Restriction of liquor sale time takes effect today throughout Thailand

[55Jay]

The young soldier handing out customer service ticket numbers at my local Amphur, should be posted next to beer refrigerators in Mom and Pop shops, at rigid attention, M16 rifle at port arms. A visual reminder of the junta saving The People from the evils of drink, by way of a bayonet uptheos.

[bushwacker]

NEWS ... NEW REGULATIONS .... Same as the old ones. Have a good day.

Only in Thailand.

And here I was expecting a reasonable change to selling from 10 am to 2 am. Foolish me.

[bushmill]

What does the " New " law say, is all about selling alcohol but nothing about serving alcohol. Just pay upfront and drink in the time from 2 pm - 5 pm.

[elgordo38]

Either my englisch is so bad or the article is poorely written:

>Airports however are given the same allowance as before while entertainment venues which in the past were allowed to sell alcohol from 9.00 pm – 2.00 am can only do so up to midnight.

This means that in total, night time entertainment venues can only legally sell alcohol for 5 hours every day which in total is less than regular restaurants.

So this means according to the new regulations that discotheques, pubs, Bars, Karaokes etc. are allowed to sell alcohol from 9.00 pm up to midnight? That would be crazy! And that would by the way only be 3 (!) hours instead of five as stated in the article.

They can buy after hours insurance.

[John1thru10]

I say it's about time! We legitimate alcoholics, who planned ahead, have nothing to worry about. No one else even has business being drunk in Thailand. It's those low life 'after hours' purchasers that are ruining it for we alcoholics who have thought ahead to purchase our crappy beer in legitimate hours! Good riddance to them, I say.

[swampdonkey]

??? So in the afternoon, between 2 PM and 5 PM I can't walk into a 7-11 and buy a bottle of beer?

This has been in place for years already.

[dragonfly94]

??? So in the afternoon, between 2 PM and 5 PM I can't walk into a 7-11 and buy a bottle of beer?

This has been in place for years already.

Only as a govt request, it was never law until it seems now. LOS = land of stupidity

[diehard60]

is only pertains to the tourist areas not the rural areas of this country. Rural areas are 24 / 7.

[murphya33]

A country once called Land of the free, now ruled by new moralistic dinosaurs.

Alcoholic per chance???

[sprq]

Has anything really changed for the average purchaser of beer?

If they drink in restaurants, yes. It would appear that the big change is that they will now enforce no alcohol sales in restaurants as well as in shops outside the prescribed hours. Up till now, only a few restaurants have done that..

[ldiablo]

I think some people are getting confused with the difference between selling alcohol and serving alcohol

[temlosluis]

Is this the beginning of the CLOSURE of the many SEX bars? Remember a few months back the big man in Bangkok did a "tour" of the girly bars? And he did not like them?

Instead of CLOSING them, Restrict them to the point of being un - viable.

This is what i see.

Bye bye tourism for Thailand. And BTW this type of tourism for Thailand goes back many hundreds of years.

Thais always had a reputation for Certain HOSPITALITIES.

No. This has nothing whatsoever to do with sex. Why should it?

All these new rules are part of an overall initiative to rebrand Thailand. They want foreigners to behave as they would in places like Singapore, not like they've seen in movies like the Hangover 2 or the Beach.

Hangover 2 and Beach are good movies and if they marketing country with this movies style that sure increase tourism =D Weed to seven elevens and 24/7 alcohol and sure bring more farangs to country. This kind of rules bring only more muslims

[brewsterbudgen]

Glad to see this thread is still proceedingly along merrily, even though there has been no substantive change to the law!

[dragonfly94]

is only pertains to the tourist areas not the rural areas of this country. Rural areas are 24 / 7.

7/11?

[dragonfly94]

I think some people are getting confused with the difference between selling alcohol and serving alcohol

If they only serve it it's not paying for it then so OK?

[bartender100]

Glad to see this thread is still proceedingly along merrily, even though there has been no substantive change to the law!

Except now its going to be enforced, so a fairly big change if they pull it off and a lot of interest to many people, hence the proceeding merrily

[brewsterbudgen]

Glad to see this thread is still proceedingly along merrily, even though there has been no substantive change to the law!

