Booze banned during Loy Krathong festival

[Oceanbat]

Thaivisa is hilarious sometimes. Restrict alcohol sales at a few locations on one day - prohibition! Change a few visa rules - it's a purge of foreigners! Some guy looked at me funny - they all hate us!

Sometimes?

OB

[BKKdreaming]

great idea that will never happen ,

Lets try that on New Years Eve too and throw in no fireworks !

Making laws that everyone ignores is bad policy , because they will ignore important laws too

[Stargeezr]

I do not arrive in Thailand until the 28th of November. I guess

everything will be back to normal by then. I only suffered one sort of booze

ban of a few hours, one time in Hua Hin. As it turns out, I walked a couple of block

from the one market I was at to find a small market open and selling booze, so I bought from it instead.

Thailand is a funny country sometimes. Guess the only thing is to wander around and

adapt like the locals do. I am still hoping for Thailand to keep up the good work

of welcoming us tourists in for visits, and long stays, as the government should be able to

see that tourism is still a good business to be in. My plans to go visit any ME country is on hold for

about the next 40 years or so.

[jacko45k]

My local village celebration seems to be an opportunity for them to get really drunk out of their skulls. A lady fell in some drainage construction and really bashed herself up a few years ago. I can live with this decision, too much drunken driving going on anyhow, but I sure could have used a cold one at the boat races yesterday...who wants sickly sweet orange!

[Rorri]

I asked my good lady what she thinks about this, she laughed, Thais will still drink, same as the, in her words, go fast driving, she also added that on "Buddha" days, when alcohol sales are banned, Thais buy the day before, in other words they are useless "bans," here's another thing, these "bans" are NOT written into law, so what "laws" are being broken, same goes for local cops, or any government authority, making their own "laws."

[Brer Fox]

I really almost feel sorry for you drunken slobs out that just need another excuse to get drunk. You are drunk all the time and I have no desire to be near you. Cheap boze is the most important reason you even come to Thailand and think you know everything about Thailand, well you do NOT.

A few corrections are required.

1. There will never be enough excuses in the world to get drunk.

2. Maybe there are some fine people out there out there such as yourself who can be a successful slob without alcohol touching their lips.

3. I think booze is the word you are looking for not boze. I suspect you were drunk when you wrote that.

4. Cheap booze is not cheap in Thailand.

[springheeled jack]

another celebration bites the dust, I did mention in an earlier post that eventually there will be nothing left for tourists to come to Thailand for and it is certainly looking that way now they wont come to be ripped off at the so called tourist spots .

[DrTuner]

Thaivisa is hilarious sometimes. Restrict alcohol sales at a few locations on one day - prohibition! Change a few visa rules - it's a purge of foreigners! Some guy looked at me funny - they all hate us!

It's called a trend. Often used to predict future. Since the coup the direction has been clear.

[springheeled jack]

get rid of all the good things in life you really don't have much left.

[Equalizer]

If the banned condoms i wonder if will stop people having sex.

[billd766]

I really almost feel sorry for you drunken slobs out that just need another excuse to get drunk. You are drunk all the time and I have no desire to be near you. Cheap boze is the most important reason you even come to Thailand and think you know everything about Thailand, well you do NOT.

Really?

Not everybody is drunk all the time and I don't think that cheap booze is the reason that so many people come to Thailand.

However I DO object to being classed as a drunk by sanctimonious people who generalise who think that THEY, and they alone, are the only people who know EVERYTHING about Thailand.

You have absolutely no idea of the make up of expats in Thailand, who we are, where we live, what we do, yet YOU have decided that we are all drunks. How ignorant and crass of you.

You are the epitome of such people.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?site=&source=hp&q=epitome&oq=epitome&gs_l=hp.1.0.0l10.1914.3505.0.6721.8.8.0.0.0.0.208.1138.0j6j1.7.0....0...1c.1.64.hp..2.6.991.0.svOdDkiWjTM

noun

noun: epitome; plural noun: epitomes

1.

a person or thing that is a perfect example of a particular quality or type.

"she looked the epitome of elegance and good taste"

synonyms: personification, embodiment, incarnation, paragon;

essence, quintessence, archetype, paradigm, typification, type;

exemplar, definitive example, prototype;

representation, model, soul, example, byword, classic example/case;

acme, ultimate, zenith, height;

rareavatar

"he was the epitome of conservative respectability"

Edited November 22, 2015 by billd766

[Equalizer]

I really almost feel sorry for you drunken slobs out that just need another excuse to get drunk. You are drunk all the time and I have no desire to be near you. Cheap boze is the most important reason you even come to Thailand and think you know everything about Thailand, well you do NOT.

