Overzealous enforcement of Thailand's alcohol purchase hours

[SanSaiExPat]

It's 13:30 yesterday afternoon. I'm in a Tops Market in Chiang Mai at the new Central Festival Mall and decide to pick up a bottle of excellent Australian Sauvignon Blanc for dinner. I get the to check out at about 13:45 and the checkout girl looks askance at me and snickers a little to her mate who is assisting with bagging my groceries and she says, "You'll have to wait until 17:00 to purchase alcohol." "Jing Jing", I exclaim. "Why is that pray tell, it's only 13:45?" Quickly glancing at her over-sized Garfield watch she say's hesitantly and I must say, somewhat , dissappointedly, "Oh, Kortod, yes, you still have 10 minutes" "Actually I have 15 minutes." I reply. To which she says nothing but does smile profusely. This has actually happened to me on one other occasion at the Rimping Market and I'm wondering if it's just me? What motivates this apparent overzealous enforcement of Thailand's ridiculous alcohol purchasing laws?

[lovelaos]

I couldn't believe it also when I was in a similar situation a few weeks ago. It was five minutes after 'time'

Stupid law.

[lust]

you mean why do people follow the law? ya its odd...

[Gsxrnz]

I lost you at "excellent Australian Sauvignon Blanc".

[slipperx]

It's Thailand's answer to stopping school kids buying alcohol when they are supposed to be at school. Of course there is no similar ban on tobacco sales for some reason.

What is grossly more aggravating is when you are half way through a meal and are told - sorry it's past 2pm and you are sitting there with your wife trying to enjoy a leisurely lunch and having consumed one drink already.

Then lots if things don't make much sense in Thailand so it's sort of par for the course really

[lust]

It's Thailand's answer to stopping school kids buying alcohol when they are supposed to be at school. Of course there is no similar ban on tobacco sales for some reason.

What is grossly more aggravating is when you are half way through a meal and are told - sorry it's past 2pm and you are sitting there with your wife trying to enjoy a leisurely lunch and having consumed one drink already.

Then lots if things don't make much sense in Thailand so it's sort of par for the course really

you have been refused at a restaurant?? o . O

[N47HAN]

It's Thailand's answer to stopping school kids buying alcohol when they are supposed to be at school. Of course there is no similar ban on tobacco sales for some reason.

What is grossly more aggravating is when you are half way through a meal and are told - sorry it's past 2pm and you are sitting there with your wife trying to enjoy a leisurely lunch and having consumed one drink already.

Then lots if things don't make much sense in Thailand so it's sort of par for the course really

Where are you eating this meal ?

7/11 - Tescos - Big C ?

All restaurants and bars sell alcohol between these times

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[slipperx]

It's Thailand's answer to stopping school kids buying alcohol when they are supposed to be at school. Of course there is no similar ban on tobacco sales for some reason.

What is grossly more aggravating is when you are half way through a meal and are told - sorry it's past 2pm and you are sitting there with your wife trying to enjoy a leisurely lunch and having consumed one drink already.

Then lots if things don't make much sense in Thailand so it's sort of par for the course really

you have been refused at a restaurant?? o . O

Often and at many - just last week at Fuji and many times before. The local restaurants don't seem to care so much but even those not exclusively

[richard_smith237]

IMO: This is an absurd and daft law created at some point as a knee jerk reaction to students getting drunk....

In the UK we had an equally absurd and daft law preventing the sale of Alcohol in a pub after 11pm - this law has now been abolished and licensing hours are subject to individual licence and licensee discretion.

Thinking that the staff enforcement is overzealous is perhaps little extreme, I'd suggest its simply poor timing keeping and nothing more too it. On many occasions staff have attempted to run through a bottle or cans of alcohol not realising the time.

This is not a negative or Machiavellian nature present in the staff, its simply absentmindedness at a frequency we as Westerners are not used to.

[slipperx]

It's Thailand's answer to stopping school kids buying alcohol when they are supposed to be at school. Of course there is no similar ban on tobacco sales for some reason.

What is grossly more aggravating is when you are half way through a meal and are told - sorry it's past 2pm and you are sitting there with your wife trying to enjoy a leisurely lunch and having consumed one drink already.

Then lots if things don't make much sense in Thailand so it's sort of par for the course really

Where are you eating this meal ?

7/11 - Tescos - Big C ?

All restaurants and bars sell alcohol between these times

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Usually whilst shopping - I am talking about going to eat at say 1.30pm, ordering food and a drink and then waiting for service. By the time you are served and ready for a refill the time goes past 2pm and you are refused.

[lust]

Well, you can drink in a restaurant anytime of the day. Either they didnt want to serve you or they are not in the know of thai law.

[Amusements]

This law really winds me up sometimes. I have lost count of the times I have had to leave a pack of larger behind the till in a certain supermarket, because its a few minutes past 2, or its some holiday I knew nothing about. The last time this happened was last week, it was 10.45pm and I had a crate of 24 cans, and they would not let me have them. I thought it would not be a problem as it was well before 2pm and a crate counted as wholesale.

[dominique355]

It's Thailand's answer to stopping school kids buying alcohol when they are supposed to be at school. Of course there is no similar ban on tobacco sales for some reason.

What is grossly more aggravating is when you are half way through a meal and are told - sorry it's past 2pm and you are sitting there with your wife trying to enjoy a leisurely lunch and having consumed one drink already.

Then lots if things don't make much sense in Thailand so it's sort of par for the course really

you have been refused at a restaurant?? o . O

Yes happens often, last time to me at The Loft at Central Chidlom. Really really annoying. I mean, I am not an alcoholic (really), and I (usually) don't get drunk at lunch time. So why can't I enjoy a glass of red for a late lunch?