Except now its going to be enforced, so a fairly big change if they pull it off and a lot of interest to many people, hence the proceeding merrily

I still don't think it will affect many people, other than not being able to buy alcohol in shops during the prohibited period. As long as bars, restuarants and hotels are properly licensed to sell alcohol and stick to what their licence specifies, which they should be doing anyway, there will be litle change that affects tourists. And, of course, being Thailand, it will be pretty much ignored anyway!

Still, it's a fun thread!

[dragonfly94]

Glad to see this thread is still proceedingly along merrily, even though there has been no substantive change to the law!

Except now its going to be enforced, so a fairly big change if they pull it off and a lot of interest to many people, hence the proceeding merrily

These toss pots could not even enforce the price of lottery tickets, they have no chance of enforcing booze sales. How about restricting the hours of selling pussy?

Edited January 24, 2015 by dragonfly94

[Briggsy]

This has nothing to do with restricting the problems related to alcohol and everything to do with providing an under-the-table income for police.

[techboy]

Now here's a real idea for once to set a standard...actually enforce the law for not only the few weeks while its new and cool but for good and set an example that Thai laws are not the same as a Pattaya bargirl ... a one night wonder

Blah blah blah...

[smotherb]

Has anything really changed for the average purchaser of beer?

What is an average purchaser of beer? If they are only talking about bar hours; it shouldn't bother the older Brits, their old puiblic house alcohol laws were even more intolerant. If you can still purchase a beer at restaurants irregardless of these times, it seems all you need to do is move to a restaurant. If you can no longer purchase a beer between 2pm and 5pm that would appear to eliminate a nice afternoon buzz. And, if you can no longer purchase a beer between midnight and 2am, that would appear to have re-imposed a pseudo-curfew and changed something. If you buy your Chang at Makro and go home to swill it, all you must do is purchase it between 11am and 2pm or 5pm and midnight--or go to your local store where you can undoubdtedly purchase alcohol at any time. Of course, the report, like many reports, contradicts itself and may not be accurate from the start.

[chrisinth]

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Either my englisch is so bad or the article is poorely written:

>Airports however are given the same allowance as before while entertainment venues which in the past were allowed to sell alcohol from 9.00 pm – 2.00 am can only do so up to midnight.

This means that in total, night time entertainment venues can only legally sell alcohol for 5 hours every day which in total is less than regular restaurants.

So this means according to the new regulations that discotheques, pubs, Bars, Karaokes etc. are allowed to sell alcohol from 9.00 pm up to midnight? That would be crazy! And that would by the way only be 3 (!) hours instead of five as stated in the article.

Yeah, the only way I can make the math work on this one is if they are trying to say that regular restaurants can sell alcohol for five hours less per day than entertainment venues.

Restaurant: 11:00 am - 2:00 pm and 5:00 pm - midnight.

Entertainment venue: 9:00 am - midnight.

So the bars in Bangkok are really going to stop serving alcohol at midnight now?

This article is really badly written. I have a number of friends who are bar owners, and I have checked around with them, in Pattaya and Bangkok. Bars, if properly licensed, can sell alcohol legally from 9:00 am to midnight. The midnight swill was tested out during the curfew. I don't know if it changed back, legally, to 1:00 am. But sure, you are going to get hundreds of bars pushing the midnight limit. It comes down to policing.

Exactly.. the 'law' says midnight.. Just because your in pattaya propping up a bar at 3am doesnt mean that this is legal.. It isnt.. The 2am tolerance is or was entirely down to policing..

Also police recently came around chiang mais loy kroh bar areas and told baffled bar owners the 2 - 5 sales restrictions applied to bars also.. It didnt stay long but the police made it clear this was the law..

A law they dont currently enforce, but no less a law and one they can choose to enforce if they wish or top down says so.

I had a bar here for 13 years, and when they first introduced these stupid restrictions we approached the police to clarify our situation as we were open from the morning until...........whenever. The ruling applies to retail outlets, and not licensed premises. Nothing has changed here. Through misinterpretation of the rules, some hotels in the area closed their bars between 2 and 5, but by law, as they were licensed premises, they didn't have to.

Unless they change the licences, it remains the same.

