Alcohol displays in shops to be banned + must be 25 to buy!!

[wowpow]

Alcohol displays to be forced off shelves
Will be part of govt's total ban on adverts
Bangkok Post
APIRADEE TREERUTKUARKUL & BHANRAVEE TANSUBHAPOL

Alcohol displays will be forced off the shelves as a part of a total ban on alcohol advertisements in all forms of media and a national anti-drinking campaign, which will come into effect at the end of the month. The announcement on anti-alcohol advertisements will also include a ban on alcohol displays at places such as convenience stores, shopping malls, restaurants and outdoor beer gardens. Posters, signs and promotional materials carrying logos and names of liquor brands will be pulled from these places.

''The measures to control drinking will be enforced similarly to those on cigarette and tobacco products in order to reduce the number of deaths and health payments due to drinking alcohol, and road accidents,'' Public Health Minister Mongkol Na Songkhla said yesterday.

The ministerial announcement will be released next week as part of the total ban on alcohol advertisements in all forms of media around the clock.

It will be put into effect by the end of the month after it is published in the Royal Gazette, said deputy director-general of the Disease Control Department Narong Sahamethapat. Those violating the announcement could face a 30,000 baht fine and a three-month jail term.

Dr Mongkol said young women working at outdoor beer gardens would not be allowed to wear uniforms bearing logos and names of alcohol products.

Legal and health experts are also studying whether the announcement could cover a ban on other materials such as chairs, tables and umbrellas usually displayed in these areas.

Dr Mongkol said displays of alcohol products would still be allowed at nightclubs and pubs registered with the Interior Ministry as specific spots where alcoholic beverages were legally sold.

The minister believes the new measure will help reduce the number of deaths and accidents due to drinking and driving during the forthcoming long weekends such as the New Year and Songkran festivals.

The number of road injuries and the death toll due to drink driving during the Songkran Festival last April alone reached 6,194 and 506 respectively, according to the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department.

Dr Mongkol said he planned to set up a new bureau to work on the drinking and smoking control project together with the Thai Health Promotion Foundation.

At present the project is under the supervision of the Department of Disease Control and health officials neither have the authority nor the funds to run the anti-smoking and anti-drinking campaigns effectively.

Acting Justice Permanent Secretary Jaran Pukditanakul welcomed the idea of the Public Health Ministry's alcohol advertisement ban but said it might not be enough to discourage drinking.

Taxes levied on all kinds of alcohol products and cigarettes, including those imported from other countries, should be increased, he said.

He said the ban on alcohol advertisements would be a good opportunity to persuade people to change their lifestyles as domestic violence and drink-driving cases mostly stemmed from over-consumption of alcohol.

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Things like this make satire redundant!

[wowpow]

Minimum age raised to 25 for buyers of booze
Bangkok Post
APIRADEE TREERUTKUARKUL

Health authorities have stepped up measures to curb alcohol consumption among youth by moving up the minimum legal age of buyers from 18 to 25 years. Narong Sahamethapat, deputy chief of the Disease Control Department, said yesterday that the idea was proposed by a network of parents early this year during a public hearing of a draft bill to control alcoholic drinks.

The measure to raise the legal minimum age of buyers is part of a national campaign to save Thai youth from alcohol abuse, he said, adding that it has already been incorporated into Article 28 of the draft.

Under the bill, the following areas will be designated as alcohol-free zones _ temples, state offices, schools, universities and other places of education.

Also, the authorities plan to declare an alcohol-free day when alcohol sales and promotional activities are prohibited.

Public Health Minister Mongkol na Songkhla said earlier that a ban on alcohol advertising in all forms of media will be announced on Monday, while the draft alcohol product control bill will be proposed to the cabinet and the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) for approval as soon as possible.

If approved, it will be the country's first law that gives health officials comprehensive power to tackle all alcohol-related issues, similar to the Tobacco Control Law.

A study conducted this year by the National Economic and Social Development Board found the number of young drinkers, aged 15-24, has increased from 21.6% to 23.5%. It also found that Thais started drinking at a younger age, with almost 50% of new drinkers aged between 15-19 years old.

Bundit Sornpaisarn, director of an academic centre dealing with alcohol problems, said the measure to raise the minimum legal age of buyers to 25 would effectively reduce youngsters' access to alcohol. Previous studies on alcohol controls showed that the earlier teenagers were exposed to alcohol promotions, the sooner they started drinking, he said.

Wallop Tangkananurak, a member of the NLA, urged the government to hike the excise tax on alcoholic products.

Phra Ratchdhamanithet, better known as Phra Payom Kalayano, voiced strong support for the anti-drinking movement.
He said the drinking of alcohol, which is prohibited in the five Buddhist precepts, is much more harmful and sinful than lottery betting.

Thailand ranks No. 5 in the world for consumption of alcohol. On average, a Thai consumes 14 litres of alcoholic drinks per year, according to the Thailand Development Research Institute.

[Aunty]

Minimum age raised to 25 for buyers of booze

Damn, well that counts me out. I guess I'll just have to settle on sparkling grape juice!

One assumes all the working boys in the bars will still be able to drink, but not buy? Sounds complicated.

[Sen Yai]

Presumably this new rule will only apply to Thais. Otherwise, there will be a lot of pissed-off young tourists being told that they are under-age again!

[Aunty]

Presumably this new rule will only apply to Thais. Otherwise, there will be a lot of pissed-off young tourists being told that they are under-age again!

Good point! I don't see how it couldn't apply to tourists under 25. It would be grossly unfair if it didn't, unfair to the point of being an insult!

If this does apply to tourists as well, this and the cleaning up of the 'serial tourist living in Thailand' rules, really is going to have a dramatic impact on Thailand's brand as a tourism destination as we currently know it.

I saw a program on the BBC some months back and the then Thai Minister for Tourism was quite adamant that they were going to re-brand Thailand as a family destination, and as a destination that carters to the high end (affluent - read Asian) tourism market. Lot's of spas, golf clubs, resorts, luxury. That kind of thing. They were determined to dump the Farang backpacker market image, that Thailand has as a cheap destination for young white people with little to no money, who want to sit on the beach (or the jungle) all day, live in a shack, get drunk, have sex, and smoke lots of whacky baccy.

Well, we'll just have to see won't we.

"I saw a program on the BBC some months back and the then Thai Minister for Tourism was quite adamant that they were going to re-brand Thailand as a family destination"..

that's why we had the coup..all those silly ideas have been banished, Everything is back to normal. Carry on as before. The streets will still be full of drunken Germans in gold chains, the beaches will still have young backpackers on dope and I am still beautiful.:cheers:

"[i]and I am still beautiful.:cheers:

:drunken: Well that comment alone justifies a total ban on all alcohol sales

[fedssocr]

hey, look, prohibition! We tried that 100 years ago and it didn't work then either.

The scope of this is awfully huge. I expect it could have fairly adverse effects on the economy.

Good luck!

hI expect it could have fairly adverse effects on the economy.

Yes...hopefully fewer alcohol-related deaths will mean less of a burden on it.