[gomangosteen]

I have been told that the scanner at all 7/11s is set to not accept alcohol purchases outside the legal hours - not a matter of staff discretion at all - they are simply unable to sell it unless they took cash and rung up the amount after 5pm, and that won't happen - loss of job.

Is a little forward planning so difficult, these laws have been in place for how many years now?

[krisb]

I lost you at "excellent Australian Sauvignon Blanc".

Goes well with our excellant Aussie lamb

Not much goes with a Tui I might add

Edited September 16, 2014 by krisb

[krisb]

I have been told that the scanner at all 7/11s is set to not accept alcohol purchases outside the legal hours - not a matter of staff discretion at all - they are simply unable to sell it unless they took cash and rung up the amount after 5pm, and that won't happen - loss of job.

Is a little forward planning so difficult, these laws have been in place for how many years now?

5 years, 17 weeks, 4 days and 6 hours.

Not that Im counting

[HeijoshinCool]

you mean why do people follow the law? ya its odd...

.

Well, yes, in Thailand it is odd.

[HeijoshinCool]

And as far as the "it's there to keep school kids from drinking" brigade, well, it is for some reason legal to buy alcohol during those hours if you are purchasing 5 liters or more.

Yup.

Guess the law's there to keep kids from drinking alone.

[SanSaiExPat]

I lost you at "excellent Australian Sauvignon Blanc".

I knew that was coming. 555

[AnotherOneAmerican]

This law really winds me up sometimes. I have lost count of the times I have had to leave a pack of larger behind the till in a certain supermarket, because its a few minutes past 2, or its some holiday I knew nothing about. The last time this happened was last week, it was 10.45pm and I had a crate of 24 cans, and they would not let me have them. I thought it would not be a problem as it was well before 2pm and a crate counted as wholesale.

Police trap (scam) outside, asks to see your receipt, which has the time printed on it.

Big fine for them, big fine for you.

[mesquite]

This law really winds me up sometimes. I have lost count of the times I have had to leave a pack of larger behind the till in a certain supermarket, because its a few minutes past 2, or its some holiday I knew nothing about. The last time this happened was last week, it was 10.45pm and I had a crate of 24 cans, and they would not let me have them. I thought it would not be a problem as it was well before 2pm and a crate counted as wholesale.

You buy lager by the CRATE? WHOLESALE?

Maybe the exact timing of the purchase isn't your biggest problem.

Edited September 16, 2014 by mesquite

[jacky54]

it's not an actual law, if it were Villa Market would not be selling all hours. Foodland used to but stopped. Had a similar thing the other day at max value cashier said it was five minutes to 11 and gave beer to the security man to put back on the shelf. I took it off him, she said 3 minutes, I went round and looked at the time on the till and it was 11!, idiots.

[geronimo]

The tills are all timed so if they make an alcohol sale when they shouldn't, the operator loses his / her job. If you want to buy alcohol outside the hours, go to a corner shop, they will always oblige.

[jacky54]

The tills are all timed so if they make an alcohol sale when they shouldn't, the operator loses his / her job. If you want to buy alcohol outside the hours, go to a corner shop, they will always oblige.

That's right because it's not the law and nobody had ever been to court for selling 'out of hours'. When it is against the law most corner shops will not sell, or are very wary of doing so, elections/Buddha days.

[laolover88]

The tills don't run on atomic clocks and the staff, certainly at 7, have little idea what time of day it is! Clock in my local 7 has been stuck at 18.15 for 3 years.

[kurnell]

It takes a Thai clerk an eternity for them to fathom whether they can sell you alcohol based on those pointy things and numbers on that round thing on their wrist. I knew how to read a watch by the time I was 5 and quickly grasped the concept of a digital watch about a day later. 40 years down the track in 2014 and the sort of technology that has been around since sun dials went out of fashion still baffles the locals.

[Stradavarius37]

It's Thailand's answer to stopping school kids buying alcohol when they are supposed to be at school. Of course there is no similar ban on tobacco sales for some reason.

What is grossly more aggravating is when you are half way through a meal and are told - sorry it's past 2pm and you are sitting there with your wife trying to enjoy a leisurely lunch and having consumed one drink already.

Then lots if things don't make much sense in Thailand so it's sort of par for the course really

you have been refused at a restaurant?? o . O

Yes happens often, last time to me at The Loft at Central Chidlom. Really really annoying. I mean, I am not an alcoholic (really), and I (usually) don't get drunk at lunch time. So why can't I enjoy a glass of red for a late lunch?

Because it's the law...

[firefox999uk]

And as far as the "it's there to keep school kids from drinking" brigade, well, it is for some reason legal to buy alcohol during those hours if you are purchasing 5 liters or more.

Yup.

Guess the law's there to keep kids from drinking alone.

I think you'll find it's 10 liters or more.

Have a Nice Day.

[daveAustin]

Yes 10l and the guy above might have been refused as a slab isn't 10l, or they just didn't know. This was brought in by Thaksin's lot at the time of the midnight closing. It was a fun place indeed at one time!

[josephbloggs]

it's not an actual law, if it were Villa Market would not be selling all hours. Foodland used to but stopped. Had a similar thing the other day at max value cashier said it was five minutes to 11 and gave beer to the security man to put back on the shelf. I took it off him, she said 3 minutes, I went round and looked at the time on the till and it was 11!, idiots.

Villa has always been a safe bet for afternoon sales but when I was in there the other day they now display signs in the booze section stating booze, by law, can only be sold between 11am and 2pm and 5pm and midnight - they never used to have these signs - and all the wine girls are nowhere to be seen during that time. Thankfully they still let you buy but for how much longer I don't know.

Edited September 16, 2014 by josephbloggs