Oh really, i mean think about it. This is not about the foreign alcoholic anonymous escapees, it is about these people imposing bans that they know are impossible to police and it is just a get out clause. They know that almost every group of Thai's will be sat down with several bottles of liquor huddled in a circle playing a guitar. They ban booze at son kran however the same amount of people die each year on the roads, why? Because there is twice as much traffic on them to begin with. The people who choose to drink and drive when there are any type of festival will do so irrespective of any ban so the only people you are hurting are the people who may want to have a couple of red wines with a meal.

Edited November 22, 2015 by Equalizer

[SoiBiker]

Who's sitting at a table with a meal and a bottle of wine in the middle of a loy krathong celebration?

[Equalizer]

Who's sitting at a table with a meal and a bottle of wine in the middle of a loy krathong celebration?

Try Matrapan lake.

[kevc]

I wonder how many on here complaining will actually LEAVE the bar to visit a festival.

[SoiBiker]

I wonder how many on here complaining will actually LEAVE the bar to visit a festival.

I'm guessing a few will be dragged along by family, and won't want to have to put the beer down.

[h90]

Good. Alcohol should be totally outlawed with harsh penalties as any other drug. Living on the coutnryside in Thailand, it is the number 1 killer (accidents etc.) out here, so let's get rid of it!

I think drunk driving is already outlawed.

Prohibition in USA didn't work at all, but the Saudi Arabia approach does work (death penalty), but that you have many deaths again.

[h90]

I wonder how many on here complaining will actually LEAVE the bar to visit a festival.

I'm guessing a few will be dragged along by family, and won't want to have to put the beer down.

I won't be in the bar and I won't be at the festival, for me it is a principal thing that I don't like more laws or personal freedom restricted.

If I am there I would most probably drink only Soda water, but I really hate when Prayuth tells me what to drink. Someone like Yingluck or Prayuth decide what I can drink for dinner??

[Valentine]

Loy Krathong is the most beautiful & serene of all festivals in Thailand yet in recent years they seem hell bent on making it another noisy raucous celebration with loud music, booze everywhere, & fireworks just like they have done with Songkran which is supposed to be a simple ceremony paying respect to your parents & elders. Don't get me wrong I have been in many Songkran all out water throwing times & enjoyed it but I just wish they could at least leave Loy Krathong the way it was meant to be.

[jaywalker]

I'm really getting a strong impression that key members of the government are serious teetotalers and generally not keen on having any fun.

They may ban booze 365 Days of the year, no more drunk drivers, less crime, less domestic violence, less fights, less drunken idiots boring you to death with stupid tales they repeat over and over again, less people dying a horrible death through Alcoholism.

It would actually make sense.

I worked in Kuwait for 5 years, where booze is banned 365 days a year.

The place is SWIMMING in booze!

I would imagine more booze is refined there than oil.

Drunk drivers, petty theft, domestic violence, and fights happened every day, and if you hang out with some clown that tells the same stories over and over again, and he bores you, go make new friends.

AND, if somebody wants to drink themselves to death, then why do you care? How is it any of your business?

Edited November 22, 2015 by jaywalker

[Wilsonandson]

Loy Krathong is the most beautiful & serene of all festivals in Thailand yet in recent years they seem hell bent on making it another noisy raucous celebration with loud music, booze everywhere, & fireworks just like they have done with Songkran which is supposed to be a simple ceremony paying respect to your parents & elders. Don't get me wrong I have been in many Songkran all out water throwing times & enjoyed it but I just wish they could at least leave Loy Krathong the way it was meant to be.

The way it was meant to be? I remember too going back a few years the romantic side of taking your girlfriend, partner to the riverside buying a locally made krathong and sending it off on its journey down the river. Then heading for an all you can eat barbeque restaurant where you could buy beer but it was served in a coffee mug. Watching amateur fireworks displays. Everyone smiling, happy. On the walk back to the house buying eels, toads and river turtles to release them back into the river for goodluck. Yes, the good old days. Far too serious about everything these days. Do this, do that, let that BS just wash over you and relax and enjoy the festival. Big chief 5 rivers is having a beer.

[apetley]

I asked my good lady what she thinks about this, she laughed, Thais will still drink, same as the, in her words, go fast driving, she also added that on "Buddha" days, when alcohol sales are banned, Thais buy the day before, in other words they are useless "bans," here's another thing, these "bans" are NOT written into law, so what "laws" are being broken, same goes for local cops, or any government authority, making their own "laws."

+1

It is an edict from central Govt that is almost totally ignored by the vast majority of the country.

