A nine point plan to rid Thailand of its drink problem

From The Nation

The Public Health Ministry is going to ask the Cabinet to instruct the Public Relations Department (PRD) to ban alcohol advertising on TV and radio 24 hours a day, according to the Disease Control Department's deputy director-general Dr Narong Sahamethapat.

Narong yesterday disclosed that the ministry would raise the issue at the Cabinet meeting on January 9.

In November, the Public Health Ministry's move to ban all forms of alcohol advertising via a regulation issued by the Food and Drug Administration hit a major snag when the Council of State invalidated the regulation.

However, Public Health Minister Mongkol na Songkhla remained committed to his efforts to reduce alcohol consumption in the country. As part of the campaign, Mongkol yesterday said his ministry was going to propose nine measures to the Cabinet in early January.

The nine national measures:

1.  Hike the tax on rice whiskey and beer, a ban on duty-free liquor and the separation of alcoholic drinks from the Free Trade Agreement list. Mongkol said he believed the tax measures would be more effective than the alcohol advertising ban as world-wide studies had come to the same conclusion: ad bans prevent new drinkers but tax measures affect all groups.
2. Reduce people's access to alcohol by limiting the production of alcoholic drinks and the issuing of distribution licences and placing warning pictures on labels.
3. The bid to control alcohol advertising - and eventually stop it completely.
4. Introduce an alcohol control act.
5. Establish alcoholism clinics inside provincial and district hospitals.
6. Support the use of alcohol tax money in campaigns to reduce alcohol consumption and prevent problems stemming from drunkenness.
7. Push for alcohol controls to be an important policy of provincial and local administrations.
8. Support the anti-alcohol campaigns and alliance networks.
9. Support research and knowledge ma-nagement to support control measures and evaluate implemented ones.

 
Public areas and more declared no smoking

From The Nation

From now on, smokers will find it harder than ever to find a place to light up because every public area will be a smoke-free zone following the latest ministerial order from the Public Health Minister.

According to the order, which takes effect today, offenders will face a Bt2,000 fine, while owners who allow smoking on their premises or fail to place a no-smoking notice will be charged up to Bt20,000.

The ban forbids smoking on public transport, at bus stops, in elevators, public phone booths, libraries, theatres, children's playgrounds, drugstores, meeting rooms, massage parlours and spas.

Smoking in indoor stadiums is also banned - excluding snooker rooms. The ban on smoking also includes schools and educational institutes.

Air-conditioned areas in art exhibition halls, galleries, museums, shopping malls, barbershops, and Internet cafes are also no-smoking zones.

The ban includes the lobbies of hotels, resorts, condominiums, apartments and restaurants, excluding entertainment areas.

Smokers are still allowed to smoke in their personal offices, individual rooms or rooms provided as smoking areas.

 
Thai Internet collapses

From the Bangkok Post

Telecommunications across Asia have been severely disrupted because of damage to undersea cables caused by Tuesday's earthquake near Taiwan.

Banks and businesses in Taiwan, South Korea, China and Japan reported telephone and internet problems.

In Thailand, Internet access slowed to a crawl, with up to 90 per cent of e-mail and web access impossible. There was no word from CAT Telecom, the government monopoly which supplies all Internet service to Thailand.

Taiwan's largest telephone company, Chunghwa Telecom Co, said damage to an undersea cable had disrupted 98% of Taiwan's communications with Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong.

Repairs could take three weeks, Vice-General Manager Lin Jen-hung said, but quality would improve daily.

Tuesday's quake was felt throughout Taiwan. It shook buildings and knocked objects off the shelves in the capital, Taipei, in the northern part of the island. Two members of one family were killed Tuesday in Hengchun when their four-story home collapsed. The quake injured 42 people, three homes collapsed and 12 fires broke out, the National Fire Agency said.

Update: 29th Dec: Getting back up to speed

All services seem to be up and running 24 hours later but still a little slower than usual

Thai/Farang company Full board meeting

Redefining whether a company is Thai or foreign

From the Bangkok Post

Voting rights will be used as a key criterion in defining foreign ownership under a planned revision to the 1999 Foreign Business Act. A Commerce Ministry committee chaired by Pramon Sutivong finalised the new definition yesterday. Pramon said the revised law would say that companies controlled by foreigners in terms of voting rights would be classified as foreign, even if their direct shareholdings were in a minority.

