Thai government backpedals on booze ban

[webfact]

Military government backpedals on booze ban
By Todd Ruiz


Patrons continue enjoying fine spirits and company along Bangkok's Soi Cowboy. Photo: Alden Nusser

BANGKOK: -- The Thai government will spend six months mapping out new entertainment zones to clarify where alcohol can and can not be sold.

After banning by vaguely worded decree all sales of alcohol “near” school property, a member of the military government said yesterday it will start making a new map of sanctioned entertainment zones where alcohol sales are allowed.

The comments from Justice Minister Paiboon Koomchaya added another mixed message to the conflicting signals from authorities since confusing the public this past week with two competing orders issued under Section 44.

Just yesterday the national police spokesman reiterated in state media that “the majority of entertainment venue operators in Bangkok are willing to obey the new regulation calling for all establishments offering alcoholic beverages to be located away from education institutes by at least 300 meters.”

Days after telling Bangkok Post he wanted the ban extended to 500 meters, Minister Gen. Paiboon was quoted again in a story published late last night there is no radius in the "misunderstood" ban. [read more]

Full story: http://bangkok.coconuts.co/2015/07/28/military-government-backpedals-booze-ban


-- Coconuts Bangkok 2015-07-28

[NongKhaiKid]

These are military men ?

We will advance on the enemy, No mark time,, No withdraw, No set up a committee to examine options.

[khwaibah]

Just more loss of face.

[toybits]

These guys are soooo funny. Looks like they blinked AGAIN!! How many times in a row now?

[chrisinth]

It actually isn't that funny.

These idiots are playing with the livelihoods of mostly decent folk here without thinking it through or looking at the big picture.

Off the cuff decisions like the one announced on the 23rd July should have consequences to the committees that made them IMO.

[asdecas]

One is glad to see that General Happiness is at the forefront of national decision-making.

Where would one be if rational decisions were made? Certainly not in Thailand.

[Brit_Doggie]

Clowns circus entertainment ridiculous all apply.

[yimlitnoy]

why not simply ban entry and the sale of alcohol in any establishment to younger than 18? The law is already there but is not enforced.

[Charlie Croker]

Thai Visa commentators - you did this, you broke the government's resolve.

They were afraid they would lose the money you spend on alcohol which fuels the economy.

[Loptr]

why not simply ban entry and the sale of alcohol in any establishment to younger than 18? The law is already there but is not enforced.

That would force the junta to rely on the BiB to actually do their jobs...

[DirtyDan]

I think the legal drinking age is 20... and I agree they should just enforce the laws already in place.

[Katipo]

The Hub of Misunderstandings

[ChrisY1]

Wouldn't like to be on the Thai side in the event of war...........!

[recycler]

They must have been drunk drafting the ban.....

[smedly]

must admit the whole idea is rather foolish

the correct way to enforce drinking age restrictions is to actively enforce the law, something it seems that Thailand is unable or unwilling to do, inspections, heavy fines and licence revocations are the only answer

When is this country going to realise that enforcing the law proactively across the board in a fair unbiased manner is the only way they can move forward, it honestly is pathetic

[firestar]

Making rules as you go along and passing them into law the following week is usually not a good idea....

[monty1412]

my god .. and these people wanted to get submarines.... Lieutenant.... have you been drinking. your shirt is wet... No sir its just that the Thai operational manual says to batten the hatches after we have submerged and it always is a bit of wet affair .... Midshipman.... your torpedoes missed the target .... Im sorry Sir we did it by the manual ....Ready Fire Aim..... Nav... why have you ordered back pedalling..... Sir its what we always do when we announce a voyage route... we start going down that route a bit find out its not quite what we thought it would be and then back pedal to where we started while proclaiming that we were committed to the voyage and then commit to a 6 month study on the feasibility of the route and by the time 6 months comes around everyone has forgotten we were doing the study or indeed what the study was about..... Thank you crew members continue on with the excellent work......

[Rumblecat]

It needs to be properly thought through- it's the sort of law that could ruin people who have invested a lot of time and energy in pubs, bars, restaurants and so on which will be affected by the ban- and I'm not talking about farangs (although no doubt some will be included) but Thai people. It's moving the goal-posts after the game as started with no sign of a safety net, to mix up some metaphors.

Declaring a 300 metre radius and then declaring there's no radius is just messy and confusing- it's another decree passed that is contradicted a day later and then a few days later after that. Why not map out the zones first and then at least consult with businesses who fall outwith those zones but within the zones for banning before making the big announcement?

Also if it's six months to map out these zones, and an election is supposedly happening in 2017... it's a lot of effort for a short term solution that could well be over-turned by a democratically elected government. Prohibition doesn't have the best record of success, perhaps the efforts could be channeled into education on alcohol and ensuring the age limit is adhered to by venues.

[alphaflight]

TADA!!!!!

[spermwhale]

must admit the whole idea is rather foolish

the correct way to enforce drinking age restrictions is to actively enforce the law, something it seems that Thailand is unable or unwilling to do, inspections, heavy fines and licence revocations are the only answer

When is this country going to realise that enforcing the law proactively across the board in a fair unbiased manner is the only way they can move forward, it honestly is pathetic

EXACTLY. They make all these new laws despite having proper laws on the books. Instead they add to the problems. When I moved here in 2003 they institute the ban on alcohol sales from 2pm-5pm DAILY for the main reason that students could sneak into establishments and get drunk afters school but BEFORE mommy and daddy returned home from work.

