I'll never understand Thailand

I just could not believe my ears this afternoon.
I went to the new Villa supermarket in the new Complex and completed my shopping. On the way out I thought I would get a couple of bottles of wine from the wine merchants opposite. Only to be told that I could not purchase anything until 5 pm.
I know that is the law in this weard country, but I had purchased before during the afternoon hours. The police must have been in and stopped them.
I could not be bothered to go back into Villa but I know they can sell alcohol at any time.
I don't think this wine merchant can survive with this stupid law being enforced now. They might as well close down now.

Villa also obeys the policy that alcohol cannot be sold between 2-5pm, in my experience. Unless you're buying in wholesale quantities (10 liters or more).

I was told that Villa, in all their stores, have some sort of arrangement in place, either over the counter or under it with the authorities, to be allowed to sell alcohol at all times.
I certainly have bought wine there at several different times during the day in the past with no problem. I can also see that it is daft to open a wine shop such as exists outside the Villa front door under the draconian conditions of only being allowed to sell for a few hours each day.
I suspect that we dont have a sudden burst of enthusiasm on the part of the police to enforce these laws as their civic duty. Its more likely the other big players in town, such as Tesco, Big C and Friendship who do go with the law have seen the newcomers break it and got shirty about it.
What is stupid, and so typically Thai about the whole thing, is that any Thai corner shop, Family Mart, 7/11, will sell beer etc at any time to anybody. These are the very places that ordinary Thais go to get their booze and therefore the places that the law was designed for. Places like Villa, aimed at Farangs and wealthy Thais are not going to be the first port of call for the general population that the law is presumably there to protect.
On that note, if one of the reasons is to protect the young from alcohol, wouldnt it be better to have the ban in place when students are out of school rather than in it as is the case now.
Secondly, and on an entirely different subject (and yes, I know it is their business and not ours), but why on earth did they pick December 23rd for the election, hence shutting the bars during the busiest period for celebrating tourists. Again typically Thai.

Convenience stores of all brands in my area of Bangkok lock their booze refrigerators during non-sale hours.

Convenience stores of all brands in my area of Bangkok lock their booze refrigerators during non-sale hours.boygeenyus, ever ready to jump to the defence of any Thai government policy, however ludicrous

Cunt, how was my comment a defence of the government? I was simply sharing my experience, and I'm not bloody boygeenyus. But Elephantspike apparently believes you, because he's now banned me -- for what, I have no idea. Can't he bloody tell by my IP address that I'm not bloody boygeenyus? Never mind.

[TrongpaiExpat]

What exactly was the original boygeenyus BANNED for?

Last thing I (Gomez Fong) said before my account was yanked was a comment about the fact that while it appeared any old catty comment about the royal family was OK, that snarky comments related to the Kraut behind "Clubber" were strictly verboten. I guess I was right! Hard to believe the moderators are so thin-skinned and protective of their (I guess) friends. They must be very small people.

Last thing I (Gomez Fong) said before my account was yanked was a comment about the fact that while it appeared any old catty comment about the royal family was OK, that snarky comments related to the Kraut behind "Clubber" were strictly verboten.

Kraut? Hopefully it won't be too long before this account is yanked too.



G.

I had the same problem in Tesco-Lotus in Udon Thani last year. As i had a huge trolley full i made a fuss about lack of signage etc - eventually a manager appeared and told the cashier to let me have the booze. The guy behind me got his too.

Kraut? A fairly innocuous term, don't you think? I mean, at least relative to the horror inflicted on the world by Germany in the last century.

[krobbie]

Kraut? A fairly innocuous term, don't you think? I mean, at least relative to the horror inflicted on the world by Germany in the last century.

Move on love.

Kraut? A fairly innocuous term, don't you think? I mean, at least relative to the horror inflicted on the world by Germany in the last century.

Move on love.

Some people Krobbie are just not capable of moving on. I guess we can always live in hope that they will take the alternative, and move out instead. I guess we shouldn't hold our breath waiting though hey? http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u152/GeorgeThai/Wink.gif


G.

Kraut? A fairly innocuous term, don't you think? I mean, at least relative to the horror inflicted on the world by Germany in the last century.

Well, if you're not Boygeenyus you ought to be.

Separated at birth?

Oh well, what the hell Ignore/on

It's a bit like, is the glass half full or half empty.

How brilliant that Villa Supermarkets sell alcohol during the afternoon - maybe 24 hours for all I know? How do they do it? Is it legal or not - does anyone care? Their wines are not bargain basement but they do have some at 199 baht a bottle - French muck - and a wide range.

Across the way ( ear plugs at the ready for passing California Fitness' blasting pop music into public
spaces ) to Wine Connection who rightly obey the laws of the land however ludicrous ( one cannot buy a bottle of Chateau Margeaux 1987 for 120,000 baht for fear a schoolchild may wish to snap it up ).

I rather like Wine Connection ( reputedly wholesale prices but they don't sell anything available anywhere else so how does one know ) I never had a duff bottle from there and their shops are nicely appointed and have occasional tastings. They now have wines in the 200 to 500 baht range. They now deliver. They have quite a number of shops and still offer their wines at shop prices at Sofitel Silom's V9 restaurant. They do seem to be surviving remarkably well despite the restrictive laws.

Now was MRSBUCKET stocking up on 199 baht a bottle wine for Topman's Wine of the Month promotion - 150 baht a glass? I jest. Would he remember? I recall, clearly, shopping at Carrefour and he was checking out nearby. This was November 2005 when the law was new. We eventually combined our liquor purchases to achieve the permitted wholesale amount of 10 liters? Hardly 'breaking news' - or am I just being kind?

Some people Krobbie are just not capable of moving on. I guess we can always live in hope that they will take the alternative, and move out instead. I guess we shouldn't hold our breath waiting though hey? They should take the path Our Resident Bodhisattva has blazed and make up their own religion

[catawampuscat]

boygeenyus had his run and I don't recall him violating the board policies about naming farangs and attacking
their businesses and reputations. I usually found boygeenyus interesting, althou a tad too prolific.
At the end, boygeenyus behaved very poorly and it was time to cut the cord.

gomez fong seemed similar at times but directing attacks against named individuals is a no no and I doubt it was bg
but in the end, it doesn't matter.

If gomez doesn't like the way things are run here, let him post over on hedda's blog web site www.baht-stop.com (http://www.baht-stop.com) or
start his own forum. He could also try gaybutton's forum www.gaythailand.com (http://www.gaythailand.com) :cat:

P.S. please stay away from www.gaytingtong (http://www.gaytingtong) as I like that forum...

Some people Krobbie are just not capable of moving on. I guess we can always live in hope that they will take the alternative, and move out instead. I guess we shouldn't hold our breath waiting though hey? They should take the path Our Resident Bodhisattva has blazed and make up their own religion

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u152/GeorgeThai/sleeping.gif