Dr Samarn: Beer gardens are against the law

[tomyumchai]

im always reading the "this aint kansas" quote on here day after day.......

but for once maybe thailand is going the kansas way......

"Kansas had statewide prohibition from 1881 to 1948, longer than any other state, and continued to prohibit general on-premises liquor sales until 1987"

[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.

[geriatrickid]

Everything's against the law theses days.

It's starting to become like blighty.

How is this anything like England? Yes, I get it that you are being sarcastic, but seriously, you want to compare the situation with England where civil rights and liberties are protected? The current legal environment in Thailand is nowhere close that of England.

[Shaunduhpostman]

They are really getting pushy about the who what when where how and why about everything to do with the drink, aren't they?

Went into town the other day to do the shopping at TESCO. Usually pick up a bottle of wine while I'm there. This week I found that blank white stickers had been placed on the labels of my particular go to brand. I asked the guy stocking the shelves why he said that there was a law that they can't have "cartoons" on the labels of any alcoholic beverage. We just looked at each other in disblief, "Ba!"

[Artisi]

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?

So long as they don't make happy-ending illegal as well.

[toooa]

"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

Easy tiger....I know the military are an exception to the "not capable of a whole lot" generalization. If you read further, "pencil pushing nitwits" is referring to the more sedentary government workers. No need to get your knickers in a knot matey. It's the bureaucracy rather than the military men of action I'm having a not so subtle dig at. I'm sure you sir, are a wonderfully courageous individual who has done "a whole lot" and more in your years of service. Congratulations, a pat on the back, and a chocolate biscuit for you sir.. I'll buy you a beer at a beer garden if you regale me with some tales of your military escapades. Huzzah!

[Artisi]

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?

NO, and if not careful he will be looking for a new job shorly.

[stoneyboy]

Everything's against the law theses days.

It's starting to become like blighty.

How is this anything like England? Yes, I get it that you are being sarcastic, but seriously, you want to compare the situation with England where civil rights and liberties are protected? The current legal environment in Thailand is nowhere close that of England.

And your point is,what are you or can you do about it ?

Nothing I suppose except up sticks and leave,did you ever envisage living under these circumstances,suddenly the west starts to become more appealing.

Are long term expats voting with there feet and leaving,probably not ,just moaning on here.

Many wouldn't accept the current situation back at home but do here why is that ?

Things will get worse here before they get better with the ever nearing inevitable major event that comes to all of us.

That is when we will really see how the Kingdom is going to move forward or take another huge step backwards,personally I think it will be backwards.

Edited November 5, 2015 by stoneyboy

[neal david]

crazy yes ..... next there be trying to put a ban on wearing ....chang beer tee shirts .... its getting more like toyland here ..... shame ...when are they going to wake up and live in the real world .......... moving forward ......joke .......

[waldroj]

Maybe Samarn and his cohorts should be pursuing the real drinking problem in Bangkok: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/867838-over-half-of-water-vending-machines-in-bangkok-unsafe-to-drink/

[Artisi]

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!

Bring it on, especially the wet Tee shirts, altough it is lost a many of the natives.

[SiSePuede419]

he said that there was a law that they can't have "cartoons" on the labels of any alcoholic beverage. We just looked at each other in disblief, "Ba!"

Yes, I know that's the word for 'crazy' (impolite) in Thai, but did you know it's also the sound sheep make?

http://i.piccy.info/i5/12/72/307212/drunk_sheep_800.jpg

[Hawk]

Beer garden is against the alcoholic drinks control law because the venue amounts to advertisement of alcoholic drinks.

Doesn't a bar also advertise alcoholic drinks?

[nidieunimaitre]

Did I hear the word fachism?

No you didn't as the word is fascism.

A smart ass joined the grammar Nazi police?

[natway09]

The heading is wrong.

Actually, in the story it is not the beer bar itself that is illegal, it is "promoting" alcohol sales within the beer bar which has been law since

the Mayor of Dubai was looking after things.

If he really wants to push the ani alcohol lobby go down Sukhumvit & get rid of all those non licensed carts selling alcohol until

the wee hours where with no toilets, shitting & pissing everywhere is the norm, & because they are on wheels no one knows where they

are going to spring up next which makes them uncontrollable.

Walk down the Soi to Trendy Apartments & just smell the bouquet. Disgusting.

In short, no license to sell booze, close them down

[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.

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.

Education is always the way forward.

[tigermoth]

This guy must have missed out on his kickbacks. Not stopping at pedestrian crossings is illigal, running red lights is illegal, riding bikes on footpaths is illegal and so it goes on, now most street stalls are illegal now. Soon talking in public will be illegal.

