Doubts Raised About Effectiveness Of Alcohol Ad Ban

[george]

Doubts raised about effectiveness of alcohol ad ban

BANGKOK: -- A blanket ban on alcohol advertising alone will not halt the steady growth in consumption, the Kasikorn Research Centre said Sunday.

Measures to control the sale and consumption of alcohol were also needed, The research centre warned in a statement.

The centre said that in spite of previous measures to tackle the problem, alcohol consumption continued to rise steadily.

The government has said it wants to reduce an alarming trend towards drinking with new measures that bid to stem a surge in youth drinking in particular.

A blanket ban on alcohol advertising and an increase in the legal minimum age at which people are allowed to drink alcohol - from 18 to 20 - are about to be introduced.

The ban on advertising includes television, newspapers, cinema and billboards and will come into effect on December 3.

Other measures include tougher law enforcement on drink-driving and tax hikes for alcoholic beverages.

The research centre said that it's figures showed that the per capita average alcohol consumption rate rose from 28 litres in 1998 to 32 litres in 2002 and 38 litres last year.

Alcohol expenditure per family had also risen steadily.

The centre said the ad ban and other measures would only slow drinking by a small extent because alcohol companies had other ways to reach their target customers, such as new media and satellite television.

The centre suggested that the government consider public education and awareness campaigns about the harmful effects of alcohol and possible "sin taxes" to control consumption.

-- The Nation 2006-10-29

[John K]

Although the intent is good to curb drinking, it is not as simple as the Thais hoped. I agree with this that education is the key.