Plan afoot to ban sale of booze near schools
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PROPOSAL COMES AS POLL REVEALS ALARMING RISE IN DRINK-RELATED MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES
THE sale of alcohol could be banned within a 300-metre radius of vocational and higher-educational institutions after the idea was proposed by a committee chaired by Public Health Minister Rajata Rajatanavin.
The proposed ban will not apply to hotels and approved entertainment zones like Patpong and Royal City Avenue.
“We will propose the ban to the National Alcohol Beverage Policy Committee on July 3,” Rajata said yesterday in his capacity as chair of the Alcohol Control Committee.
He said if the policy committee, chaired by a deputy prime minister, approved the proposal, then it would be put before Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha for final approval.
“Once endorsed by the premier, the ban will be announced in the Royal Gazette and go into effect 30 days later,” he said.
Rajata said that once the ban is in effect, violators will be punished with a jail term of up to six months and/or a maximum fine of Bt10,000.
He explained that the proposal comes in response to eateries selling alcoholic beverages continuing to pop up near educational institutions over the past few years.
“In some zones, the number of these eateries has doubled,” Rajata said. “Drunk students often get into brawls and we need to tackle these problems.”
He spoke to reporters after emerging from a meeting with the Alcohol Control Committee.
Mental problems
This ban was proposed just days after the Mental Health Department disclosed that the latest survey of Thais mental health suggested that up to 9.3 million people had been mentally affected by drinking.
This survey is conducted every five years, and the latest one covered 6,360 respondents, all above the age of 18.
“We found that 18 per cent of the respondents developed mental problems due to liquor,” Dr Pornpimol Wipulakorn, the department’s deputy director general, said.
Conducted in 2013, the survey also found that mental illness was related to drug abuse among 4.1 per cent of respondents (or about 2.1 million people) and to depression among 1.8 per cent of the respondents (900,000).
The findings were mentioned at a recent Bangkok seminar.
Pornpimol said the survey also found that about 14.9 per cent of respondents were addicted to smoking and 0.9 per cent were addicted to gambling.
Speaking at that seminar, Rajata said 1.5 million Thais have sought treatment from government psychiatrists over the past three years.
He added that the figure was far too low, as many patients chose not to seek treatment out of embarrassment owing to a general negative attitude toward mental illness in this country.
He said people don’t realise that mental anomalies in most cases can be managed if detected early.
Under a policy in line with the 2008 Mental Health Act, up to 60,000 teams of therapists, psychiatrists and volunteers have been appointed at all levels, including down to the tambon level, so they can be part of communities and patients can easily access them, Rajata said.
“We want to assure people with mental health problems that they have someone to turn to. With proper treatment and medication, there will be a higher chance of cure,” he said.
The minister added that more psychiatric wards had opened and up to 67 per cent of the patients had been admitted, compared to 58 per cent previously.
In addition, sustainable treatment is provided at mental health clinics in community hospitals and they have been able to admit more patients suffering from general mental illnesses and chronic depression, at 42 and 38 per cent respectively, he added. He did not provide the comparative figures.
