Thai government backpedals on booze ban

[ironbark]

Are military Academys defined as an education institution and included in the ban. ?

It would be hilarious if they were exempt.

[Whyamiandwhatamidoinghere]

Hmm mm... Singapore. Now do you see the plan? Move the booze to entertainment zones. If the Booze moves the men move; and if the men move the prostitution moves. Control...

Edited July 28, 2015 by Whyamiandwhatamidoinghere

[Baerboxer]

These are military men ?

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

These are the cream of the military men - scary.

Strategy, plan and tactics - "up to you".

[animatic]

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.

Though sadly it is far from just the army guys who are so blindingly obtuse when " laying down the law." We have the army guys at present because the machine elected officials of the last government were no better at running the country, and even better it seems at running it into the ground at high speed.

So let's just call it ' endemic to the culture at present. '

Edited July 28, 2015 by animatic

[Baerboxer]

Do you really need somebody to tell you that drinking is bad for you????

Do you really need to use tax payers money to tell you that drinking is bad for you????

In most countries, apparently yes and yes.

[micmichd]

No surprises there then ! FIRE ! er no, Fire !, no let's just have a look, Fire ! , no, well let's go find a farang to do the firing then ........ Good idea, then we can blame it on them....... I hope to god that the Thai military never have to fight...... Far better put the LBs out of Nana up front........... Much more formidable army......

You have good ideas.

A mixed guerilla troop with Farangs and Thai ladyboys, that'd do

[ironbark]

No surprises there then ! FIRE ! er no, Fire !, no let's just have a look, Fire ! , no, well let's go find a farang to do the firing then ........ Good idea, then we can blame it on them....... I hope to god that the Thai military never have to fight...... Far better put the LBs out of Nana up front........... Much more formidable army......

The Thai "negotiated" their way out of the only two modern wars that really threatened their independence.

They did a swap with the French giving them Cambodia and getting half of Laos in return. Then told the Japanese they could build a railway through to Burma in order to invade India as long as they were left alone.

Thai are masters of diplomacy

Edited July 28, 2015 by ironbark

[sabaii69]

Is there anyone out there who did not know this would happen? Move the schools; they are not what keeps this country going. Maybe the alcohol talking butt......

[bino]

The thing that has become glaringly obvious to me in all of this debacle is that the Prime Minister / Military government are willing and do not hesitate to invoke Article 44 on a whim and for purposes that have not been thought through or planned properly, as opposed to drastic situations where it might really be necessary.

If I was a Thai, I would be afraid. Very afraid.

[animatic]

These are military men ?

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

These are the cream of the military men - scary.

Strategy, plan and tactics - "up to you".

Though planning a military campaign must be easier

than butting up against the Issan Girl Profits Machine,

that feeds on the libidos of every male for 1,000 km in all directions.

Not to mention Boon Rawd, CP, Chang and the follow ons to Uncle Chewy.

[Lupatria]

From Thai Airways to lottery tickets, water irrigation, traffic control, law enforcement etc. etc. etc.

These guys could not even properly run a hawker stall .

[ironbark]

The hi-so Generals pontificating in their luxurious officers residences probably thought only a modest number of beer shops run by ordinary powerless and Voiceless Thai would be involved.

They clearly didn't realise that their was a much larger industry involving elite Thai interests being caught up in the net.

[rosst]

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.

Too easy and would require a police force that would do as it was instructed.

Come on General, tell them to do their job, bu66it it will not happen.

No balls General ?

[metisdead]

A number of posts containing derogatory generalizations toward Thai government have been removed. Other posts of a profane nature have been removed as well:

8) You will not post disruptive or inflammatory messages, vulgarities, obscenities or profanities.

Please note this includes profane acronyms.

[brewsterbudgen]

Hmm mm... Singapore. Now do you see the plan? Move the booze to entertainment zones. If the Booze moves the men move; and if the men move the prostitution moves. Control...

