New Booze Laws May Be About To Get Interesting

[heybruce]

I hear one promo company alone has laid off fourteen Pretties.

Management is working to persuade some of the owners of what would be previously regarded as "second," tier restaurants outside of the to ban boundary to up their game. That way the drinks companies can concentrate on brand building in these previously ignored places.

The problem they have is that their point of sale budgets are taking a hammering, and they don't want to invest money into places which have no intention of squaring themselves up and/or offering decent bands to attract the younger crowd.

I assume one of the concerns of the "second" tier owners is that they may spend a lot of money upgrading their businesses and then have another arbitrary rule change that puts them out of business.

If I were in the bar business I would avoid any but essential expenses until I had some sense of stability in the political and legal environment.

[MaeJoMTB]

If I were in the bar business I would avoid any but essential expenses until I had some sense of stability in the political and legal environment.

If I were in the bar business, I would change to selling coffee, cakes and hookers.

With a small cover charge for each table, not to mention 'lady coffee'.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

If I were in the bar business I would avoid any but essential expenses until I had some sense of stability in the political and legal environment.

If I were in the bar business, I would change to selling coffee, cakes and hookers.

With a small cover charge for each table, not to mention 'lady coffee'.

Dude.. that's just wrong..

[phrodan]

I hear one promo company alone has laid off fourteen Pretties.

Management is working to persuade some of the owners of what would be previously regarded as "second," tier restaurants outside of the to ban boundary to up their game. That way the drinks companies can concentrate on brand building in these previously ignored places.

The problem they have is that their point of sale budgets are taking a hammering, and they don't want to invest money into places which have no intention of squaring themselves up and/or offering decent bands to attract the younger crowd.

I assume one of the concerns of the "second" tier owners is that they may spend a lot of money upgrading their businesses and then have another arbitrary rule change that puts them out of business.

If I were in the bar business I would avoid any but essential expenses until I had some sense of stability in the political and legal environment.

Well observed.

There's also some degree of schadenfruede at play as many of these bars were treated as second-class by the promo companies before.

Listen carefully and you'll hear the hush whisper of grovelling.

[bangmai]

The cyclists murderer was tested at .067. I don't know why so many are falling for the sensationalism of this by the media. Maybe decimal places give you a lot of problems. .067 is not legally drunk in any State in the US. People are routinely convicted of driving with levels 4 times higher than that. .067 is about the alcohol level of a lunch customer at John's Place or a breakfast customer at Mad Dog. Anyone found to be sitting next to a "bottle bookcase" is likely higher than .067, empty or not. No need to add fuel to this fire, which happens to be a false alarm. Many individuals are hideous drivers, straight or drunk, day or night. This seems to be especially true in Thailand, and apparently Nambia. It will be a shame if many are put out of work for false reasons. As I already stated, Hush Bar is gone.

Here you go...this woman tested more than five times higher than that, while already at the jail; .341. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/03/samantha-lynn-goudie-drunk-girl-341-tweets-yolo_n_3859634.html

and she didn't hurt anyone.

Edited August 11, 2015 by bangmai

[Saan]

Much as I dislike 'Y'all' it is vastly superior to the Australian and increasingly English 'Youse'. I'm also seeing it in more and more in writing now too - with various spellings as no spell checker can correct - which has only come about in the last 4 or 5 years, so not Facebook related. It's awful.

I haven't heard 'youse' being used for years. Back in the 50s and 60s it was not uncommon but then it firmly identified your social class.

But youse all wouldn't give a stuff about what class youse came from nowadays.

[heybruce]

If I were in the bar business I would avoid any but essential expenses until I had some sense of stability in the political and legal environment.

If I were in the bar business, I would change to selling coffee, cakes and hookers.

With a small cover charge for each table, not to mention 'lady coffee'.

Dude.. that's just wrong..

With 'coffee-goggles' instead of 'beer-goggles', a lot of these ladies would have difficulty closing the deal.

Guys would also lose the "I was drunk" excuse--"I didn't know she was a lady-boy, I was caffeinated!" doesn't work.

