Dr Samarn: Beer gardens are against the law

[mercman24]

PUBLICITY SEEKER, just trying to justify his mundane life, oops sorry, he hasn't got one. look at me Prime Minister, are'nt i doing a dam good job.this will sink without trace by the coming up christmas period, and he will go back to sleep,, until Songram. !!

[WhizBang]

I bet Dr Samarn Futrakul is a load of fun at a party.

Along the same vein (beer gardens illegal), I wonder if Happy Hour is illegal too?

[EnglishJohn]

Close them all down, the law is the law.

Yeah, you should not even be allowed to say the word beer because somebody might actually hear you say it. Yesterday it was bike lanes and beach chairs. Today it is beer gardens. Moving at a rapid pace. This all could have never happened under an elected government.

Actually, all this nonsense started under an elected government. Do a google search on Purachai, who was Thaksin's Interior Minister and who at one time said he wanted all bars to close at 10:30PM. At least some of the laws being used by the current crop were introduced by that elected government - not put to a vote mind you, simply "approved by cabinet". It really was not much different from the way they run things now.

Please don't try to confuse this guy with anything approaching the truth. His only purpose is to criticise the Junta with any nonsense he can make up on the spur of the moment.

He was probably at day-care all the times Pheu-Thai forced something through Parliament in an entirely undemocratic manner - like closing the session before people opposing the bill could speak. I won't even mention the amnesty disgrace.

Yellowboat : THE LAW IS ABOUT STOPPING ADVERTISING TO ENTICE GULLIBLE IDIOTS TO DRINK A SPECIFIC BRAND OF BEER BECAUSE THEY THINK IT IS COOL. IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE WORD BEER ITSELF.

I hope that got through.

This is just another case of incompetent Thai politicians making a law for a specific reason, but doing it so badly it also covers many areas where it shouldn't really apply. Hence it gets selectively enforced which leads to all the problems we see around us.

[tonysilly]

Read between the lines. He wants Chang and Singha to pay more Tea money. You think Singha is going to let this guy tell them what to do?

[WhizBang]

Just charge farangs 400B "Garden entrance fees" and the problem will resolve itself.

How do you figure that? The Thais are the super heavy drinkers in this country. They have no control and just do not know when to stop.

[benbear]

why not just to change its name from beer garden to national garden ?

Don't give them ideas like that, they'll be charging the Thai's 100 B to get in and farrang 300 B

[SiSePuede419]

"Government on the other hand, is just a collection of bureaucratic pencil pushing nit-wits who aren't capable of a whole lot."

Absurd drivel.

Anyone who is in the military is a government worker.

I'll bet they'll laugh in your face when you tell them they're not capable of "a whole lot".

Not that a TVF poster actually has enough courage to do so, without the excessive consumption of "liquid courage"...

555

[louse1953]

Everything's against the law theses days.

It's starting to become like blighty.

And didn't we escape the old country to get aways from rules and regs for everybloodything?

The Thais are busy legislating away everything that made their country a uniquely enjoyable place to start with. I have a number of friends who are very long time residents of this country who have moved back to their home countries because they are just sick and tired of the stupidity and small mindedness that seems to have been slowly taking over here over the past decade plus.

Your friends have been replaced with hundreds more and the baby boomers are coming soon,in droves.

[anotheruser]

why not just to change its name from beer garden to national garden ?

Don't give them ideas like that, they'll be charging the Thai's 100 B to get in and farrang 300 B

That's small minded and petty. Why charge 400 Baht for an entry when you could charge that per beer?

[EnglishJohn]

Good point. I really enjoyed my time in Kuwait (where all booze is banned), as me & every one of my buddies had a bar at our own houses.

We'd do the round robin, with one of the 8-12 of us hosting a party at least once a week.

Side Note...we all had either a Thai, Malaysian, Singaporean or Filipina wife as well, so the eye candy was always nice too!

But it is not exactly fun to have to limit one's drinking to houses. I don't know about you, but I usually give importance to the atmosphere (and the variety of it) that I drink at. For example, beer gardens in Thailand (especially the one in front of Central World in Bangkok) have been my favorite places to drink at. I really really really hope that they won't be banned.

Trust me, I most assuredly do agree with you that it is a matter of freedom vs DAMNED STUPID, but nonetheless, in Kuwait, EVERY bar I entered was full of my best friends only. On rare occasion I'd meet some new guy (and his ultra hot Indonesian wife which was nice...guys enjoyed meeting my rather attractive Thai wife as well and I enjoyed showing her off), and invariably, he'd be a super nice guy.

It was quite unique, in that nobody was ever a stranger for very long, and had all been vetted by a member of our "Club". We were all farangs, black Americans were welcome (I'm a white Floridian but who cares), Beligians, Swedes, French, Canucks, Germans, Brits, Irish, Aussie's.

One guy's wife was Colombian......WOW! She was hot.

We all enjoyed the eye candy, but never touched.

I bet you vote for Jeb.Coveting another men's wives and even letting "black americans"into your club,wow,what a liberal thinker.

He enjoys looking at beautiful women and dared to write the word 'black' to describe someone. Immediately you brand him an adulterer and racist.

If a black guy used the phrase "White American", would you call him a racist ?.

Armchair liberal's like you have made the world what it is today. And that is the biggest insult I can think of.