The new criteria could affect a number of companies that would now be in violation of the Foreign Business Act, he acknowledged.

The Commerce Ministry had previously only used direct shareholdings in assessing compliance with the Foreign Business Act, which limits foreign shareholdings to 49% in a number of key service sectors.

An iinvestigation of more than a dozen other large companies found widespread use of nominee companies ostensibly owned by a Thai majority, but which were actually controlled by foreign owners.

The foreign business community is watching this case closely, as thousands of foreign joint ventures could be forced to restructure their shareholdings under a new nominee definition.

Pramon said the drafting committee proposed several options to allow companies time to comply with the rule.

• One option would be to have companies in breach of the new rule immediately register as foreign companies with the Commerce Ministry.
• Another proposal would allow foreign companies one or two years to sell down shares to a minority stake before they are considered Thai according to the Foreign Business Act.
• A third proposal would be to allow foreign companies under the new definition to continue to operate in ''List 3'' sectors, which comprise services such as construction, law and accounting. These companies could continue, but would have to register with the ministry. Foreign companies would still be banned from ''List 1'' sectors, which involve businesses such as media, rice farming and forestry, as well as ''List 2'' sectors, which involve culture and handicrafts.

Pramon said companies that violated the law would face penalties up to three years in jail and/or 100,000 baht in fines.

 
Capital controls push people towards leasehold

Based on an article from the Bangkok Post

The easing of restrictions on capital for stock market transactions saw the index regain 10% clawing back most of the 15% losses from the previous day.

The Bank of Thailand's tough capital controls are scaring off foreign property buyers and will add further pressure to the market, says a local lawyer with many foreign and expatriate clients.

Under the new rules, foreigners who want to buy a leasehold property in Thailand will have no problem doing so if they can bring in Thai baht for the purpose, said Sally Ann Lefley, an associate at the Bangkok-based firm McEvily & Collins.

However, those buying freehold property, such as condominiums, will see the Bank of Thailand retain 30% of foreign funds interest-free for one year.

Lefley also said that even though Thai authorities are trying to stop foreigners from setting up Thai companies to buy land and houses, those who manage to do so can buy landed real estate without having to deposit 30% with the central bank by using baht for the transaction.

James Pitchon, executive director of CB Richard Ellis, said yesterday that the central bank needed to further clarify how the controls on foreign capital inflows would affect foreign property buyers: We are still unclear whether it will affect overseas buyers.

Should foreign real estate buyers have to deposit 30% of the purchase price with the Bank of Thailand for one year, it would be extremely damaging, Pitchon added. He said property was not a short-term speculative investment but a medium- to long-term one with most people buying houses and condominiums to live in. For this reason, funds used to buy property are not ''hot money'' as it cannot be sold quickly. By nature, property is illiquid. Pitchon added that even if a 30% deposit with the central bank was not required, more paperwork generated by the new rules would still hurt the market.

Lefley said that investors should simply look to lease land because the government has been enforcing regulations that restrict foreigners from setting up companies to buy land: Just totally forget about trying to buy land through a Thai company. Things have taken place since the coup; it got very, very strict thereafter. So if a Thai company wants to buy a piece of land now, if it's 100% Thai, it's no problem. But if there is a foreign shareholder or director then the Land Office will investigate that company and check if the Thai shareholders are actually nominees for the foreign director or shareholder.

The maximum term of a lease in Thailand is 30 years and Thai law allows one renewal of 30 years. However, Lefley cautioned that once the lease expires, the house, unless the lease agreement says otherwise, would actually become the property of the landowner.

Even so, Lefley noted that foreigners are not shying away from buying land and houses as her law firm had feared. It seems more and more are quite accepting of the option to lease. They don't seem too concerned about owning a freehold so that they can pass it on to their family when they die; it seems a lot are looking at using the property for themselves and not looking to pass it down.

Update: 22nd December

Aliwassa Pathnadabutr, managing director of CB Richard Ellis Thailand, said the Bank of Thailand clarified yesterday that property including land and condominiums would be exempt from the reserve requirement on short-term capital inflows. