2 Bars Closed Down Under Junta's Sweeping Booze Ban

[crazykopite]

Upset University students o dear can see big protests over this stupid law next thing to happen under section 44 is to kick all foreigners out of the Kingdom !!!!

[berybert]

Midnight on a Saturday night/Sunday morning, one has to wonder how many students would be milling around at such time.

[laobali]

Bless them, Lord (Buddha), they know not what they do.

[halloween]

Looks like a typical place for the Thai youngsters. I wonder how many such places are allowed and licensed in Western countries. If I remember correctly some still consider 21 the legal age before alcohol consumption is allowed.

Versus 20 in Thailand. whats the point you're making?

Some of us just find it strange that in some countries you can join the army, be given an assault rifle, told to kill your country's enemies, but you can't be trusted to have a beer.

[MESmith]

Upset University students o dear can see big protests over this stupid law next thing to happen under section 44 is to kick all foreigners out of the Kingdom !!!!

Be careful what you joke about. I can see it happening with this lot

[ToddinChonburi]

More news at 10

[zxzoomy]

If the NCPO had consulted on this first they would have realised the scale of the effects, if it is fully implemented. Bars will start to close down now and lay staff off. Alcohol sales are very important to restaurant takings so eateries may stagger on for a while, then close down. Maybe we are looking, on a two year view, at the closure of thousands of businesses across Thailand, with tens of thousands of employees losing their jobs. In smaller towns everything is closer together so the effect may be greater. Many businesses in Bangkok and Pattaya have already been struggling, during this low season, because fewer Europeans and Americans are coming as tourists. Like others I wonder if this is partly a crackdown on 'naughty nightlife', using the excuse of protecting young people. By bringing this in without consultation the NCPO looks foolish and further undermines the rule of law in Thailand by bringing the law into disrepute.

[Morakot]

[laobali]

Midnight on a Saturday night/Sunday morning, one has to wonder how many students would be milling around at such time.

You'd be surprised. They just don't look like students after dark.

[No Apologist]

HAHAHA Junta supporters! I hope this spreads everywhere over the next year.

Then you can talk about how anti-beer you are, along with how anti-red you are.

"About time they took out the rubbage!"

[Kerryd]

There is a school less than 200-300m from Walking Street in Pattaya....

I'd say there's a school 300m away from pretty much anywhere, no ?

Since there are more bars than schools, what the police should do is raid the schools that are situated less than 300m from a bar, shut down the school, arrest the headmaster and teachers, and Bob's your (drunken) uncle.

That school is within 300 meters of a lot of businesses, from Soi BJ to Mike Shopping Plaza, up to soi 13/3, past Center Condo, around over to the intersection of #2 Road and Soi 16 (Marine Hotel). I'd feel sorry for that school if the police started cracking down on businesses within that circle.

(They would be much better off to sell that property and build a bigger, better school a little further away.)

[Berto]

Thai Alcoholic Beverage Business Association president Thanakorn Kuptajit recently told the Bangkok Post 125,000 people could lose their jobs as a result of this ban.

OK - but that's not important is it?

But those who support tighter restrictions on alcohol think the long-term benefits of the ban outweigh its immediate costs.

Really?? Are you so sure that your plan will succeed??

As it stands, the sale of alcohol is only allowed from 11am to 2pm, and 5pm to midnight. But the number of new drinkers in the kingdom grows by an average of 250,000 every year, says Mr Theera Watcharapranee, manager of alcohol control advocate Stop Drink Network.

STOP DRINK NETWORK> Sounds great. Could you define the term "new drinkers?!"

The network's own survey of 15 universities in Bangkok found that the number of establishments selling alcohol within a 500m radius has increased by an average of 72 per cent over the past five years.

And??

According to a World Health Organisation report published last year, 70.3 per cent of Thais abstain from alcohol. Yet the average amount of pure alcohol drunk by each Thai aged 15 and older stands at 7.1 litres between 2008 and 2010. This is double the average figure for South-east Asia.

I'm sorry - those stats leave me really confused.....

Drink driving is endemic, contributing to carnage on the roads during major holiday periods.

Over the five days of Songkran, or the Thai new year, in April, 364 people died in road accidents.

Yup - this is an issue - but there are such things as a police force and is it not really their job to police the roads during those periods?

70.3% of Thais don't drink? What's the WHO statistic for how many tell lies?

We want a clean Thailand! Let's quickly fix alcoholism, then continue with all the others drugs and intoxicants, clean up the streets, rivers and fix all the hygiene issues, better roads, faster trains, eliminate tuk tuks etc etc. In other words: this is just a drop in an ocean of things that need to be done here.

[eeworldwide]

How realistic is it this can be properly policed?

Not very.

I mean - the police to date have not been known for their expertise in policing anything, so why should this suddenly be any different?

[No Apologist]

How realistic is it this can be properly policed?