This has nothing to do with prostitution. That would be far too close to home.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I have no idea what this latest version from the government is supposed to mean...any more than the prior poorly written edicts.

Except, everyplace on my soi near the local elementary school is still selling booze, same as usual.

[Whyamiandwhatamidoinghere]

You have to admire the military like strategies of the junta. The use of misdirection to keep us focused away from their real objective and keep us in useless conversation and debate. What they do is far from Mindless. It is calculated. Anytime they implement a plan they use misdirecting, confusing language that causes panic and reaction. Two examples come to mind: The statement that triggered the mass exodus of illegal Cambodians but was later denied and the announcement and bias implementation to crackdown on foreigners abusing the visa system. Now, more of the same and now they offer clarification in the form of an altemadum. Mission completed.

[Whyamiandwhatamidoinghere]

Designated Entertainment Zones... Sounds like a home association with strick rules and hefty noncompliance fees...

[Songlaw]

This is painful to watch. This 'government' is utterly incapable of grasping the concept of, Unforeseen Consequences. This is why you don't get to just magically declare yourself PM. Un-freaking-believable. When you have a society that is at best, precariously perched on the brink of implosion, people will actually die as a consequence of this degree of pathological ineptitude. Everything in Thailand is contingent upon everything else. "Accidentally" bumping the wrong domino, will eventually set in motion a chain of events from which you will never recover. Coups are NEVER a solution to a civilian problem. They are always harbingers of the end. I don't know who is more bereft of sense, the coup plotters, or they who encouraged them. Luckily, there are none of the latter, here.

[Whyamiandwhatamidoinghere]

Anyone want to start a mobile gogo bar?

[NormanW]

It takes more than a generation to change a country.

[hawksway]

Makes our Government in the UK look not so bad after all.

[VINCENT2012]

backpedaling is always a good thing when you think that one decision is not totally mature and could result to be a mistake...at the end .this actitude make and help people to do things better...so a big bravo to the actorsof such behavior.

[Shaunduhpostman]

This whole thing is a good case in point as to why nobody follows orders or rules or laws in Thailand. You will lose your mind trying to figure out what is wanted or expected of you.

Take this one:

"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."

You can have hours of fun imagining what this one alone could possibly mean.

[Thai at Heart]

Oh classic climbdown. Not even a public protest and they cave in

[micmichd]

This is painful to watch. This 'government' is utterly incapable of grasping the concept of, Unforeseen Consequences. This is why you don't get to just magically declare yourself PM. Un-freaking-believable. When you have a society that is at best, precariously perched on the brink of implosion, people will actually die as a consequence of this degree of pathological ineptitude. Everything in Thailand is contingent upon everything else. "Accidentally" bumping the wrong domino, will eventually set in motion a chain of events from which you will never recover. Coups are NEVER a solution to a civilian problem. They are always harbingers of the end. I don't know who is more bereft of sense, the coup plotters, or they who encouraged them. Luckily, there are none of the latter, here.

Western democracies are not very good in predicting unforeseen consequences either. They rather muddle through from one crisis to another, political scientists call it "incrementalism".

So, that is not the big difference in comparison to a military government.

[atsiii]

Perhaps it means: Get your money in early; you only have six months to grease the necessary palms. Remember, it's up to you; don't be left on the outside (of the new entertainment zones).

[sprq]

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.

No sane jurisdiction takes any US state laws on alcohol sales as a good example to follow. What you describe is the addled legacy of the pilgrim fathers, and Pennsylvania can keep it.

[Larry001]

When the rest of the world stops laughing; then maybe this country will be taken serious.

[sprq]

Makes our Government in the UK look not so bad after all.

Stick around a bit more in Thailand and you'll realise that British lawmakers are, relatively speaking, a very decent and competent bunch of people. It takes living in a corrupt and incompetent regime to make you see the outstanding virtues of your own country, even if you don't want to live there.