News Forum - Move Forward Party opposes alcohol ban on Buddhist holidays

[Thaiger]

Prominent members of the Move Forward Party (MFP), which recently claimed victory in elections, have voiced their disagreement with the Thai government’s ban on alcohol sales during significant Buddhist holidays, arguing that it restricts freedom. Amarat Chokpamitkul, an MFP executive, expressed her disagreement with the prohibition on alcohol sales on Vesak Day, a holiday that … …

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[HolyCowCm]

I am just loving the MFP movement and actions. Add this to the gay pride parade and one would gather the regime dinosaurs are blowing their tops off. Way too funny. Go MFP!

[TheDirtyDurian]

Got my vote. 

2-5pm next. 

Not that it matters of course coz plenty of places sell. 

[Marc26]

23 minutes ago, TheDirtyDurian said:

Got my vote. 

2-5pm next. 

Not that it matters of course coz plenty of places sell. 

There has been a few times we've went to buy in Lotus or another big place and forgot the 2-5pm

 

But I never worry about alcohol free days or 2-5 days

 

20 years coming to Thailand I've been stopped from drinking when I want to

[Karolyn]

Is there a point to this except Westernisation for its own sake? 

[Skip]

"Buddhism encourages abstinence from alcohol to avoid recklessness and misconduct."

You would think that Buddhism would encourage proper behavior in and of itself and would not need to control alcohol or any other material thing in order to keep it's worshippers in line.

[Marc26]

3 hours ago, Karolyn said:

Is there a point to this except Westernisation for its own sake? 

Westernisation?

How is it westernisation?

 

Only places I have ever encountered alcohols bans on around voting have been in developing countries(Mexico does this as well)

[Pinetree]

If that is one of their major moans and policies, then frankly they don't deserve to be in government.  Thailand has many more major issues to address than a largely ineffective set of 24 hour alcohol bans.   They need to stop squabbling and get real if they want to be taken seriously, or they just play into the hands of the Military backed parties, who will be able to say to the people, 'look at this nest of idiots you have voted for'.  

[Pinetree]

4 hours ago, Skip said:

"Buddhism encourages abstinence from alcohol to avoid recklessness and misconduct."

You would think that Buddhism would encourage proper behavior in and of itself and would not need to control alcohol or any other material thing in order to keep it's worshippers in line.

You would think that all religions would abhor violence and discrimination, but they don't,  they cause them. 

[snail]

Different views about Move Forward. Some say they favor a more western way. Others think they will grow closer to China.

Think people were so desperate to get rid of military, that they vote without looking at policy.

[TheDirtyDurian]

1 hour ago, Pinetree said:

You would think that all religions would abhor violence and discrimination, but they don't,  they cause them. 

Nope. People's misinterpretation of religion is the problem. 

Do we blame the gun when someone gets shot? 

[TheDirtyDurian]

7 hours ago, Marc26 said:

There has been a few times we've went to buy in Lotus or another big place and forgot the 2-5pm

But I never worry about alcohol free days or 2-5 days

20 years coming to Thailand I've been stopped from drinking when I want to

I would very rarely drink in the daytime anyway so it's not an issue for me. 

And I try to support the local mom and pop which sells 24/7 regardless. 

The only thing is to plan wine purchases which have to be done at the supermarket. 

 

[Pinetree]

10 minutes ago, TheDirtyDurian said:

Nope. People's misinterpretation of religion is the problem. 

Do we blame the gun when someone gets shot? 

Yes we do, without the gun, you can't get shot.

it's not the interpretation.  It's all mystic, fairy tail, childish BS , so there is nothing to interpret  It's the people in it, who control the totally unbelievable narrative and the deluded people who follow it. 

[Marc26]

25 minutes ago, TheDirtyDurian said:

I would very rarely drink in the daytime anyway so it's not an issue for me. 

And I try to support the local mom and pop which sells 24/7 regardless. 

The only thing is to plan wine purchases which have to be done at the supermarket. 

Yes we've only gotten stuck when on way to village and wanted to stock up a bit 

 

Just ended up making more trips to the local during the stay

 

As far as banning alcohol on voting and holidays 

 

I would dare to say tourists actually like the "drinks in a mug" and music off

 

Gives it a bit of "going against the rules " charm to it

[GKThai]

I note that as usual, the comments focus on the individuals and the way this might affect them. One big point to remember is that we have an economy that is reliant on tourism for a large percentage of its income.

Tourists usually have no clue that one or more days of their holiday will be impacted by alcohol bans, and while that might not seem terribly important to those of us who live here (more of an inconvenience), it does affect the tourists who suddenly find that they can't have a beer or a glass of wine with a meal or sip a nice cocktail whilst sitting by the pool... and as we derive income from these visitors, it is sensible to make any alcohol restriction into a personal decision.

If a person is a devout follower of a religion that bans or controls their consumption of alcohol, then surely they would WANT to follow that guideline. Why should anyone else be forced to follow it?

For those who say "Oh Thailand is mostly Buddhist, so we should all follow their requirements." - sure - but we also have a very large population of Muslims too - so why not ban alcohol altogether to follow those teachings? What if you go to Malaysia or Indonesia - do you immediately follow Islam and stop drinking or eating pork? No? Then is it not slightly hypocritical to say that we should do it here, but not there?

 

[GKThai]

9 minutes ago, Marc26 said:

Yes we've only gotten stuck when on way to village and wanted to stock up a bit 

Just ended up making more trips to the local during the stay

As far as banning alcohol on voting and holidays 

I would dare to say tourists actually like the "drinks in a mug" and music off

Gives it a bit of "going against the rules " charm to it

... well... unless there is a raid by the police looking to increase the balance of their coffers....