Sounds systems are getting fired up in our village already, parties are happening every night, teenagers are racing around on their Wave's and our friends shop is doing a roaring trade in alcohol. It's like Songkran without the super soakers.

[sjaak327]

The point is that I am trying to conceive that no government should force people to not drink at certain times. Either alcohol is legal or it isn't.

One would think taking care of the few drunks that spoil it for others to be a much more logical and reasoned approach.

See my previous post to h90

Anyway this festival is outdoors and many governments all over the world restrict alcohol. In the Netherlands you can't drink in certain parks and some festivals don't get an alcohol license.

This is no different unless its a real ban and bars are not allowed to serve alcohol then i agree with you.

I would love to hear which festivals are not licensed to sell alcohol in the Netherlands. In my 44 years living and working in that country, I cannot think of one !

[chrisinth]

Wow loads of alcoholics on this site. Alcohol and crowds dont mix.

Its atrange how many people cant have fun without alcohol.

Nothing worse as drunken idiots spoiling it for all. Sure not everyone that drinks gets drunk but a ban like this is far easier to police as escorting drunks out.

That would lead to fights.

The way i read it you can have your alcohol fix outside the celebration area's so no huge loss.

Perhaps I lead a really sheltered life here in Thailand, but what has changed recently to justify a nationwide ban?

In the 20 odd celebrations that I have been at, with the exception of possible increase in road accidents, I haven't witnessed any more trouble on this day than any other.

This has little to do with tourists & expats (this booze ban) but all to do with controlling the Thais, thought up by some pleb in their ivory tower.

IMHO off course.

[DrTuner]

thought up by some pleb in their ivory tower.

Samarn.

[Skeptic7]

I'm really getting a strong impression that key members of the government are serious teetotalers and generally not keen on having any fun.

No they're not "teetotalers" at all, but they ARE keen on others not having any fun...

Edited November 22, 2015 by Skeptic7

[robblok]

Wow loads of alcoholics on this site. Alcohol and crowds dont mix.

Its atrange how many people cant have fun without alcohol.

Nothing worse as drunken idiots spoiling it for all. Sure not everyone that drinks gets drunk but a ban like this is far easier to police as escorting drunks out.

That would lead to fights.

The way i read it you can have your alcohol fix outside the celebration area's so no huge loss.

Perhaps I lead a really sheltered life here in Thailand, but what has changed recently to justify a nationwide ban?

In the 20 odd celebrations that I have been at, with the exception of possible increase in road accidents, I haven't witnessed any more trouble on this day than any other.

This has little to do with tourists & expats (this booze ban) but all to do with controlling the Thais, thought up by some pleb in their ivory tower.

IMHO off course.

I read that on the party sites it was banned in previous years too.

I also don't think it has anything to do with tourists or expats.

It might have something to do with the wish to have less road casualties.

But if that is the case why ban it at only the party sites and not other sites.

Anyway i don't care much as I seldom drink. But you have to admit it looks like people are totally adicted they way they respond.

Its just a day without alcohol at certain places not the end of the world.

On principal i am against bans though.

But the way some people respond is loke there is no fun when they cant drink.

[NickJ]

Really the only place they can ban booze seems to be large chain supermarkets, Fuji restaurants and Farang owned bars.

[Siamwhiteelephant]

Booze always on sale at our local temple grounds during Lou Krathong, can't see this year being any different.

Oh, leary? And I'm gutted over booze not mixing with Buddhism not being the Disaster Prevention Department spin. Thought that'd be the obvious Buddhist moral they'd tout . I'd say the Disaster Prevention Department is setting themselves up for disaster

[NCFC]

Loy Krathong is the most beautiful & serene of all festivals in Thailand yet in recent years they seem hell bent on making it another noisy raucous celebration with loud music, booze everywhere, & fireworks just like they have done with Songkran which is supposed to be a simple ceremony paying respect to your parents & elders. Don't get me wrong I have been in many Songkran all out water throwing times & enjoyed it but I just wish they could at least leave Loy Krathong the way it was meant to be.

The way it was meant to be? I remember too going back a few years the romantic side of taking your girlfriend, partner to the riverside buying a locally made krathong and sending it off on its journey down the river. Then heading for an all you can eat barbeque restaurant where you could buy beer but it was served in a coffee mug. Watching amateur fireworks displays. Everyone smiling, happy. On the walk back to the house buying eels, toads and river turtles to release them back into the river for goodluck. Yes, the good old days. Far too serious about everything these days. Do this, do that, let that BS just wash over you and relax and enjoy the festival. Big chief 5 rivers is having a beer.

Why are you buying eels on the walk back home? Isn't it better to buy them on the way to the river?