Alcohol sales set to be banned at roadside stalls
Starting from the New Year holiday period, roadside food stalls will be banned from selling alcoholic drinks, while all sales of alcoholic beverages will be limited to 11am-2pm and 5pm-midnight, Public Health Minister Pradit Sinthawanarong said yesterday.
Violators will face up to six months in jail and/or up to Bt10,000 in fines.
Pradit said a meeting of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Committee yesterday approved three PM’s Office regulations.
The ban on roadside alcohol sales, except on personal property, was imposed on grounds that consumption of alcohol causes traffic accidents, he said.
The time limit on alcohol sales covers all sellers, except at international airports’ duty-free zones and service establishments.
The third measure bans alcohol sales and consumption in state-run parks, he added.
‘A GIFT TO THAIS’
The three regulations would be submitted for approval to the National Alcohol Beverage Policy Committee, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi, before the |premier signs their implementation. He said he expected the regulations to take effect during the New Year period as a gift to Thais.
Dr Saman Futrakul, director of the Disease Control Department’s Office of Alcoholic Beverage and Tobacco Consumption Control Committee, affirmed the first regulation banned alcohol sales on all parts of roads, hence owners of food stalls with seating areas on footpaths would face punishment if they sold alcoholic drinks.
He explained that the second regulation eradicated a loophole in the previous regulation, which punished sellers with retail licences with two years in jail and/or a Bt4,000 in fine, while unlicensed establishments that sold alcohol outside the allowed time got away with paying a Bt500 fine. The second regulation will see a reduced jail term but a heavier fine, he said.
The third regulation only covered park areas. Hence Bangkok’s Suan Rod Fai, which also had a market section, wouldn’t be covered by this new rule, he said.