Sobering news about drinking

Last night I had a splendid evening with my neighbour, a good dinner with a nice glass of wine and beer. Pictures were made and shared on Facebook for my absent friends to enjoy. Can I now expect to be investigated by the police? How about celebs in foreign countries showing their parties on the social networks – are these pictures going to be blocked in Thailand? 

Celebs are no different from non-celebs: they too like to share their joy with friends not present. 

What kind of world we are living in when harmless pictures like these posted online can lead to punishment, while cruel pictures of humans and animals being killed are allowed? The anti-alcohol lobby has won already: the price for a bottle of wine here is probably the highest in the world, and beer is more expensive than in Europe, whose citizens have far more purchasing power. 

Wouldn’t it more useful to fight the tax system on alcoholic drinks, which borders on the insane? Whiskey or brandy with alcohol content three to four times higher than wine can be bought for half the price of wine. Isn’t it one of the tasks of a government to make life as pleasant as possible? Shouldn’t the government allow us the pleasure of buying wine and beer at decent prices? And now we have this effort by the anti-alcohol lobby to suppress pictures on the social media. Curbing more and more freedoms is not the path we should take. 

Egon Wout