Restriction of liquor sale time takes effect today throughout Thailand

[NickJ]

When I first came here ...on soi 4 it was impossible to find a daytime bar o. Soi 4...only the Nana hotel.......Nana plaza opened at 7......go back to that......

[chrisinth]

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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.

There is another thread about the alcohol restrictions started a few weeks ago. I think it is in the Chiang Mai forum.

Entertainment places or restaurants have never been exempt from the alcohol restrictions, but allowed by the police in return for tea money. The only ones who are exempt are large hotels, international airports and a few other places.

Really? That was certainly not my experience. The only police that came to the bar during the time we were open were paying customers. No tea money ever paid to them.

The one exception to uniformed police was when they escorted the ambulance taking a body (still breathing) to the hospital. They never even returned to take a statement about that.

[Anthony5]

A license state if you are allowed to sell booze and/or other services. It never stipulates between which time it is allowed.

So if the new law says midnight, then midnight it will be.

Yes, I think you are right. Except for specific entertainment zones.

I finally found the real press release in Thai, and seems like the law has two exceptions. This is the 2nd:

การ ขาย ใน สถานบริการ ซึ่ง เป็น ไปตาม กำหนด เวลา เปิด ปิด ของ สถานบริการ ตามกฎหมาย ว่าด้วย สถานบริการ

Which transliterates something like: Selling in entertainment spot which according to the specified time open / close of the entertainment spot according to the law of that entertainment spot.

So I guess that means unless your in one of the designated entertainment spots, you need to close down midnight.

It could mean, if the entertainment place is located in a zone that is exempt of the restrictions. e.g. a large hotel, an international airport.

Who knows, laws in Thailand are always written in a way that it allows to loopholes.

[brewsterbudgen]

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Not if their licence stipulates otherwise. The Entertainment Zones (Patpong, Cowboy, RCA, Ratchada) are allowed to sell alcohol until 2am and some other businesses may have similar provisions to stay open later.

So when these places are shut down at midnight or 1am, which has happened quite often lately, they can just show their license to prove the police wrong? Interesting..

If they are in an Entertainment Zone (Patpong, Cowboy, RCA, Ratchada) they can stay open until 2am. Otherwise they close when their licence stipulates they have to, unless they can come to an arrangement!

This is not a new law.

[sn1per]

See you all at the new floating market between 2 and 5

[kwat nueng]

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 used to have some odd restrictions in the UK. Last orders before 10.30 pm in a City, 11.00 pm in the County and 10 mins drinking up time.

That's changed now but we still have the binge drinking culture it produced - everyone rushing to buy last drinks and then neck them down quickly. I new people who would drink up in the City and then rush over the County line to get the extra 30 mins. Madness. The continental European countries didn't have these restrictions and didn't have the binge drinking and abuse issues Britain did. Restrictions seem to lead to more problems than they solve.

I am one of them.

[outboard]

tourist areas are exempt !

they operate under different licenses

[samii]

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

No they are not going to stop. It is only that the petty cash related to those venues is not anymore controlled by police, but army. Or in other words the venues who used to pay police, have to pay to army. They are just making a statement that they are in charge now. More random checks by police on foreigners coming soon...

[LivinLOS]

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.

... 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.

Not if their licence stipulates otherwise. The Entertainment Zones (Patpong, Cowboy, RCA, Ratchada) are allowed to sell alcohol until 2am and some other businesses may have similar provisions to stay open later.

I think you will find that by law even the special entertainment zones are 1 am.. legally..

12 for everywhere else..

Of course thats just by law..

[LivinLOS]

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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.

Do you have a bar in chiang Mai ?? As recently thats exactly what they did..

And its 12 pm closing here..

[Diplomatico]

Where it will effect me sometimes is that I have to travel 80 kms to a Makro, where sometimes I would buy wine and spirits. This now means I need to plan my trip carefully to fiti in with the hours. Not so important but could be inconvenient.

The hours for selling alcohol have not changed in general, but looks like the go go bars will be hit hard.

Why would it affect gogo bars? They have their own operating licences.

Because they have to stop selling at midnight instead of 0200?

"At all other times, alcohol sales are strictly forbidden with the exception of at international airport terminals and legally registered entertainment venues which have laws that strictly govern the periods they can operate daily". This is near the top of the article, while bars may have to close, if they are a legally registered entertainment venue they have their own operating hours, doesnt give the time they need to close so this means they can still operate. I think the person that wrote the article has translated what was stated to mean what he thinks and not what is meant by the law, we definitely need clarification on this before assuming it means all venues close at midnight etc

Ask someone to read the article for you and explain it to you. Clearly, you have reading comprehension problems.

