Shocking: Booze ban doesn’t stop youth from drinking, activists seek stricter rules

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Shocking: Booze ban doesn’t stop youth from drinking, activists seek stricter rules
By Coconuts Bangkok


Beer. Photo: Lars Kristian Flem.

BANGKOK: -- Despite a law passed to reduce drinking by young people, the number of drinkers has increased since last year’s ban on alcohol sales within a 300-meter radius of schools and universities.

Concerned academics and young activists have called for stricter enforcement after the 10-month-old law has miserably failed to stop their fellow students from drinking as most of the bars near educational institutes are operating illegally.

"The crackdown on alcohol sales is slowing down. The government needs to be clear where alcohol cannot be sold," Teerapat Kahawong, coordinator of the Youth Network Against New Drinkers.

Full story: http://bangkok.coconuts.co/2016/05/19/shocking-booze-ban-doesnt-stop-youth-drinking-activists-seek-stricter-rules


-- Coconuts Bangkok 2016-05-20

[NongKhaiKid]

The only thing that's shocking is that there are people who actually believed the ban would have any effect.

I hope other posters weigh in with their own knowledge of the ban as I have a couple of friends who have bar / restaurants that could be considered within 300 meters of a school and they have never been approached by any form of officialdom.

Edited May 19, 2016 by NongKhaiKid

[leeneeds]

Being able to buy at 7 /11 , tesco lotus , and small shops that are

close to schools 300 m , was never going to be implemented

fully ,

folly for thinking such,

[B1TcoinLife]

The only thing that's shocking is that there are people who actually believed the ban would have any effect.

I hope other posters weigh in with their own knowledge of the ban as I have a couple of friends who have bar / restaurants that could be considered within 300 meters of a school and they have never been approached by any form of officialdom.

There are probably not any bars or alcohol sellers this would not affect in areas like bkk because there is a temple, school, or other educational in practically every soi

To enforce this would mean banning alcohol sales completely

[ezzra]

Today's Y generation of booz, drugs, unsafe sex and multiple social media apps that put a pressure

on any teen to go wild and do stupid things while disregarding the values of educations but excels

in cheating and cut corners, so this is come at NOT a surprise that the 300 meters boundaries

is a joke..... the authorities simply came up with the lazy way to deal with a problem, which backfired

big time in their faces.....

[BigBadGeordie]

I'll drink to that, or perhaps not, oh go on then I will. But not within 300 mtrs of a school.

[Rykbanlor]

The only thing that's shocking is that there are people who actually believed the ban would have any effect.

I hope other posters weigh in with their own knowledge of the ban as I have a couple of friends who have bar / restaurants that could be considered within 300 meters of a school and they have never been approached by any form of officialdom.

Aye, and they must be scratching their heads wondering why limiting alcohol sales to those pesky hours we are all familiar with didn't work either.

[B1TcoinLife]

Kids will either drive 300+ meters to get it

Or call the shop and have it delivered

These silly rules won't the consumption at all, night even lead to a higher rate of accidents if they have further to drive to collect it

[starky]

Today's Y generation of booz, drugs, unsafe sex and multiple social media apps that put a pressure

on any teen to go wild and do stupid things while disregarding the values of educations but excels

in cheating and cut corners, so this is come at NOT a surprise that the 300 meters boundaries

is a joke..... the authorities simply came up with the lazy way to deal with a problem, which backfired

big time in their faces.....

Yeah because the baby boomers and gen X that came up through the '60s, 70's, and 80's would never have indulged in booze and drugs and unsafe sex. Social media did all that...yeah right. Which monastery did you grow up in. The point is, which you missed, is that minors (anywhere in the world) if they want to get on the turps (and I was one of them) will always find a way to regardless (or in spite) of anything their parents or officials may say and regardless of whatever inconsequential bans may be in place. It's called growing up.

[NongKhaiKid]

Today's Y generation of booz, drugs, unsafe sex and multiple social media apps that put a pressure

on any teen to go wild and do stupid things while disregarding the values of educations but excels

in cheating and cut corners, so this is come at NOT a surprise that the 300 meters boundaries

is a joke..... the authorities simply came up with the lazy way to deal with a problem, which backfired

big time in their faces.....

