Thailand extends alcohol sales hours under new Royal Gazette notice
Thailand has revised alcohol sales hours, allowing sales from 11am to midnight, with exemptions for airports, hotels and venues.
The Royal Gazette website on Thursday published an announcement by the Alcoholic Beverage Control Committee on the revised prohibited hours for alcohol sales in 2026, updating the rules to reflect current conditions.
Under the announcement, no person may sell alcoholic beverages outside the hours of 11am to midnight, except in the following cases:
- Sales inside buildings serving passengers at airports that operate international flights.
- Sales in entertainment venues in accordance with the opening and closing hours prescribed under the law governing entertainment venues.
- Sales in hotels under the law governing hotels.
- Sales in specific areas designated for alcoholic beverage sales at venues used for events, meetings, exhibitions, trade fairs, performances or other similar activities, or sales at food or beverage outlets located in areas permitted for entertainment venues under the Royal Decree designating areas for entertainment venue licensing in Rayong province (No. 2) B.E. 2568, and within the Eastern Aviation City promotion zone.
Alcohol sellers operating during the exempted hours must put in place screening and necessary measures to maintain public order, ensure public safety and restrict access to alcoholic beverages by children and young people.
The announcement takes effect from the day after its publication in the Royal Gazette.
The change follows a wider effort to modernise Thailand’s alcohol-control rules after authorities earlier allowed a 180-day trial lifting the long-standing afternoon sales ban, which had dated back to 1972. The move was framed partly as support for tourism and retail activity, but it has continued to draw public-health concerns, especially over drink-driving and youth access. At the same time, recent Royal Gazette notices have tightened restrictions in specific public areas, including transport facilities and government-supervised spaces, showing that the government is pairing broader sales-hour flexibility with more targeted controls in sensitive locations.