[LivinLOS]

??? So in the afternoon, between 2 PM and 5 PM I can't walk into a 7-11 and buy a bottle of beer?

This has been in place for years already.

Only as a govt request, it was never law until it seems now. LOS = land of stupidity

Yes it was law.. You think 7/11 and supermarkets etc refused those sales out of request..

[maidee]

in thailand, you are alcohol buyer will get fined (by the willing bib), not the seller

TIT

[techboy]

I think these sales restriction laws are a lot of ridiculous crap. Just useless public officials swinging their dingalings, trying to convince themselves that they are actually solving a problem.

[cmiuc]

next... price hike on alcohol sales... more tax needed since this is how the military likes to get its money.

[RegularReader]

I think these sales restriction laws are a lot of ridiculous crap. Just useless public officials swinging their dingalings, trying to convince themselves that they are actually solving a problem.

100% correct!

This Dr. Samran guy from the Ministry of Health, got beaten and lost considerable face over his desire to outlaw alcohol sales during New Year and Thai New Year (Songkran).

General Prayut told him it wouldn't work in a very public way.

As a face saver, he got away with some sort of restrictions around the end of Buddhist "lent" and a couple of other special Buddhist days.

With this one, he "won" what is virtually a "Clayton's" Law change, when it comes to the public.

However, I'm not sure how all the wholesalers throughout the land will now cope with their out of hours "door sales". Probably,like the mom&pop stores nothing will change.

But, then again, no one thought the underground hi-lo, lottery and stock market venues would disappear, when this government said "stop". They haven't completely gone away, but they are not on ever street corner any more.

Edited January 24, 2015 by RegularReader

[tigermonkey]

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Yeah, the only way I can make the math work on this one is if they are trying to say that regular restaurants can sell alcohol for five hours less per day than entertainment venues.

Restaurant: 11:00 am - 2:00 pm and 5:00 pm - midnight.

Entertainment venue: 9:00 am - midnight.

So the bars in Bangkok are really going to stop serving alcohol at midnight now?

This article is really badly written. I have a number of friends who are bar owners, and I have checked around with them, in Pattaya and Bangkok. Bars, if properly licensed, can sell alcohol legally from 9:00 am to midnight. The midnight swill was tested out during the curfew. I don't know if it changed back, legally, to 1:00 am. But sure, you are going to get hundreds of bars pushing the midnight limit. It comes down to policing.

Exactly.. the 'law' says midnight.. Just because your in pattaya propping up a bar at 3am doesnt mean that this is legal.. It isnt.. The 2am tolerance is or was entirely down to policing..

Also police recently came around chiang mais loy kroh bar areas and told baffled bar owners the 2 - 5 sales restrictions applied to bars also.. It didnt stay long but the police made it clear this was the law..

A law they dont currently enforce, but no less a law and one they can choose to enforce if they wish or top down says so.

I had a bar here for 13 years, and when they first introduced these stupid restrictions we approached the police to clarify our situation as we were open from the morning until...........whenever. The ruling applies to retail outlets, and not licensed premises. Nothing has changed here. Through misinterpretation of the rules, some hotels in the area closed their bars between 2 and 5, but by law, as they were licensed premises, they didn't have to.

Unless they change the licences, it remains the same.

My wife's lawyer has advised her that the law is "purposely vague" and seems to apply to all retail/wholesales outlets for liquor sales regardless of tax status. She is waiting to see if this change also applies to her business where she supplies some restaurants and bars, as well as retail outlets. Up to this time, it did not matter since quantities were always large enough. However, it is unknown if she can still supply these places between 2:00 and 5:00. Too bad for the restaurants and bars that open at 5:00 - they will need to have deliveries while they are open, after 5:00 - or bring in staff 3 hours early to accept deliveries.

In the meantime between 2:00 and 5:00, what do you do ? .... siesta ? ...... recite the 12 values ?

[Jim walker]

Why not just ban alcohol sales full stop might teach the Thai male some self-control and make Thailand a dry country then sit back and watch the tourists flood in with their disposable income to squander on orange juice and coke cola and big parties, Thailand could become the stag night capital of the world even bigger than Prague.

[steveG]

Madness