[Chicog]

Much as I dislike 'Y'all' it is vastly superior to the Australian and increasingly English 'Youse'. I'm also seeing it in more and more in writing now too - with various spellings as no spell checker can correct - which has only come about in the last 4 or 5 years, so not Facebook related. It's awful.

I haven't heard 'youse' being used for years. Back in the 50s and 60s it was not uncommon but then it firmly identified your social class.

But youse all wouldn't give a stuff about what class youse came from nowadays.

Gissa job!

[jaywalker]

Well hopefully this crackdown in town won't affect the few remaining old school roadside cantinas north of Mae Jo along the 1001 or along the connecting 1260 road.

No, the top brass don't venture out to where the commoners live.

If they do, they zoom by at 180 kph with the police blocking all other traffic.

I recall several years ago being down on Walking Street one morning (I had a hotel room down there) & the princess was going to "Have a Procession" through there on her way to visit Bali Hai pier.

I was picturing a parade with her waving at the crowds in a convertible or something.

They made all the go-go bars hang tarps over their signs, cleared all the parked cars, delivery trucks etc (it was 8:00 AM) and a motorcade with about 30 police cars & motorcycles and 10 blacked-out Mercedes' came blasting down Walking Street at 80 kph.

Now that's what I call staying in touch with the populace.

Edited August 11, 2015 by jaywalker

[Konini]

Much as I dislike 'Y'all' it is vastly superior to the Australian and increasingly English 'Youse'. I'm also seeing it in more and more in writing now too - with various spellings as no spell checker can correct - which has only come about in the last 4 or 5 years, so not Facebook related. It's awful.

I haven't heard 'youse' being used for years. Back in the 50s and 60s it was not uncommon but then it firmly identified your social class.

But youse all wouldn't give a stuff about what class youse came from nowadays.

Gissa job!

Nah, that's Youse, not youse.

[Konini]

The cyclists murderer was tested at .067. I don't know why so many are falling for the sensationalism of this by the media. Maybe decimal places give you a lot of problems. .067 is not legally drunk in any State in the US.

You'd be hard pressed to say it's drunk anywhere, but it's over the legal limit in much of Australia if not all of it now (?) which means that it has been shown to impair driving.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

So anyway, LK bar owners feel they will be exempted, as being part of a business/tourist strip that caters to tourists and where no student would even want to be caught dead.

Not sure about Moon Muang; Blue Sky bar for example. (Not that I'd miss it, but we're talking conceptually here.)

[TheAppletons]

The cyclists murderer was tested at .067. I don't know why so many are falling for the sensationalism of this by the media. Maybe decimal places give you a lot of problems. .067 is not legally drunk in any State in the US.

You'd be hard pressed to say it's drunk anywhere, but it's over the legal limit in much of Australia if not all of it now (?) which means that it has been shown to impair driving.

I was with you until that last part....the arbitrary decisions made by a government are not necessarily based upon any type of data/evidence whatsoever.

[true blue]

Much as I dislike 'Y'all' it is vastly superior to the Australian and increasingly English 'Youse'. I'm also seeing it in more and more in writing now too - with various spellings as no spell checker can correct - which has only come about in the last 4 or 5 years, so not Facebook related. It's awful.

I haven't heard 'youse' being used for years. Back in the 50s and 60s it was not uncommon but then it firmly identified your social class.

But youse all wouldn't give a stuff about what class youse came from nowadays.

yose

[true blue]

Much as I dislike 'Y'all' it is vastly superior to the Australian and increasingly English 'Youse'. I'm also seeing it in more and more in writing now too - with various spellings as no spell checker can correct - which has only come about in the last 4 or 5 years, so not Facebook related. It's awful.

I haven't heard 'youse' being used for years. Back in the 50s and 60s it was not uncommon but then it firmly identified your social class.

But youse all wouldn't give a stuff about what class youse came from nowadays.

youses is sound there la Edited August 12, 2015 by true blue

[Konini]

The cyclists murderer was tested at .067. I don't know why so many are falling for the sensationalism of this by the media. Maybe decimal places give you a lot of problems. .067 is not legally drunk in any State in the US.

