Alcohol Control Strategy Applied on 15 July in Thailand

[webfact]

Alcohol Control Strategy Applied on 15 July
by CityNews


Featured image: Stockfile

BANGKOK: - CityNews – National No Alcohol Day to begin this year after order from Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha in a bid to give “family, youth and the new generation national prosperity without alcohol.”

After more than 17,000 cases of alcoholism and alcohol related problems have been filed with the Thai Anti-alcohol Department, the government plans to put more regulations and preventative measures in place to help people quit drinking or avoid alcohol.

Alcohol is a major cause for road accidents and violent abuse in Thailand. According to Alcohol Control Ace B.E. 2008, Thailand has to appoint the authorities in all the regions to control the rate of buying and selling alcohol drinking and control the marketing communication used to promote alcohol drinking, such as clear alcohol labels and warnings.

Full story: http://www.chiangmaicitylife.com/news/alcohol-control-strategy-applied-15-july/


-- Chiang City News 2016-07-04

[WhizBang]

Now what? It's not like there are not enough silly rules already.

[NongKhaiKid]

Strategy, now's there's a fancy word being used in LoS but actual application ?

No matter what's announced i'm sure every mom and pop store etc in the country which immediately be on board.

[dcnx]

Lol. Booze is as ingrained in their culture now as Buddhism.

[ripstanley]

Looks like Thursday the 14th will be very busy at the booze shops.

[rkidlad]

Is there a no corruption day? Give people right of way at zebra crossings day? So many days you could make up that would be so much more meaningful.

[Alive]

National No Alcohol Day should be on Prayut's birthday.

[Oxx]

The article doesn't actually say what's going to happen on this special day. Is the sale of alcohol going to be banned? And if so, what's the point when the following Tuesday and Wednesday are no alcohol sales days for religious reasons?

[Alive]

If you asked Thais and expats if they drank on the last no alcohol day most wouldn't be able to say yes or no. The law just isn't taken seriously by most people who drink or by most of the small shops selling around the nation. Only the shops with the cash register recording like Lotus or 7Eleven don't sell.

[chicowoodduck]

Can we make it for the whole year?????

[ezzra]

I'm looking forward for the " no stupid and frivolous edict and proclamations from politicians " day.......

( that should be on any given day really )

[The stuttering parrot]

Banning alcohol over songran was such a huge success so I'm sure this will be equally successful .

[madmitch]

The national day, which will be held on July 15, will be officially held at the Central Plaza West Gate, Nonthaburi Province

Does this mean you have to go here if you don't want to have a drink?

[DrTuner]

Marked in calendar as "stock up".

[waldroj]

"...Thailand has to appoint the authorities in all the regions to control the rate of buying and selling alcohol drinking..."

Any Thai will tell you that the word "THAI" means "FREE", ergo "Thailand" means "Land of the Free" - and most Thais, and foreign visitors too, would drink to that interpretation!

However, the sobering reality (in yet another abstinent example to the contrary), "...this year after order from Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha...", is that they may need to abstemiously reassess their identity.

[Berty100]

Looks like Thursday the 14th will be very busy at the booze shops.

So we will have a no alcohol day on 15 - 18 - 19 and 20 July.

Looks like a promising month for tourists.

[williamgeorgeallen]

probably will be as successful as the no plastic bag day. something to read about i suppose.

[klauskunkel]

Can someone please find Chalerm, dust him off, and make him spokesperson for this auspicious day?

[woozlewuzzle]

I thought the 15th was reserved for NO PLASTIC BAGS day....looks like that initiative lasted as long as we all thought!

[Paul Laycock]

How many different names can you make out of his - I can think of quite a few.

[Jimbo2014]

I'll drink to that ???

[gyrosman]

Hotels will be happy as all their Mini bars will need restocking at double the price of shops. If I were them I would double the inventory in the rooms, stack up with Thai whiskey for girls.

[weegee]

National No Alcohol Day should be on Prayut's birthday.

It's on mine....and i am gonna have a drink!

[hyperdimension]

Now what? It's not like there are not enough silly rules already.

They should get rid of all the silly ethanol rules (e.g. purchase restriction based on time-of-day) and only implement a few rules that make sense.

