Thai Govt urges people to refrain from drinking alcohol during Buddhist Lent

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Govt urges people to refrain from drinking alcohol during Buddhist Lent


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BANGKOK, 18 July 2016 (NNT) – The government is calling on Thai people nationwide to refrain from drinking alcoholic beverages during the Buddhist Lent period.

Government Spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd said the government is encouraging the Thais to refrain from or even quit drinking alcohol during the Buddhist Lent and the National No-Alcohol Day.

He said the government is aiming to solve unlicensed alcohol distilleries, review the taxation and reassess the environmental impact with a focus on community-based distilleries where unlabeled alcoholic beverages might be produced and possibly be harmful to consumers.

The premier has expressed concerns over the health of alcoholic drinkers during holidays while the consumption of low-quality moonshines might possibly cause fatalities.

The Ministry of Interior is yet to keep controls of the production standards at local distilleries and promote consumption safety without limiting the distilling capacity which might otherwise adversely affect the distillers.

The government spokesman added that the pricing mechanism for the locally-distilled alcohols and an increase in their excise tax would prompt the distillers to raise the prices of their products or to produce illegal moonshines which might be contained in plastic bottles. Substandard distilleries are known to have released waste water only to negatively affect the local environment.

He quoted a report as saying 220 local distilleries out of a total of about 2,900 nationwide are on the watch list, most of which located in the northern region. The government has instructed provincial governors to lead a campaign against alcoholic drinks such as that conducted in Payao province where the number of community distilleries has been reduced from 270 in 2004 to 200 in 2015.

-- NNT 2016-07-18

[PatOngo]

Yes sir!,,,,everybody is on board!

[bgrassboy]

Ought to go over like a lead ballon, can't wait for the holier than thou crowd to chime in with nanny state rhetoric support. Yes drinking is a problem for many, but what plans are there for changing a long ingrained culture of drinking?

[Caps]

That aint going to happen

[NongKhaiKid]

Will be heeded and bound to be a raging success, on a par with the road safety campaigns at New Year and Songkran.

[dotpoom]

Might have been helpful to mention when the Buddhist lent starts and finishes.

[prakhonchai nick]

I thought the No Alcohol Day was last Friday. Would appear that the government, like most of the Thai population did not know this!

What a shame - i would have observed it had I known!

[dorayme]

Might should consider dropping the taxes on legal alcohol so people would not be as likely to buy illegal.

I am sure an increase on taxes on legal alcohol will be proposed to stem the use of alcohol.

[DaveinAsia]

Just for Buddhist Lent people! Come on, just for one day please. After that you can drink yourself to death again or take out a mini van on your way there

[irwinfc]

sounds like another "Don't touch the cookie" experiment

[KimSamui]

We will see... The beachfront at Paknampran is already littered this morning with broken glass, Hong Thong, rubbish and people drinking. Not a policeman in sight...as usual.

Note to self "avoid going out on Thai Public Holidays".

[edwinchester]

I'm refraining about 23 hours of the day.

[Morakot]

[upena]

There is no such thing as "Buddhist Lent".

[chrisinth]

Just for Buddhist Lent people! Come on, just for one day please. After that you can drink yourself to death again or take out a mini van on your way there

Buddhist lent lasts for 40 days as well........................

[chrisinth]

"The premier has expressed concerns over the health of alcoholic drinkers during holidays..............."

Sorry, if you are already an alcoholic before going into holidays, requests aren't going to do much.........................

[alant]

When I read this I think all of the anti drink "do as I say" actions and the government is aware that what has happened is is to drive the stills underground with the result of quote "The premier has expressed concerns over the health of alcoholic drinkers during holidays while the consumption of low-quality moonshines might possibly cause fatalities."

I seems that they may be looking at taxing the (? illegal ) production though???

[alant]

What is a "community distillery" and did they receive portions of the community hand outs a while back?

[clockman]

As Thailand, is the biggest consumer in Asean. Forget it.

[phantomfiddler]

I,d rather have a free bottle in front of me than a pre-frontal lobotomy

[Khun Paul]

Sam,e edict, drive with a licence and insurance, drive safely.

Thais do not understand NO, they only understand Sorry, afterwards.

[scotchonrocks]

Add this futile pursuit to the list of other banning attempts incl. killing the sex trade is what you would call in this country "Mission impossible"

[adhd]

they should call it THAI lent, as there is no buddism in thaiand, only a perverted greedy version called thainess

[Thaidream]

Everything is possible if the Government gets serious about educating its populace. This needs to start in the schools explaining the health hazards of over consumption coupled with directed advertising on TV and newspapers and then followed up by a real crackdown on driving while drinking and restricting the hours alcohol can be sold. It will take a generation to filter through the population but it is possible. The sex industry is already under attack by raids and closings. that too will take about 10 years to control but it will be done. Thailand is really changing. Those in charge are determined to change the image of Thailand from a country oriented around sex and alcohol to one in which adheres to a more conservative lifestyle.

[mikosan]

Everything is possible if the Government gets serious about educating its populace. This needs to start in the schools explaining the health hazards of over consumption coupled with directed advertising on TV and newspapers and then followed up by a real crackdown on driving while drinking and restricting the hours alcohol can be sold. It will take a generation to filter through the population but it is possible. The sex industry is already under attack by raids and closings. that too will take about 10 years to control but it will be done. Thailand is really changing. Those in charge are determined to change the image of Thailand from a country oriented around sex and alcohol to one in which adheres to a more conservative lifestyle.

Great thoughts, but utter bullsh*t.

[dcnx]

Good luck with that.

[thai3]

You have to be pissed though to get through mr P's Friday night speech

[MaxLee]

Govt urges people to refrain from drinking alcohol during Buddhist Lent

Yeah, you encouraged over 90 % of the rebellious Nation to do it.........

[bark]

I wonder how much money the governments make off the taxes for alcohol sales. How happy would they be if no drank anymore ?

[Bangkok Barry]

I think the government misunderstands its role. It is to govern for the good, safety and prosperity of the people. It is not to control what they do with their private life, such as drinking, choosing where and with whom they have sex etc.