"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."

See, we can all do the red font thing too.

Edited January 24, 2015 by Diplomatico

[NickJ]

Right......all the right people who come here to drink.....should leave....I have been here 24 years......Its up to the Thai Govt. Get rid of sex tourism....sure.....but get rid obooze tourism as well.......soi 4 used to be pleasant......where i. The hell does it say it the Earths Charter that this Kingdom is here for cheap beer and Sex...........Get real....we have more to offer than most nations......go home and get drunk......

[outboard]

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.

... 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.

Not if their licence stipulates otherwise. The Entertainment Zones (Patpong, Cowboy, RCA, Ratchada) are allowed to sell alcohol until 2am and some other businesses may have similar provisions to stay open later.

I think you will find that by law even the special entertainment zones are 1 am.. legally..

12 for everywhere else..

Of course thats just by law..

not if their license stipul.... ahh frig it yeah you are right all the bars can only open from 10pm to 11pm on the 15th of every month and at no other time no matter what their license says .... or you could do a bit of research and find out

Provincial Police Deputy Commander Peerayuth Karajedee says nothing has changed these are the same laws as have been in force for 10 years, and , this has no effect on bars in places like Patong which operate under different licenses as they are entertainment venues

[GOLDBUGGY]

A Crazy Law that makes zero sense and accomplishes nothing! Except an inconvenience for a shopper.

Reminds me of the shops closing during Prayer Time in Saudi Arabia. You still always got what you wanted. You just had to sit their and waste time to do it

[ukrules]

I went out for a few beers last night in Bangkok between about 11pm until 4am and everything was open with no apparent restrictions in place.

Bars that used to close at 1 or 2am were still wide open with music playing at 3-4am.

[Gerrit]

I just returned from Bangkok, Pratunam area. At about 3pm I went into a restaurant close to IT City, no alcohol to be served. So I left thinking I have beer in my hotel room that I can drink before I find some food. But walking back to the hotel I passed a restaurant that is part of a inn and they had no problem serving beer and excellent food at a very reasonable price (the food not the beer). So I am confused. But this must be the most ridiculous ruling ever. Tourists have many choices when they decide on a destination and I believe this could negatively affect Thai tourism.

[PepperMe]

Sigh!.......

I will give it till midnight tonight for this legislation to fall apart.

You will find bars operating in Patts tonight well after midnight.. Just you watch.

Most of the police are already "on the payroll".

Edited January 24, 2015 by PepperMe

[Travelman868]

LOL, I'll believe it when I see it

So there we were having a party and some more friends turned up we said there is no booze left.

Not a problem our friends said, we will go and buy some more. BUT ALL the shops are closed. At that point because only Farang has money

the hands came out ( so normal) and off they went.

20 minutes later they were back with supplies, I said shop closed they said we show money they say

Ahh life in a village where BIB work 9 til 5 then party

[Diplomatico]

I asked a local pub owner tonight about the new law and he had no idea it had been passed. His opinion was similar to what many have expressed already on this thread - whether or not it would be enforced.

[dotpoom]

The only change from the old rules, as far as I can see, is that the provision for purchasing "bulk" quantities outside the prescribed hours is now against the rules. This will affect businesses not the average punter.

Of course enforcement is another matter entirely.

"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."

Maybe I'm not reading this correctly but it says to me that entertainment venues can only sell alcohol from 9pm to midnight, that's 3 hours not 5.

[brewsterbudgen]

Sigh!.......

I will give it till midnight tonight for this legislation to fall apart.

You will find bars operating in Patts tonight well after midnight.. Just you watch.

Most of the police are already "on the payroll".

Bars in Pattaya, if properly licensed, will be operating as normal.

It can't be repeated enough, this is NOT new legislation.

[firestar]

Sigh!.......

I will give it till midnight tonight for this legislation to fall apart.

You will find bars operating in Patts tonight well after midnight.. Just you watch.

Most of the police are already "on the payroll".

Bars in Pattaya, if properly licensed, will be operating as normal.

It can't be repeated enough, this is NOT new legislation.

"....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 is why people are confused, aren't Bars, Gogo's and Clubs entertainment venues?

[ableguy]

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

You could not prior to the new rules, where are you coming from?

[PepperMe]

Sigh!.......

I will give it till midnight tonight for this legislation to fall apart.

You will find bars operating in Patts tonight well after midnight.. Just you watch.

Most of the police are already "on the payroll".

Bars in Pattaya, if properly licensed, will be operating as normal.