You'd be hard pressed to say it's drunk anywhere, but it's over the legal limit in much of Australia if not all of it now (?) which means that it has been shown to impair driving.

I was with you until that last part....the arbitrary decisions made by a government are not necessarily based upon any type of data/evidence whatsoever.

I like to think that there is a little bit of science behind these decisions. Or is that hope (or blind faith)?

[bangmai]

If she is 53 Kg. She had fewer than five "regular" drinks or beers in an 8 hour period, according to this chart. "impaired" isn't "drunk" though, but it's a good reason to drive defensively. Using a mobile phone is more of an impairment than .067 BAC, when driving. In two extra hours, she would have been legal to drive a school bus in the US, because .037, would be less than the .04 limit for CDL drivers.

[MrBrilliant]

^ I bet you're a riot at parties....

[jerojero]

I don't understand why y'all have to drink alcohol. What's the matter with non-alcoholic drinks? Why are y'all so desperate to drink alcoholic drinks?

Because not y'all of us are like y'all from the y'all Bible Belt. Y'all

I grew up in a bible belt town, and it drove me to drink. I wasn't the only one, there were more bars than churches in that small town, and there were a lot of churches.

Another side effect of my bible belt childhood is that I'm happy to live on the other side of the world in county with pretty ladies and a religion that doesn't proselytize. If only the beer were better.

Hallelujah!!

Praise the lord and pass the moonshine!

More appropriate: "Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition!" (so goes the Dixie Chicks song). Edited August 12, 2015 by jerojero

[heybruce]

Much as I dislike 'Y'all' it is vastly superior to the Australian and increasingly English 'Youse'. I'm also seeing it in more and more in writing now too - with various spellings as no spell checker can correct - which has only come about in the last 4 or 5 years, so not Facebook related. It's awful.

I haven't heard 'youse' being used for years. Back in the 50s and 60s it was not uncommon but then it firmly identified your social class.

But youse all wouldn't give a stuff about what class youse came from nowadays.

youses is sound there la

Whatsamattuh wichyagize? Canchya post'n english?

[Nowisee]

If there's a spider in the house, burn down the house.

The cyclists murderer was tested at .067. I don't know why so many are falling for the sensationalism of this by the media. Maybe decimal places give you a lot of problems. .067 is not legally drunk in any State in the US. People are routinely convicted of driving with levels 4 times higher than that. .067 is about the alcohol level of a lunch customer at John's Place or a breakfast customer at Mad Dog. Anyone found to be sitting next to a "bottle bookcase" is likely higher than .067, empty or not. No need to add fuel to this fire, which happens to be a false alarm. Many individuals are hideous drivers, straight or drunk, day or night. This seems to be especially true in Thailand, and apparently Nambia. It will be a shame if many are put out of work for false reasons. As I already stated, Hush Bar is gone.

Here you go...this woman tested more than five times higher than that, while already at the jail; .341. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/03/samantha-lynn-goudie-drunk-girl-341-tweets-yolo_n_3859634.html

and she didn't hurt anyone.

[springheeled jack]

I think its about time the law was applied its been far too lax yes I quite agree there are a lot of people out there who are or were totally dependant on the bars for a source of income but I am afraid the law must be upheld .

[MESmith]

I think its about time the law was applied its been far too lax yes I quite agree there are a lot of people out there who are or were totally dependant on the bars for a source of income but I am afraid the law must be upheld .

Sometimes the law is an a-s-s

[Saan]

I think its about time the law was applied its been far too lax yes I quite agree there are a lot of people out there who are or were totally dependant on the bars for a source of income but I am afraid the law must be upheld .

What law? Do you mean a bill that goes through parliament and is approved by parliament and enacted. Or an idea thought up on the spur of the moment and is then promulgated and then deferred. That law.

Of course while they are at they should also take all cars off the road. Cars kill, don't bother about trying to enforce the laws which might reduce the road toll. Just remove the cars. Problem solved. Same approach to bars and under age drinking.