If i remember correctly, and am more than happy to be corrected for the sake of accuracy, when this law was first mooted it was ridiculed so was put on hold for 6 months to allow for further ' study ' of the effects in certain areas.

Then within the 6 months period it was suddenly announced it would be implemented immediately and unsurprisingly chaos reigned again as no one seemed really sure what was happening.

[NongKhaiKid]

The only thing that's shocking is that there are people who actually believed the ban would have any effect.

I hope other posters weigh in with their own knowledge of the ban as I have a couple of friends who have bar / restaurants that could be considered within 300 meters of a school and they have never been approached by any form of officialdom.

Aye, and they must be scratching their heads wondering why limiting alcohol sales to those pesky hours we are all familiar with didn't work either.

Some months back my local mom and pop store put up a notice saying they had been instructed to only sell alcohol during the hours used by supermarkets etc.

They continued selling as usual but wrapped everything in newspaper which was more obvious than carrying a plastic bag of bottles but that only lasted a couple of days and the newspaper aspect was binned.

Sales are anytime they're open and as far as i know there's never been any comeback.

Incidentally they're located directly opposite the gate into the local temple and ' pop ' is a very active lay member of the temple community.

[LannaGuy]

booze ban doesn't stop them? well use section 44!

[clockman]

Thailand is the biggest consumer of alcohol, in Asean.

[Deli]

If you wann stop thew kids from drinking, give them easy access to GOOD eduction. But this seems to be even harder here than stoping them from drinking

[charmonman]

Maybe they should legalize marijuana - it would give people an alternative to booze.

[JAG]

The only thing that's shocking is that there are people who actually believed the ban would have any effect.

I hope other posters weigh in with their own knowledge of the ban as I have a couple of friends who have bar / restaurants that could be considered within 300 meters of a school and they have never been approached by any form of officialdom.

There are probably not any bars or alcohol sellers this would not affect in areas like bkk because there is a temple, school, or other educational in practically every soi

To enforce this would mean banning alcohol sales completely

Which is rather the aim of these zealots...

[AdamRich]

What has ever been stopped by a ban?

[maoro2013]

In my village there has been absolutely no effect. Most of the places on the highway would need to stop selling alcohol, which would mean I would need to extend my bar to accommodate the overflow.

[Bluespunk]

Today's Y generation of booz, drugs, unsafe sex and multiple social media apps that put a pressure

on any teen to go wild and do stupid things while disregarding the values of educations but excels

in cheating and cut corners, so this is come at NOT a surprise that the 300 meters boundaries

is a joke..... the authorities simply came up with the lazy way to deal with a problem, which backfired

big time in their faces.....

I thought doing wild and stupid things was the definition of being a teenager. Certainly was my focus.

I know that when the authority figures in my life tried to prevent me doing something it only made me determined to do it, only on a grander scale.

Happy daze...

Edited May 20, 2016 by Bluespunk

[Bluespunk]

What has ever been stopped by a ban?

Asbestos poisoning.

Where they ban it that is...

[cumgranosalum]

In country where ability is not one of the criteria for senior office, it is no shock that they fail to successfully address the nations drink problems.

Time and again Thailand refuses to look at the experiences of other nations and apparently believes they will be more successful if they go it alone without learning from the experience of others - even the most inept official should be able to see this is not a satisfactory approach?

[chicowoodduck]

Surprise, surprise!!! The local teen club down on Soi13 on 3rd Road here in Pattaya was going full blast with an overflow crowd at the 3 AM hour today....just business as usual....can't be missing any party or booze time....might get out of shape!!!?????

[Maggusoil]

Today's Y generation of booz, drugs, unsafe sex and multiple social media apps that put a pressure

on any teen to go wild and do stupid things while disregarding the values of educations but excels

in cheating and cut corners, so this is come at NOT a surprise that the 300 meters boundaries

is a joke..... the authorities simply came up with the lazy way to deal with a problem, which backfired

big time in their faces.....