But instead of requiring proprietors to check IDs and policing establishments that sell alcohol they add a foolish law because the cops are too lazy to their jobs.

Thailand has many good laws on the books. They are just not enforced. But when they are. it's willy nilly.

[monty1412]

Only now do the venerable words of Sir Humphrey Appleby start to make sense.....

It's clear that the Committee has agreed that your new policy is really an excellent plan. But in view of some of the doubts being expressed, may I propose that I recall that after careful consideration, the considered view of the Committee was that, while they considered that the proposal met with broad approval in principle, that some of the principles were sufficiently fundamental in principle, and some of the considerations so complex and finely balanced in practice that in principle it was proposed that the sensible and prudent practice would be to submit the proposal for more detailed consideration, laying stress on the essential continuity of the new proposal with existing principles, the principle of the principal arguments which the proposal proposes and propounds for their approval. In principle.

And to finish

To put it simply, Prime Minister, certain informal discussions took place, involving a full and frank exchange of views, out of which there arose a series of proposals which on examination proved to indicate certain promising lines of enquiry which when pursued led to the realization that the alternative courses of action might in fact, in certain circumstances, be susceptible of discreet modification, leading to a reappraisal of the original areas of difference and pointing the way to encouraging possibilities of compromise and cooperation which if bilaterally implemented with appropriate give and take on both sides might if the climate were right have a reasonable possibility at the end of the day of leading, rightly or wrongly, to a mutually satisfactory resolution.

[MobileContent]

Must have been a call from CP, Charon and the Singha guys

[carib102]

If they are really concerned about teens drinking they could take a page from my home state of Pennsylvania in the U.S. It only allows wine and spirits to be sold at designated state run establishments, and anyone who appears to be less than 30 years of age (the legal age for drinking is 21) will be asked for ID. In fact, they can ask you for ID just for being inside the shops if you appear to be under 30. I know they do it too, because I was regularly asked for ID until I was over 40 years old. In addition, there are a limited number of licenses for selling alcohol, both as a retail distributor and for such things as pubs and restaurants. This limits the number of places beer can be obtained and also separates the restaurants and clubs from retail places in terms of laws and enforcement. I can assure you that as a teen alcohol was quite difficult (though not impossible) to obtain. Though to be sure no one was selling to kids of 12 years and younger (something I have seen happen in Thailand).

To be honest we also have laws regarding the sale of alcohol near schools, but schools are typically in rural or residential areas, making these laws a non-issue when combined with the fact that the state government controls the sale of wine and spirits as well as the issuance of licenses to sell alcohol in pubs and restaurants.

Of course after looking for statistics to back me up the only thing I could find was a 10 year old report that indicated the incidence of underage drinking in Pennsylvania was just ~4% less than the norm in the U.S. So, maybe all this is just blowing smoke.

[BhaanSGR]

I don't drink so it dosnt bother me but what have they "backpeddled on".....am I missing something, the ban still applies in the 300 yard exclusion zone or not?

[spermwhale]

Making rules as you go along and passing them into law the following week is usually not a good idea....

This is why the legislative process exists in civilized places. That way the merits and demerits of new laws can be debated and stakeholders given a chance to weigh in.

These fools should stay in the barracks and play with their expensive toys instead of driving the country down the drain with ill-advised policies. They are not educated for nor fit for the intricacies of running a country. They have no experience for this kind of work and they are not smart enough to realize it. They hear something, react with what they think is good idea and implement it without consulting people that know more than them.

[Nerone]

It actually isn't that funny.

These idiots are playing with the livelihoods of mostly decent folk here without thinking it through or looking at the big picture.

Off the cuff decisions like the one announced on the 23rd July should have consequences to the committees that made them IMO.

This is even more nonsense than the ban on selling alcohol depending on the hours of the day...

[realenglish1]

This is so typical of Thailand The authorities get a little push pack from others and backbeddle .

This is anther reason Thais have little respect for authority. They know if they rock the boat it will tip.

This sort of infantile behavior is not tolerated in other countries

[outsider]

Really, in a society and culture BIG on 'saving face' (and becoming sheet-white, but that's another story), they sure aren't doing much in the way of 'saving face'. A movie starring Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels come to mind.

[English 1]

Why don't they just admit it's a stupid ill thought out idea and scrap it.

[allan michaud]

must admit the whole idea is rather foolish

the correct way to enforce drinking age restrictions is to actively enforce the law, something it seems that Thailand is unable or unwilling to do, inspections, heavy fines and licence revocations are the only answer

When is this country going to realise that enforcing the law proactively across the board in a fair unbiased manner is the only way they can move forward, it honestly is pathetic

I totally agree, what is astounding to me is just how dumb all of Thailand's 'leaders' have been in the 15 years I have been out this way. I doesn't seem to matter which party or junta in this case, they all seem to come up with these obviously dumb ideas and as you say, they never consider actually enforcing any existing laws. I understand the average IQ has been dropping steadily for some years and is apparently 91 now, maybe it's all the chemicals in the food making them dumber.