[davemos]

Come to think about it doesn't Burium united have a jersey that clearly says CHANG Arrest the for advertising too.

[tomacht8]

He is the Director of the Office of Alcoholic Drinks Control Committee.

He should take care of the drinks quality neverless.

In some bars they sell and charge for top brand drinks, but fill cheap booze in the glasses.

Never had problems in the beergardens in this regarding.

The alcoholic director sets completely wrong prioritys.

[Paul888]

Since when did "being against the law" matter here?

[WhizBang]

Come to think about it doesn't Burium united have a jersey that clearly says CHANG Arrest the for advertising too.

Oh dear. I have Chang and Singha T shirts. Is it illegal for me to wear them now?

[WhizBang]

Come to think about it doesn't Burium united have a jersey that clearly says CHANG Arrest the for advertising too.

Oh dear. I have Chang and Singha T shirts. Is it illegal for me to wear them now?

[Stargeezr]

Who needs beer gardens anyway? I have plenty of bars or beach areas, and other places to

have a brew. Heck I can even buy beer at the stores, so what's the big deal?

[Khun Paul]

Hello Thailand you want to have more tourists. Well sorry Beer Gardens are out as is anything remotely to do with Alcohol, if it can be seen it is illegal. Tourists go somewhere else ...Thankyou.

[dieseldave1951]

then we as farang will have to pay inflated prices to enter just like all the other national places

why not just to change its name from beer garden to national garden ?

[johnny49r]

I don't even drink anymore but prohibition didn't work out well in the US - how's it going to work here when the main tourist draw is booze and sex.

This guy is a poster child of the poor quality of education in Thailand. "Those who don't study history are doomed to repeat it".

Maybe someone forgot to shove a few baht in his pocket?

[eldragon]

Everything's against the law theses days.

It's starting to become like blighty.

No such (petty, I need to justify my job) controls on alcohol in uk. If anything, it's going the other way. Though I agree, Thailand is losing the anything goes uniqueness in what made Thailand Thailand. Sad.

And where has that gotten em? Seems like most of us agree they are largely unorganized and behind the times as a society.

[GarryP]

I do not know if it has been asked, but I would be very interested in learning of the source of Dr. Samarn's absolute position against alcohol. Is it purely academic, a nit-picking adherence to his interpretation of the law or is there some other underlying reason for his apparent phobia of all things alcohol? Most educated people would tend to be much more reasonable, listening to arguments from both sides.

[Antifreeze]

It's becoming easier to count those with working brain cells than...

[tomacht8]

Maybe the alcohol director just come back from the beer festival in munich, and is just pissed from the beer garden quality in thailand in general.

[eldragon]

Hello Thailand you want to have more tourists. Well sorry Beer Gardens are out as is anything remotely to do with Alcohol, if it can be seen it is illegal. Tourists go somewhere else ...Thankyou.

Yeah, bc beer gardens is one of the main reasons tourists come to Thailand. Give me a break. We complain about alcoholism and unsafe roads, yet fault the Thais for trying to make the drinking scene a little more subtle... Tone down the advertising and keep em away from areas children and families are known to frequent. For example... not right in front of Central World. Problem solved.

[NCC1701A]

fascism? ok, lets start by executing the mini van drivers. who is next on the list?

[judax]

Beer garden and many other things are legal in Cambodia and that's not far away, has same climate, beautiful people and no permit problems.

[stoneyboy]

Hello Thailand you want to have more tourists. Well sorry Beer Gardens are out as is anything remotely to do with Alcohol, if it can be seen it is illegal. Tourists go somewhere else ...Thankyou.

Yeah, bc beer gardens is one of the main reasons tourists come to Thailand. Give me a break. We complain about alcoholism and unsafe roads, yet fault the Thais for trying to make the drinking scene a little more subtle... Tone down the advertising and keep em away from areas children and families are known to frequent. For example... not right in front of Central World. Problem solved.

And I agree to some extent,but here they try to walk before they can run.

It was the same a few months back with people using plastic bags and having one day a month banning them,when half the problem is the fact that 50% of the population have no recourse to refuse collection and burning plastic and throwing rubbish in the street is the norm.

They go straight for the jugular every time without thinking of the consequences rather than starting at the beginning and educating people from the start.

This is how they improved life for the masses back in the west.

When driving was first available to the masses in the UK drink driving was the norm,it was seen as acceptable,the same problem is occurring here at present,the country is young and it takes decades to change,sadly here it may take centuries.

[anon467367354]

the Thai caliphate strikes

[JAG]

PUBLICITY SEEKER, just trying to justify his mundane life, oops sorry, he hasn't got one. look at me Prime Minister, are'nt i doing a dam good job.this will sink without trace by the coming up christmas period, and he will go back to sleep,, until Songram. !!

...when he will have a panic attack about "spaghetti strap tops" and wet tee shirts!

[Familyaffairs]

I think he needs to go and live in the deep South, his opinions would be greatly appreciated there...

What is the definition of a beer garden which has an alcohol license and mostly sell food too ? How does that compare to a restaurant with outdoor seating capacity where people sit and drink? Why are cigarettes not subject to the same imbecile laws as the alcohol sales act (with respect to selling hours) what is next? Hide all alcohol in shops behind curtains? Parents to be forced to drink their alcohol from coffee mugs? Tourists and residents alike are bewildered....keep it up...in Muslim Malaysia you can buy beer anytime you want.