Thailand weighs relaxing alcohol sales curbs in the 2–5pm period
Trial data so far show no significant negative impact, and the panel will review full findings before deciding whether the measure should become permanent.
- Thailand is currently in a trial period allowing alcohol sales between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. to assess the impact of lifting the long-standing curb.
- Preliminary data from the trial, including the recent New Year period, has shown no significant negative effects, with statistics for drunk-driving and accidents not increasing.
- The Alcoholic Beverage Control Committee will make a final decision on whether to permanently revoke the 2–5 p.m. ban, revert to the old rule, or extend the trial after the 180-day evaluation period is complete.
Public Health Minister Pattana Promphat said after chairing a meeting of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Committee that the meeting had considered an agenda on relaxing controls on alcohol sales hours in the Eastern Aviation City Promotion Zone on Tuesday (February 3) at the Ministry of Public Health.
This followed a proposal from the EEC Office (Eastern Economic Corridor Office of Thailand) to consider allowing the sale of alcoholic beverages 24 hours a day in the Airport City zone and areas around the airport, as the area is being promoted as one with investment and activities running around the clock, similar to an international airport model.
In principle, the committee agreed with the government’s policy to promote large-scale investment, but assigned the secretariat to hold further discussions with the EEC to obtain in-depth details and reassess the impacts more clearly.
This is because the area includes multiple types of venues, including airports, hotels and entertainment venues that are already exempt and allowed to sell.
For areas that are not yet exempt, such as MICE, race tracks, entertainment and various events, strict accompanying measures would be required as part of any approval.
Pattana added that the meeting was briefed on preliminary findings from data collection following a trial allowing alcohol sales from 2pm–5pm, from December 3, 2025, to the present, as well as during the New Year period.
The impacts observed from the trial sales period were not found to be significantly negative.
The meeting considered road-accident statistics and figures from intoxication-level checks, and found that during the most recent New Year period, drunk-driving and accident statistics did not increase, but instead showed a slight downward trend on the data graph over several tens of days of data collected.
“At present, the data do not show a clear picture of a problem, but it is not yet concluded that there is no problem, because we are looking at preliminary data first. However, if after 180 days there is no change from this data, it should be credible that allowing sales from 2pm–5pm is unlikely to have an impact in terms of accidents and other issues. As for social impacts, there will need to be further discussions,” Pattana said.
Pattana added that once the 180-day trial period for afternoon sales ends, the committee will bring all collected data back to the meeting.
If the statistics and dataset remain unchanged from the current findings, indicating no negative impacts, the committee will consider whether the measure should be revoked to revert to the previous sales hours, be made permanent, or be extended for a further trial period.
Everything will depend on the committee’s view, based on the overall picture across both accident-related and social dimensions.
Asked about an announcement on preliminary guidelines for assessing alcohol intoxication symptoms for retailers to use when assessing purchasers, because if alcohol is sold to an intoxicated person and an incident occurs, the retailer is at fault and must be held accountable, Suthat Chottanapund said public feedback had already been gathered, and it is expected to be issued as a departmental announcement under the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act (No. 2) 2025, within March 2026, ahead of the Songkran festival.
In the meantime, alcohol retailers can use the earlier preliminary intoxication-assessment guidelines previously issued by the department to screen for intoxication.
“Section 29 of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act states that it is prohibited to sell alcoholic beverages to an intoxicated person. Therefore, once this announcement is issued, if there is a case where the purchaser later causes an incident, and there is a lawsuit and wrongdoing can be proven, the seller will also face penalties. But if it can be proven that they are not involved, the retailer will not be at fault,” Dr Suthat said.
He added that there are three simple preliminary checks retailers can easily carry out under the Department of Disease Control guidelines, such as a finger-to-nose test, a heel-to-toe walk, and standing on one leg, physical measures that can be done immediately without using complex alcohol-testing equipment.