Not very.

I mean - the police to date have not been known for their expertise in policing anything, so why should this suddenly be any different?

Why blame the police - out of habit? These are junta orders, under Chan-Ocha.

[outsider]

Where is 'Big Alcohol' in Thailand? Curious how come the likes of ThaiBev and Boonrawd haven't said anything about this. Or maybe they did, and I missed it?

[halloween]

Midnight on a Saturday night/Sunday morning, one has to wonder how many students would be milling around at such time.

You'd be surprised. They just don't look like students after dark.

I once asked a young looking Thai girl "How old are you?"

She said "How old do you want me to be?"

I predict a great career in marketing, though I'm not sure what.

[Emster23]

"invoking Section 44 of the interim charter, which grants him authority to unilaterally enact legally-binding orders."

And you thought this was just going to be used to root out corruption, clear pathway to elections, and bring happiness & democracy back to Thailand.

Ok, 300 meter rule could be easy to enforce. Shut down all schools within 300 meters of bars. They just assume the bars should be shut. Which one, schools or bars, deadens the mind more here?

[JaseTheBass]

Looks like a typical place for the Thai youngsters. I wonder how many such places are allowed and licensed in Western countries. If I remember correctly some still consider 21 the legal age before alcohol consumption is allowed.

Versus 20 in Thailand. whats the point you're making?

Some of us just find it strange that in some countries you can join the army, be given an assault rifle, told to kill your country's enemies, but you can't be trusted to have a beer.

Not in any 1st world countries though...

[MESmith]

Where is 'Big Alcohol' in Thailand? Curious how come the likes of ThaiBev and Boonrawd haven't said anything about this. Or maybe they did, and I missed it?

They don't care coz the same amount of alcohol will be sold & drunk, just different locations

[attento]

Does this piece of legislation prohibit new educational establishments from opening within 300 meters of an existing licensed premises ?

[tonypace02]

There is a school less than 200-300m from Walking Street in Pattaya....

Second Street and South Pattaya. On the corner. A rather large one.

Also, in that complex of streets between 2nd Street and Walking street there used to be a beauty school. I haven't been to Pattaya lately so I don't know if it still exists.

[eeworldwide]

How realistic is it this can be properly policed?

Not very.

I mean - the police to date have not been known for their expertise in policing anything, so why should this suddenly be any different?

Why blame the police - out of habit? These are junta orders, under Chan-Ocha.

It does not matter who made the order -t he fact is that it has to be policed. And generally, police do the policing.

[northernphil]

Midnight on a Saturday night/Sunday morning, one has to wonder how many students would be milling around at such time.

None I would guess but a bar would make no profit if only open on Sat & Sunday nights. Just a thought ,could bars sell alc. during school holidays ? Where will it all end eh ?

[docshock13]

Soi Cowboy shut yet?

I suppose any bar within 300m of Playskool will have to move further afield.

[Brer Fox]

Another idea might be to shut down all the junk food eating places within 300 metres of any school primary upwards. That might be a health move in the right direction and limit the calorie intake of all those little budding sumo wrestlers I see waddling around stuffing themselves with greasy food and creamy drinks.

[captspectre]

If they don't want alcohol being sold near schools and unis then fair enough but if you are going to make this law then u need give businesses fair warning and where possible time to relocate etc.

It's unreasonable and unfair to suddenly declare a law of this kind on a Thursday and then start arresting people for breaking the law just a day later.

Why not give a 3 or 6 month grace period for business owners to make the necessary changes in order to comply with the law then get tough on people for anyone in breach of the new requirements thereafter?

unresonable, unfair? where did you find those two words in the "dear" leaders dictionary? actually I agree with him! to much teenage drinking going on in Thailand, it seems that when they get drunk they get brave! this also happens in the west.

[Howiehotspur]

Has anybody informed the government , that as everybody is supposed to carry ID . Just ensure that every establishment selling alcohol. Checks ID first .. In England now that works very well , ( you just get hundreds of drunkun 20 something's rolling round the street centres on a Friday night ) different story .. But <deleted> .. Just enforce the law .. , 7-11, " how old are you ? , ". " 21 " ... You have id , ? " yes " .... Ok ...... No , the fanta red is over there ..

[Howiehotspur]

Has anybody informed the government , that as everybody is supposed to carry ID . Just ensure that every establishment selling alcohol. Checks ID first .. In England now that works very well , ( you just get hundreds of drunkun 20 something's rolling round the street centres on a Friday night ) different story .. But <deleted> .. Just enforce the law .. , 7-11, " how old are you ? , ". " 21 " ... You have id , ? " yes " .... Ok ...... No , the fanta red is over there ..

[Ace of Pop]

I found walking street was a place of Education. Does this mean I can't have a Beer after a leg over..

[Whyamiandwhatamidoinghere]

Were is the article about the two bars that closed?