[razer]

It is the proverbial slippery slope. Next .. the words "pub" and "bar" will be against the law because these words encourage people to come in and drink ... next will be "windows" pub and bar windows should be covered so as not to encourage people to come in and drink.

Is this guy a Muslim or perhaps a Southern Baptist?

[LivinLOS]

I guess all they really need to do is replace any umbrellas and signs with beer brands on them. Although until they do I think we as foreigners should set the example, respect the culture and raise the bar. Because that is where we will all be drinking if they shut the beer gardens down.

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.

you have been in the sandbox far too long !!

[arrowsdawdle]

Close them all down, the law is the law.

Kosa in KK, and any others around the country, won't shut down, just make a phone call and send a brown envelope.

[DM07]

"Dr Samarn: Beer gardens are against the law"

So is prostitution, Thailand the hub of illegal beer gardens and prostitution

So is driving a motorcycle without helmet or license or with 4 people without helmets and no license on one bike and driving drunk and speeding and corruption and....and I wish, they would - for once in this country that gets more stupid and backwards by the minute- tackle the REAL issues, instead of all the BS about alcohol drinking in alcohol-drinking-designated-spaces!

[thaiturkey]

It seems to me that just about every Thai resonate I have come across has a problem with mentally prioritizing problems. From the ordinary man or girl in the street to lawyers, politicians and judges. The most inane and unimportant (relatively speaking) is shouted and griped about whilst the truly injurious and damaging things are barely thought about and even less discussed.

Here the Thai official is bemoaning the fact a few pretty girls are up on stage singing songs and providing a pleasing vista for people who want to escape the sun for a cool drink under an umbrella. The umbrella hang a Singha or Chang logo is advertising the brand which also sells alcohol ( which as a workaround to a poorly drafted law also sells water - and let's face it Thai laws are about as poorly thought out and drafted as any in the world).

It is OK to have girls screeching in Karaoke bars scantily clad and grabbing the privates of their increasingly drunken customers yet I have rarely seen a drunken rampage of shoppers enticed by a beer garden thrown up outside a shopping area.

I wonder if Thas are specially trained in making the most of the least significant and stoically ignoring the most pertinent or whether it is just the mentality. You must not cross your legs sitting in court but you can lie in a civil case under oath until the cows come home and the law does not even care (perjury is inexplicably missing from the Civil Code and specifically only mentioned in regard to criminal cases). That is absurd to me - maybe just me?

VICTIM OF CIVIL PERJURY

Thank you for raising this point. It almost cost me my home! Home owners should also be aware that a fraudulent lawsuit can be

delivered attacking your 30 Year Lease (Court summonses often "go missing"), and if you do not respond within 30 days, YOU LOSE

BY DEFAULT!

[williamgeorgeallen]

many activities are illegal in Thailand but the police make money for such activities which is why very few laws are inforced.

[anotheruser]

This guy must have missed out on his kickbacks. Not stopping at pedestrian crossings is illigal, running red lights is illegal, riding bikes on footpaths is illegal and so it goes on, now most street stalls are illegal now. Soon talking in public will be illegal.

Dr Samarn Futrakul is the director of the Office of Alcoholic Drinks Control Committee. The other things you mention are not of concern to his office. It may make you feel better if you look at it like this... Given all the corruption we have is going on in all of the other areas that you so rightfully point out. We should look to this man as a beacon of courage and justice in an otherwise bleak and morally bereft landscape in which corruption is the order of the day. In this regard he is a true exception to the rule of the status quo, a sober man's Robinhood.

[jalansanitwong]

Banning beer gardens? Laughable.

I bet they wont close all the sleazy massage parlors ,gogo bars and brothels that display thousands of poor NE village girls wearing nothing but a bikini and an order number on their hip. Not to mention all the girls who are trafficked overseas by companies with political connections.

The hypocracy is appalling.

[hugh2121]

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

Huh! Falang price at 10x Thai price?

[Whyamiandwhatamidoinghere]

The new TAT slogan at the airport;

'Want to have fun? Go somewhere else!'

Next they will be enforcing the prostitution laws since we're sober...

[English 1]

What is thev problem with this prat just jumping on 'the flavour of the month'

What is wrong with advertising alcohol….IT'S LEGAL CONSUMPTION.

The good General / PM is going far to far in controlling everyday things.

[theoldgit]

Inappropriate post removed, please keep this thread out of the gutter.

[thesetat2013]

Everything's against the law theses days.

It's starting to become like blighty.

And your post which speaks negatively about the laws is against the law as well. So be careful heheee