It can't be repeated enough, this is NOT new legislation.

But desnt it say clearly in the OP that

"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"

So that to me means it IS new legislation.... Which directly affects bars in Pattaya being that they are the venues under the entertainment license.

[RegularReader]

A Crazy Law that makes zero sense and accomplishes nothing! Except an inconvenience for a shopper.

Reminds me of the shops closing during Prayer Time in Saudi Arabia. You still always got what you wanted. You just had to sit their and waste time to do it

or had to wait inside until prayer time was over before you could leave...

[pauleddy]

Somebody mentioned VILLA.

After living here eight years, I have never experienced and problems with buying any booze in Villa, ever. Even on Monk days, in the morning or in the evening any day, etc. etc.

Despite the prices, i like Villa. But why do they get around the law?

Eddy

[brewsterbudgen]

"....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 is why people are confused, aren't Bars, Gogo's and Clubs entertainment venues?

The report is a news report that has been translated. Even though Thailand has a military government, new laws cannot just be issued. This is just a reinforcement of an existing law.

Entertainment venues are supposed to be licensed under different legislation. Their licence will stipulate their opening hours etc. If they are in an Entertainment Zone like Patpong, Cowboy, RCA, Ratchada, they can stay open until 2am; otherwise they must adhere to their individual licensing terms. Many places are probably supposed to close at midnight before now, but have been 'getting away with it'. They might now be forced to close or get re-licensed. More likely, they will operate as they have been and no one will care.

[Tezzap]

I really don't think this is going to stop people from drinking, Also westerners love to drink when on holiday. They work a 9 to 5 job and they want to go on holiday and have a drink,a good time. Bringing in these rules hurts the tourism industry too. God don't Thai people know we like our drink? Telling us we can't do something at a certain time it's like we are not adult, but children. We're not actually enjoying our holiday to its full potential. No young person in there 20's wants to go on holiday and not drink at certain times. Thailand wants to be getting the backpackers back in again. I was a backpacker once when i came to Thailand and a met many. We stay for a year and then go. I sold my house and spent 4 million baht in one year, also talking to others they spent 250,000 to a million for staying here a for six months to a year. Okay if you have a law because your people have problems, don't take it out on us too. Westerners should be aloud to drink at any time of the day or night, or morning for that matter. Another thing i want to say is most westerners come to Thailand for the beaches the beauty of Thailand, we don't care about politics or people ( some people). Just when Thai go on holiday they talk about the places they went and the things they saw, not too much spoken about the people.Why do they think we are any different? Sure i meet some good people, but i care more about where i'm going and how i'm going to enjoy myself. Drinking is a big part of western nature. Take that away from us and it's like steeling candy from a baby.

Edited January 24, 2015 by Tezzap

[brewsterbudgen]

I really don't think this is going to stop people from drinking, Also westerners love to drink when on holiday. They work a 9 to 5 job and they want to go on holiday and have a drink,a good time. Bringing in these rules hurts the tourism industry too. God don't Thai people know we like our drink? Telling us we can't do something at a certain time it's like we are not adult, but children. We're not actually enjoying our holiday to its full potential. No young person in there 20's wants to go on holiday and not drink at certain times. Thailand wants to be getting the backpackers back in again. I was a backpacker once when i came to Thailand and a met many. We stay for a year and then go. I sold my house and spent 4 million baht in one year, also talking to others they spent 250,000 to a million for staying here a for six months to a year. Okay if you have a law because your people have problems, don't take it out on us too. Westerners should be aloud to drink at any time of the day or night, or morning for that matter. Another thing i want to say is most westerners come to Thailand for the beaches the beauty of Thailand, we don't care about politics or people ( some people). Just when Thai go on holiday they talk about the places they went and the things they saw, not too much spoken about the people.Why do they think we are any different? Sure i meat some good people, but i care more about where i'm going and how i'm going to enjoy myself. Drinking is a big part of western nature. Take that away from us and it's like steeling candy from a baby.

The intention of the (old) law was to try to reduce alcohol consumption among Thais. The same reason why alcohol advertising is prohibited on TV. It is nothing to do with tourism, although it does obviously have some effect on expats and tourists who like shopping for booze in the afternoons.

Edited January 24, 2015 by brewsterbudgen

[Tezzap]

Somebody mentioned VILLA.

After living here eight years, I have never experienced and problems with buying any booze in Villa, ever. Even on Monk days, in the morning or in the evening any day, etc. etc.

Despite the prices, i like Villa. But why do they get around the law?

Eddy

Cheers for that, maybe now they know they'll stop them. Nice one!