The beverage departments at supermarkets and convenience stores were busy today. Thai and foreigners bought alcohol like a man possessed, after having been dry for almost a month.
Shops across the country saw people stocking up on beer, wine and whiskey as the clock struck exactly 11am and people were allowed to legally buy booze again. At the Makro, large boxes of beer were readily sold, apparently everyone was thirsty.
A number of stores were already afraid of running out of stock. “We urgently need to buy more beer and whiskey as stocks are running out,” said Pratheep Wicchaphin, owner of Hok Kee, a wholesaler in Phimai district of Nakhon Ratchasima.
The sale of alcoholic beverages is now allowed, but buyers are only allowed to drink their refreshments at home.
Not all provinces have lifted the ban on alcohol sales, the decision is left to the provincial governors. Buri Ram, Chanthaburi, Lop Buri, Pathum Thani, Nakhon Phanom, Phetchaburi, Phitsanulok and Rayong are among the provinces where the ban remains in place. The duration of the ban depends on the governor's decision.
Source: Bangkok Post
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Known as Khun Peter (62), lives alternately in Apeldoorn and Pattaya. In a relationship with Kanchana for 14 years. Not yet retired, have my own company, something with insurance. Crazy about animals, especially dogs and music.
Enough hobbies, but unfortunately little time: writing for Thailandblog, fitness, health and nutrition, shooting sports, chatting with friends and some other oddities.
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It just goes to show the role alcohol plays in society. Obviously no one is addicted to it 😉
The fact that you like and drink a lot of alcohol does not mean that you are addicted. Until 8 years ago I drank so much that it gave me liver syrup and if I didn't stop drinking I only had 3 months to live. So I stopped. 2 months in Bangkok Hospital brought no improvement. So I went to my home country to the clinic in Leuven and they helped me through it. When I told the professor that I had stopped drinking without help, he stated; then you weren't addicted otherwise you wouldn't have been able to. Now just soda water. With liters per day, like whiskey, Vodka and beer used to be.
On to the seven deadly days then again????
I had counted on mid-May so I still have stock.
Madness that colonial virus. 555
See
https://pattayaone.news/video-social-distancing-ignored-as-beer-buying-frenzy-begins
Tomorrow, May 4 Coronation Day how striking, and Wednesday, May 6 Visakha Bucha Day which means some days off for the Thai people!
And already selling alcoholic beverages in a number of provinces!
A stupid and short-sighted policy that will now lead to even more accidents!
A stupid and short-sighted policy ??? There is no country that prohibits alcohol, not even this period. Lots of extra accidents…possible, but nobody says you have to drive drunk. There is far too little control and that is the cause, however, an exceptional amount of tax is applied to alcohol so that they can appoint / recruit enough men for it. Were it not for the fact that this money disappears for other purposes (!). I note that alcohol controls such as in B and Nl are done here is not the case at all. The land rulers are therefore not awake at all about it, moreover…. it has long been known that most Thais have no self-discipline nor a sense of responsibility, let alone a knowledge of highway code, if you take all this together your life on the road is not worth a damn.
There are not many more checks in Belgium and the Netherlands than here in Thailand. So it's not about increasing controls but about something else.
Hello Hugo,
I also had a supply until May 31. Good thing too, because I live in Phetchaburi province, where the sale is not yet allowed.
Yet another proof that in this country a law is… not a law? However you try to understand it. It is clear that the top delegate their responsibilities to the provinces where the governor is responsible…. Hello ? Which brewery pays the most? That is not much better as people do in Belgium, still has no government and the problems just move on to the next….. everywhere the same song… incompetent people who have to run a country, first look at their own pockets.
Is it also reflected in the accident figures that no alcohol was consumed?
Yes….Normally there are 380 deaths during the Songkran week, now 'only' 110. Still a lot when you consider that hardly anyone is on the road.
"after being dry for almost a month".
Do you believe it? No one was dry last month. It was only not allowed to sell, but the real enthusiasts had stocked up for weeks, afraid to run dry.
Dear Chris, of course we stocked up a bit. You don't have to be an alcoholic to drink a fresh pint of beer in the afternoon in this warm weather. Moreover, there was always something illegal to buy here and there, the Thais do not plan like the Europeans, why they always have side roads.
I don't want to advertise here, but there was Heineken 0.0 and I was surprised that you can hardly taste the difference even though I wasn't in favor of it. Greetings.
Weird…who buys so much alcohol…after seeing all those long queues for free meals…or is there money for alcohol and NO money for food.
@Jeffrey
The image that everyone would be hungry for yawning is completely wrong, but there is a group of figures who love to keep proclaiming it so that you will also believe it.
Of course there are groups that have it much less now, but people are quite flexible. Food is on offer, family, friends and acquaintances help those who need it and even then there are people who fall by the wayside. And even then no one will have to starve unless you can't go to a temple.
Don't let sand get in your eyes.
Figures who enjoy proclaiming that? I have never encountered such sadists. I do not have the impression from the Thai media and circle of friends that 'everyone is hungry for yawning'. However, there are indeed problems that need to be mentioned. The people at the very bottom of the social ladder are just having a hard time, possibly losing their job, fewer hours, more difficult to get enough rice on the table. Some of them are talking about the water and the fateful incidents related to this have also rightly made the news. And despite the fact that this is the most unequal country in the world*, it is also an upper middle-income country, so there are also plenty of people who can afford a shopping cart full of booze. So I am certainly not surprised by these images, but I am also not surprised by the images of long lines waiting where help is offered to the people.
* depends a bit on the source and the year, often change penny in the top 3 most unequal countries.
PS: an open door, but some of the large buyers will do this to resell in shops or secretly pour into catering establishments (the well-known phenomenon of a beer in an opaque glass). So are not all citizens who are better off and have a possible drinking problem.
But whether it is to resell or secretly donate, after all, that will also be paid by someone And the latter will probably have to pay even more for it
Now we are here….
People think of themselves and, where possible, of others. That's how the country is and that's how the country will stay.
Maybe not fair but life never is. Accepting this is better spent on a Thai than on the Dutchman who thinks that inequality can be repaired.
For the people of Bangkok.
May 5 is mentioned that alcohol may no longer be sold until the end of May.
Source: via via to a brewery.