I no longer live in Thailand but am still, after 15 years of living there, very in-tune with what is going on over there and most of the friends that I have in this world still live in that country. Therefore, I keep pretty close tabs on what is happening in the Land of Smiles.
Recently, the government of Thailand went into a full lockdown of sorts to combat Covid-19, just like most of the rest of the world. This meant cutting off almost all international flights, restricting travel between provinces, having a curfew, and closing non-essential businesses. Seems pretty normal so far right?
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The Prime Minister of Thailand: Prayut Chan-o-cha
Then, the Prime Minister made a unilateral decision to ban all alcohol sales. This was first enacted just before the Songkran Festival, which is 5 days of drunken mayhem that normally sees people packed together in small spaces... you know? Precisely what we are supposed to avoid doing during social distancing. This was an obvious decision that needed to be made because I can tell you from many years of experience, if there was ever a place where you are definitely going to spread a virus like wildfire, it would be the Songkran Festival in Thailand.
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It is a great party, but obviously had to be called off
After the Songkran extended weekend, something very strange happened: The government decided to keep the alcohol ban in place indefinitely. This obviously pissed a lot of people off who now found themselves trapped in their homes, without some "party favors" to help pass the time. It also spawned an underground "black market" for booze at inflated prices. Just like a lot of things that are illegal in Thailand, the law against them doesn't really stop anything.
The population tolerated this rule for 2 weeks, even though tensions were starting to run high among the out of work, forced to stay at home, bored population. They were still getting booze, but it was being done by some rather underground methods and at inflated prices. Such is the price you pay for "illegal" merch i guess. Very few people caught with this were even prosecuted because the police were likely in on the racket (I have no proof of this actually happening, but lived in Thailand long enough to know that the coppers never let a crisis go to waste!)
The people who had the foresight to guess that the government would likely extend this ban went and purchased booze in bulk which was kind of amusing at the time. I know several of my friends that were part of the panic rush on beer purchasing
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Once Songkran was over, the government decided to extend the ban until the 20th, then again until the 30th. When April was finishes life was supposed to being slowly returning to normal but then the office of the Prime Minister announced their oopsie stating that all emergency measures were staying in place until the end of May including the booze ban.
Obviously this upset a lot of people. There are people out there that don't drink that got all sanctimonious about this and were actually celebrating and virtue-signaling about how the booze band was a good thing. Is alcohol bad for you? Sure it is, but not everyone it trying to live to be 137 years old and would prefer to enjoy life now, is that so wrong.
I have no idea what changed their mind at the top government level, but it wasn't even 24 hours later that the Prime Minister announced that the alcohol ban would be lifted on Monday, the 3rd of May. I suspect there might have been some phone calls from Chang and Singha - two massive beer manufacturers with very wealthy and well-connected owners.
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I wish I could say that this reversal was actually a thought-out decision on the part of the government but I think it is more likely a backroom deal made by corrupt politicians with the owners of the breweries. I suppose it doesn't matter and I am not going to speculate any further. With booze being back for sale perhaps the people can buy alcohol in more reasonable quantities and at least after the first day it won't be a mob scene in the booze section of the grocery store.
I also believe that if the government actually tried to enforce this that they would quickly find themselves very unpopular with the majority of the population. This Prime Minister already isn't very popular, so I suspect this was a very big motivating factor for him. It also looks like he may have done it intentionally in order to appear compassionate to the people. It might also have a teensy bit to do with the billions of dollars per year that alcohol provides the state in the form of taxes.
Whatever the reason is, I am happy it is over... for now. One thing is for sure: Prayut and his rich pals certainly weren't having any trouble finding a drink.
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No doubt! Not sure what it's like there but for other counties in that part of the world, corruption is rife and money talks. It was one of the things that really pissed me off about the Philippines.
before i moved to South East Asia I never really experienced how much corruption infiltrates every layer of society. I suppose it isn't all that surprising as money does drive the world I just think the corruption is usually much higher up in the west.... of course this has very little to do with what you just said but over here just tiny things like having a police officer in your family (even extended family) is a sure fire way to not have to abide by rules that other people are subjected to. It's a bit scary really.
You might be on to something there. It can be good to not know about rather than it blatantly in your face.
Crazy times we're seeing and the political decisions that go along with them. So far Governor Newsome hasn't talked about taking away booze in California. The State actually mandated marijuana dispensaries as an "essential service". But taking away the beaches from surfers, sunbathers, and fishermen may come close to just as bad. At least in this State. 😎👍👍
the dispensaries were a essential service? That's awesome! But at the same time you can't have liquor stores be "essential" and not the marijuana ones.