[connda]

I think its about time the law was applied its been far too lax yes I quite agree there are a lot of people out there who are or were totally dependant on the bars for a source of income but I am afraid the law must be upheld .

What law? Do you mean a bill that goes through parliament and is approved by parliament and enacted. Or an idea thought up on the spur of the moment and is then promulgated and then deferred. That law.

Of course while they are at they should also take all cars off the road. Cars kill, don't bother about trying to enforce the laws which might reduce the road toll. Just remove the cars. Problem solved. Same approach to bars and under age drinking.

I think it may be Thai culture, but the police are only suppose to sit in the station until they are told to make a roadblock in order to implement an income steam. Such things as 'walking around' (exercise and exertion) in order to check for under-age drinking is complicated, especially when Nong DrunkOutOfHisMind is also the son of a very well connected Hi-So Chinese-Thai family "Somebody". So, it's simply easier to close the freak'n bars. TIT

[Rama]

Meanwhile back at the topic; Heard some younger guys returning home this morning at between 3.30-4.00. Looks like Spicy must be open again. So much for the new laws.....

[MrBrilliant]

Meanwhile back at the topic; Heard some younger guys returning home this morning at between 3.30-4.00. Looks like Spicy must be open again. So much for the new laws.....

Well, as said already, the owners of such businesses aren't dumb. They'll just open up 305M away instead until the powers shift the goalposts again and increase the exclusion zone....

[MrBrilliant]

I think its about time the law was applied its been far too lax yes I quite agree there are a lot of people out there who are or were totally dependant on the bars for a source of income but I am afraid the law must be upheld .

What law? Do you mean a bill that goes through parliament and is approved by parliament and enacted. Or an idea thought up on the spur of the moment and is then promulgated and then deferred. That law.

Of course while they are at they should also take all cars off the road. Cars kill, don't bother about trying to enforce the laws which might reduce the road toll. Just remove the cars. Problem solved. Same approach to bars and under age drinking.

I think it may be Thai culture, but the police are only suppose to sit in the station until they are told to make a roadblock in order to implement an income steam. Such things as 'walking around' (exercise and exertion) in order to check for under-age drinking is complicated, especially when Nong DrunkOutOfHisMind is also the son of a very well connected Hi-So Chinese-Thai family "Somebody". So, it's simply easier to close the freak'n bars. TIT

Spot on. Most insightful and nutshelled post of the thread.....though you omitted that " Nong DrunkOutOfHisMind" has left a trail of corpses in his wake...

[heybruce]

Looks like the six month assessment of how to implement this law has turned into "implement now, assess later":

"He said the Office of the Alcohol Control Committee would, for now, follow the code issued earlier by the national alcohol policy committee by imposing an alcoholic beverage sale ban within at least a 300 meter radius of an educational institute." http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/849247-booze-ban-thai-govt-to-implement-zoning-regulations-around-educational-institutes/?p=9750813

Edited August 18, 2015 by heybruce

[kurtgruen]

I just seen a post from my favorite bar in CM (Roobar), that they had to remove all the booze bottles from the shelves behind the bar. Wonder if that is part of the new laws as well?

For the single expats, who are in Thailand, my advise is "RENT DON'T BUY". That goes for houses, women, everything. Whatever you do, don't get married in Thailand, because that can really limit your future options of moving to other Countries like for example Cambodia or Vietnam.

Booze are much cheaper in those countries and the laws much more relaxed than in the LOS.

Most of my single friends have moved on...first to Cambodia and now they all happily live in Vietnam.

Good luck, getting your Thai wife to move to Cambodia or Vietnam, 555. I could not drag mine there, if I wanted to.

Thailand keeps copying Western Countries, such as European Countries, Canada and the US. What they don't understand is, that most tourist come here, because Thailand is (or was) different from their home Country.

I think, they are starting to realise, that they don't have the monopoly on Asian tourism, so maybe they will smarten up. (Hopefully soon)

As for me, I want to live in a Country, where I can drink cheap, good booze, in peace, without being harassed by lobby groups such as MADD (Morons Against Drunk Drivers). I didn't come to Thailand to live in a cheap imitation of the West.