There's also not much point in marking a few particular days of the year as "no alcohol" days when on all other days any insane person with violent and aggressive tendencies can purchase as much ethanol beverages as he wishes and then act out on those violent tendencies.

I propose a restriction on ethanol consumption based on a person's sanity that applies 100% of the time. Nobody who is mentally unwell (especially those with violent and aggressive tendencies) should be allowed to consume ethanol. Such a strategy could be implemented by forcing those who wish to consume ethanol to undergo psychological test(s) and then a license provided to those who pass it. Who would be against such a strategy? Only the mentally unwell I think. If I was mentally unwell I'd voluntarily avoid ethanol consumption for the sake of the safety of others around me and to prevent arrest and imprisonment in the case that I do something stupid whilst "under the influence". But I'm aware that not everyone has such willpower, so a restriction based on mental wellbeing would not be a bad idea.

[Usual Suspect]

The only people NOT drinking alcohol in this country on July 15th will be the tourists..! Due to yet one more day when all the bars in the tourist areas are forced to close...This nation really cannot get to grips with what the average Western tourist wants when they go on holiday, & want to spend some of their holiday cash. (never mind, mother & kids can go ride an enraged elephant somewhere, while dad endures 2hrs of soapy massage at the hands of an underage enslaved Myanmar girl)

The Thais?..They will drink as they do on every other day..Lemember they not obley lules!

[Familyaffairs]

Screw that, stock up and have a few extra ones, don't need this Nanny state nonsense....

[daveAustin]

No alcohol day on a Friday? Well done in trying to endear yourself to the people. While it doesn't bother me that much, all this control will start to get up the noses of the ordinary Jo. Many Thais work their butt off all week and like to let their hair down on a Friday (as anywhere), while thousands of tourists will just be disappointed and bemused. If alcohol is a problem, educate people. If traffic accidents are a problem as a result, introduce and IMPLEMENT harsh penalties for drink drivers and those without licenses. All banning alcohol on one day will mean is the braking of laws and heavy drinking behind closed doors and the excessive consumption the day before and the day after. Strewth.

[tails]

If they are so worried about the social impacts that alcohol can cause, e.g. drink driving, then how about they do something about them that actually provides results? Sure prevention is better in theory but anyone with even 1 brain cell left can work out that banning alcohol for a day, or banning sales between certain times in the day, will make no impact at all on drink driving or any other alcohol fueled social issue. There needs to be a deterrent, i.e. actual punishment, actual consequences, not just a laughable slap on the wrists and here's your keys back sir, try not to hit anyone on your way home...

[Broken Record]

Now what? It's not like there are not enough silly rules already.

You think asking people not to take mind altering drugs that lead to all type of social problems is silly ?

I think it's very sensible asking people not to poison themselves.

If I made a Pill that had the same effect as Alcohol, each pill would have the same effect as a double Whisky, do you think it would be legal, or do you think it would be a Class A drug ?

And if I got caught manufacturing and selling a drug that caused the same amount of problems that Alcohol does you'd all be in a frenzy asking for the death penalty or life imprisonment, yet Alcohol stuck in pretty bottles and given different names is socially acceptable, I used to run a bar, that put me off drinking for life, how in this day and age Alcohol is legal is almost as baffling as why people are allowed to poison themselves with Cigarettes.

If it wasn't for Tax they would both be illegal, of that I have no doubt.

Edited July 4, 2016 by Broken Record

[Broken Record]

No alcohol day on a Friday? Well done in trying to endear yourself to the people. While it doesn't bother me that much, all this control will start to get up the noses of the ordinary Jo. Many Thais work their butt off all week and like to let their hair down on a Friday (as anywhere), while thousands of tourists will just be disappointed and bemused. If alcohol is a problem, educate people. If traffic accidents are a problem as a result, introduce and IMPLEMENT harsh penalties for drink drivers and those without licenses. All banning alcohol on one day will mean is the braking of laws and heavy drinking behind closed doors and the excessive consumption the day before and the day after. Strewth.

The problem is, Alcohol is a mind altering drug, and many people lose control of their senses while under the influence, one of those controls is the ability to moderate their consumption, and we all know the havoc drunk people can cause, the fact that there are legal drugs responsible for this behavior is what I find odd, in my world it would be banned and classified as a Class A dangerous drug.