responsible yourself. There aren't enough nannies to have one sit beside everyone.

Except of course you can never be quite sure can you - why a person suffers the health problems they do.

Best then to resort to blaming them all on some moral failing which, like their health problems, you have no sure knowledge of.

In my youth I enjoyed the fitness level of a professional cyclist but in my 30s suffered a debilitating lung disease that left me unable to climb a flight of stairs. My recover to good health entirely the result of medical intervention.

Losing my health, and fitness level few ever achieve, was not a good experience but it taught me a very good lesson about health - a lesson punched home every time some idiot thought they had the right, the knowledge, understanding and moral high ground to lecture me on how I needed to eat less, and get more exercise.

Every single one of us can loose their health in a matter of days through an accident, disease or matters beyond their control - Think about it.

Edited August 27, 2014 by GuestHouse

[Fullstop]

Honestly who gives a shit, as long as i can buy my 5 large LEO a day i dont care.

So i dident even bother reading the post. "Im 4 down one more and "good night"

Hate to break this to you - but you are an alcoholic and should seek help

I'll help him. I'll be over with a bottle opener tonight!

[Stradavarius37]

Lmao at this thread and the responses to it. All the TV Chicken Littles running around screaming "The sky is falling, the sky is falling". Thanks for the morning laugh all you Drunky McBoozes....

Edited August 27, 2014 by Stradavarius37

[SteveFong]

It starts with the ban at midnight, and as they get more control, and weed thru the mafias it will drop to 10PM

This will have the effect of dropping the late night traffic as well,

Once that has set in, and the people are now on a "soft curfew", it will be dropped to store bans at 8pm, and bars must close by 9PM

Thailand needs productivity, not drunkards in Mercedes plowing into vendors, or bus drivers killing all in their view

Soft crackdowns are the future

[alanrchase]

It starts with the ban at midnight, and as they get more control, and weed thru the mafias it will drop to 10PM

This will have the effect of dropping the late night traffic as well,

Once that has set in, and the people are now on a "soft curfew", it will be dropped to store bans at 8pm, and bars must close by 9PM

Thailand needs productivity, not drunkards in Mercedes plowing into vendors, or bus drivers killing all in their view

Soft crackdowns are the future

From what I observe the only places that have the time restrictions on sales of alcohol are the big chain stores. That law seems very selective and hardly enforced. Where do you think a bus driver gets a drink? Nana? 7/11?

[howzat]

Don't you think their time would be better spent closing gambling dens and the ever increasing number of massage/sex parlours even in residential areas. Buying a beer from a Heineken girl is hardly one of the 7 deadly sins and alcohol abuse seems starts with young Thais due to the availability of cheap Thai whisky etc and not beer or wines. In MHO

[gerry1011]

Applaud the new regime!

Support "reforms"!

Crackdown on corrupt police!

Clean all these umbrellas obstructing the views on my beach!

Crackdown on these noddles' stalls who occupy my public parking!

Catch all the mafia taxi drivers and send them to prison!

Also imprison all politicians (the PT) and ban the red color for good!

Throw away all the corrupt government officials!

Ban all street vendors who disturb my walkways! Send them somewhere else! Anywhere! I don't care!!!

Catch all the farmers encroaching on national parks! They have no right to be there! I live in a condo so I don't care!

Tax the rich! All of them! Let them pay for what they did!

Charge all the Thais who commit traffic crimes, and drive recklessly!

Rule of law! Rule of law!!!

... But don't touch beer and bars, please (and let me do visa runs).

Farangs are funny

Edited August 27, 2014 by gerry1011