[Viggen840]

2 hours ago, TheDirtyDurian said:

Do we blame the gun when someone gets shot? 

If you look at the Left in the USA, that's a simple answer. Doesn't mean it is the right one, though. Perhaps MFP needs to come out and tell the (Thai) world its plans for the 1400-1700 curfew on alcohol sales.

[TheDirtyDurian]

2 hours ago, Pinetree said:

Yes we do, without the gun, you can't get shot.

it's not the interpretation.  It's all mystic, fairy tail, childish BS , so there is nothing to interpret  It's the people in it, who control the totally unbelievable narrative and the deluded people who follow it. 

Not going to go into the whole religion rabbit hole because it's all opinion and we're never going to agree so there's no point. 

But re the gun, no. 

Guns do not have free will. They're controlled by people. It's a person who pulls the trigger. 

I see guns every day at work and I've yet to be shot by one once. Maybe they like me....

[TSS]

who was the mastermind behind the nonsensical 2-5pm alchohol no-sale? 

[BigHewer]

I don’t see what the big deal is. Japan has a Buddhist tradition as well, but alcohol is for sale 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. Elections, covid, whatever. 

Restrictions on business are a restraint of trade. Let the horses run free.

[whyuthinktoomut]

2 hours ago, BigHewer said:

I don’t see what the big deal is. Japan has a Buddhist tradition as well, but alcohol is for sale 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. Elections, covid, whatever. 

Restrictions on business are a restraint of trade. Let the horses run free.

Agree with your point that businesses should be free to sell and serve alcohol across the board; restrictions reek of the old guard control where freedom wasn't  even lip service.  People should be free to drink if they want to

But after having lived in both countries (Japan and Thailand), the differences in culture with regard to consideration of the effect that their (impulsive and destructive) actions may have on others is quite noticeable. Yes, both groups can get rowdy drunk. But one is much more likely to pull a knife or worse when challenged with a loss of face with no consideration for the ramifications.                                                                                                                  Quite a bit has to do with the enforcement of "rules". Japanese love rules and law enforcement will throw the book hard at you for drink driving- it costs plenty in fines as well as negative employment consequences even in the private sector.                                                                       In the other place, they can rarely be bothered to pull over speeding vehicles and plenty of defectable vehicles of all sorts;  neighbors and property developers seldom give a sheet about noise pollution and often the cops ask "how much will you pay me to come there" when an average citizen calls to report a yaba daba doer in possession of a blade and menacingly poking it in the air after an argument ensues..

Not really better or worse, just better for some and worse for others. 

 

[Marc26]

5 hours ago, BigHewer said:

I don’t see what the big deal is. Japan has a Buddhist tradition as well, but alcohol is for sale 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. Elections, covid, whatever. 

Restrictions on business are a restraint of trade. Let the horses run free.

In NYC you can buy beer and alcohol at any store, small bodegas

 

Except for 8 hours of the week, between Sunday 4am to 12pm

 

 

 

[Pinga]

5 hours ago, whyuthinktoomut said:

Quite a bit has to do with the enforcement of "rules". Japanese love rules and law enforcement will throw the book hard at you for drink driving- it costs plenty in fines as well as negative employment consequences even in the private sector.

So the solution is to collectively punish and restrict everyone - including those who don't break the law? no - the proper solution in a normal country would be to enforce the law, arrest and prosecute drunk drivers, and throw in jail anyone waving a knife. Yes- of course it's easier to pretend to be "solving" the problem by gestures like restricting alcohol hours - but that hasn't stopped anyone from drunk driving or random violence - it just allows them to pretend they're doing something against it while avoiding real solutions (enforcement).

[Pinga]

12 hours ago, GKThai said:

I note that as usual, the comments focus on the individuals and the way this might affect them. One big point to remember is that we have an economy that is reliant on tourism for a large percentage of its income.

Tourists usually have no clue that one or more days of their holiday will be impacted by alcohol bans, and while that might not seem terribly important to those of us who live here (more of an inconvenience), it does affect the tourists who suddenly find that they can't have a beer or a glass of wine with a meal or sip a nice cocktail whilst sitting by the pool...

Exactly. Just in the last month there have been *three* dry Saturdays, and while it's easy for armchair commentators to wave it off, it has real hard consequences for tourists and businesses. My friend is visiting Thailand for a week, and was shocked to find out his weekend was ruined - waste of time and money coming here at this time. Guaranteed he will be back less often. And what about bar and club owners? 3 weekends out of the month ruined - and that's when they make the most of their revenue! It's probably not going to bring them under, but it's also completely illogical to restrict private business like this for non-reasons.

Stop the non-alocohl days.

Stop alcohol curfews.

Completely. Like a normal country.

If it doesn't bother you then shut up - it does not concern you. It does bother and hurts many, many others.

[Marc26]

1 hour ago, Pinga said:

Exactly. Just in the last month there have been *three* dry Saturdays, and while it's easy for armchair commentators to wave it off, it has real hard consequences for tourists and businesses. My friend is visiting Thailand for a week, and was shocked to find out his weekend was ruined - waste of time and money coming here at this time. Guaranteed he will be back less often. And what about bar and club owners? 3 weekends out of the month ruined - and that's when they make the most of their revenue! It's probably not going to bring them under, but it's also completely illogical to restrict private business like this for non-reasons.

Stop the non-alocohl days.

Stop alcohol curfews.

Completely. Like a normal country.

If it doesn't bother you then shut up - it does not concern you. It does bother and hurts many, many others.

That is a very good point and something I never thought about

Because even when serving in a mug, they were be much slower than a normal night

 

 

BUT.......They would know full well the rules when they bought the bar/club

 

 

I am not advocating for alcohol bans.............