I think if the store sells food it's in the clear. Every liquor store has at least a small food section. And so do dispensaries, come to think of it. 🤣
edibles are food :)
Nice, good news in Thailand. Here, in the Philippines, we have liquor ban, gambling ban, and street protester arrested. But still some manage to buy some liquor,.. like me ..😽😹
I've heard that things are really hardcore where you are such as people getting shot on the spot in the streets for violating curfew. Crazy.
I'm happy you are able to get your booze!
I wonder how they can ban alcohol . it's so common in Bangkok . I have been in Bangkok 3 times , I still remember Cheng , Singha , leo .
Alcohol is banned in India too .
I always quite enjoyed the freedom with booze in Thailand, maybe some people take it a bit too far. I am reminded about how we would drive down the street in a motorbike sidecar vehicle that i owned and my two passegers were mixing gin n tonics while we drove down the road (it was very slowly as it was only a 125CC bike and 3 big fellas riding. But they handed me that drink while i was driving the bike. A cop saw us, and didn't even pull us over, he just smiled and gave us a thumbs up.
Enjoying this post over a nice cod Leo, after a challenging afternoon cutting down the thorny pomegranate tree that was a casualty of yesterday's freak summer storm. If ever a girl deserved a Leo, it is me, today. 🍺
I find this whole Thai government prudish thing about alcohol - especially for women - really hard to handle. A working ladyboy all glammed up can walk into the local minimart and buy 5 packs of jumbo condoms, a bottle of saengsom and 2 packs of fags, and she gets not a second look and her shopping plonked in a clear plastic bag. I walk in for 1 bottle of Leo on a Friday afternoon and there are hushed tones and my bottle comes wrapped in old newspaper. for modesty. 🤣 wtf??!!
The whole moral police thing about alcohol needs some open, public, adult discussion.
This prime minister is not very popular. I like this word, haha.😄
People are very afraid to make this statement publicly, and the media almost never criticizes the higher political offices because they will simply shut the newspaper or news station down if they do so. Not a great deal of freedom of the press here.
Correct because he has power.
Haha! It's actually quite difficult for the alcoholic's. Like so In India, liquor is banned, so people are just trying to find that one small way to get liquor. Such a hard work for them :')
they never stopped the alcohol from flowing with this ban, it just changed where people were buying it. Almost immediately liquor delivery systems popped up and the price was much higher than normal. My friend only recently ordered two boxes of beer and a bottle of gin... and then 12 hours later the alcohol ban was cancelled... doh!
Our alcohol ban is still in place 5 weeks later. I believe it was the right call though as it does cause issues amongst the poorer people. Domestic violence etc so I can see it going on for as long as the lock down. Alcohol fuels bravery and stupidity in people so maybe another month or two before we see it again.Cigarettes are still banned and that is even when one of the owners handed the government 1 Billion to help them with the lock down.
I guess I hadn't thought about it from a domestic violence perspective. That makes a lot of sense actually.
I disagree entirely. My friend here in CNX was beaten senseless a couple of weeks ago by an aggressive Thai guy - an alcoholic who needed a drink and couldn't find one. One of the big spikes that the Thai gov has seen over recent cases is NOT covid-19, but domestic violence cases.
yikes, that is terribly tragic
I think Prime Minister Prayut meant well. I'd save up drinking money to get a nice piece of land to grow my own food. Besides, drinking in combination with unemployment can lead to domestic violence. Nobilities that own Singha beer and Chang beer made so much money that they can support all their employees' livelihood for a year or two.
It was nice to see that this was gotten rid of. I kind of fall into the crowd that believes this was all planned... extend the ban and then do away with it a few days later so that Prayut can look like a good guy.
True story, I was sitting on the couch with my wife one night watching some show on Netflix. She is the master of multitasking so she was also on her phone flipping through her Facebook. She quickly told me to pause the show and to get my shoes on. I didn't know what was going on, but I was half off the couch by that time. I figured someone had posted that a store actually had toilet paper or something. Nope, it was a message saying that liquor sales were going to be suspended. I had a list started and was walking to get the keys when she said "never mind". It was a joke. I think this actually happened in Pennsylvania though. Talk about adding insult to injury!
lol, i remember something similar getting posted about this happening in Scotland. Pretty funny your situation is though, I know that I would likely react the same way if that sort of fake news were to enter my life. :)
Yeah, I was looking at a list of about $200 to $300 in liquor. It would have been crazy!
yep it's the old reverse psychology trick. I don't really want it but now that you said i can't have it I want it badly!