It has been a whirlwind week for booze lovers in Thailand. On Saturday last week, it looked like you could be fined B10,000 for not finishing your drink after lunch. Today, the long-awaited end of the 2-5pm ban is at hand.
The government’s new alcohol laws—which were meant ostensibly to free up the sector—ended up criminalizing not just sellers but drinkers between the banned hours of 2-5pm and beyond midnight starting Nov 8.
Yesterday, the Deputy PM signaled that these changes will be walked back. And now the National Alcohol Policy Committee has agreed to end the mid-day booze ban times.
Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Sophon Sarum spoke after chairing the second meeting of the National Alcohol Beverage Policy Committee, as reported by Khaosod, stating "I told them that era is over. Civil servants no longer drink alcohol in the afternoon. Therefore, it should be revoked," he said.
The archaic 1972 drinking hours law was meant to discourage office workers from having long, drunken lunches (which sound brilliant, by the way), but rather than abolition, the revised Alcohol Control Act earlier this week kept the strange prohibition hours and allowed drinkers to be fined as well as sellers.
This sparked backlash across sectors from tourism to breweries. But, despite all the column inches the world over, the government is walking this back a week after the original changes.
This isn’t the first time the death of the 2-5pm rule has been promised, but it’s looking official. The Prime Minister can make the change without cabinet approval with a 15-day public hearing, after which it will take effect.
The question remains as to how long the taps will stay on, with some sectors suggesting it should be as late as 4am, but authorities have signaled that 1am, following data on drunk driving, could be the new cut off. Medical and public health authorities have opposed extending the drinking hours beyond midnight.