I thought doing wild and stupid things was the definition of being a teenager. Certainly was my focus.

I know that when the authority figures in my life tried to prevent me doing something it only made me determined to do it, only on a grander scale.

Happy daze...

This is defining. This ropes in various "wars", for example on 'other' drugs. The more tolerance of available choices a society or individual family member makes, puts emphasis on freedom of choice, which leads to responsibility and self determination. Rules inherently beget attitudes of irresponsiblity because they imply the negative.

Rules also invite the breaking of them, which can seem romantic, and thrilling. Ridiculous. Despite being somene who has 'tried' nearly everything, I have brought up 4 teenagers, who never showed the slightest interest in anything illicit. I suspect my liberal attitude and otherwise good behaviour contributed to that.

I sometimes buy one beer to have with dinner and unless I time it right at the 711, I can't do it. I find that ridiculous. I have never been to a 711 and seen minors buying alcohol. I don't know where the people that decide on restrictions get their information, but no where where I live. Youth today do what we did. If not from the shop or pub itself, get what you want from one of your friends. That's how it works. The idea of stamping out every informal teenage network in the country is futile and ridiculous.

[Familyaffairs]

So 301 metres away is ok? Education is the key, not government control, or some bunch of virginal activists. It doesn't work, it didn't during prohibition, it didn't work in Sweden, and the UK abolished its preposterous pub serving hours law.

[daveAustin]

Bars and 7-11's galore with several schools in the vicinity by us... all still selling alcofrol.

[chrissables]

What i fail to understand is why adults are not allowed to buy a cold beer outside the permitted hours.On a trip to the north of Thailand this was being enforced everywhere. Crazy! Ride a bike, or maybe trekking for 5 hours and some t$#t decides you can't have a beer with lunch.

The opening times are a joke. Just ban and enforce underage people from buying, let the adults enjoy life.

[chainarong]

Any more restrictions will only drive a thriving industry underground, prohibition never worked in the US and it also made quite a few very rich, so why would anything work in Thailand, you need to review the locations of these outlets , but this is not necessarily the main culprit , with student mobility they could be drinking 10 clicks away from an education establishment , at one time a gay club in Phuket was over the road from a primary school, which I thought was rather strange and put this down to Thainess and that didn't drive them all gay, perhaps the youths of Thailand like young people everywhere have problems, and getting smashed relieves these problems , perhaps pursuing this might identify the reason Why, pushing anything underground at a future date could cause massive problems, like section 44 might cause for the Junta...................................................

[Generalchaos]

Just had a phone call from Tesco Shoponline informing me that they will not be able to deliver my order for beer today as Bhudda doesn't like alcohol.

Well that made me sit up and think how bad it is to drink alcohol, so i just rebooked another delivery for tomorrow instead.

Pure moral stupidity, do these people really believe that these petty, ridiculous self righteous bans are going to stop people drinking / smoking etc.? Are they really that naieve?

[jaltsc]

"Despite a law passed to reduce drinking by young people, the number of drinkers has increased since last year’s ban on alcohol sales within a 300-meter radius of schools and universities."

When it comes to drugs (Yes, alcohol is the most commonly used drug throughout the world) and vice, laws are ridiculously ineffective in curbing their use. In some cases, even the death penalty doesn't deter use.

Why would anyone with an ounce of common sense think that someone would not walk 301 meters to buy alcohol? As far as an age limit goes....Profit is the name of the game. Store owners won't stop selling to minors unless there are severe penalties, and if those penalties are enforced (I know, you must think I'm on drugs to suggest that laws and penalties are enforced here), then a new industry opens up....People of legal age buying alcohol for minors, for a service charge. However, the politicians can posture once again and brag how they are stopping the use of alcohol by minors.

Oh, BTW, how's that campaign against school violence going?

Edited May 20, 2016 by jaltsc

[Winniedapu]

What a surprise - the Thai police don't enforce laws. Amazing revelation.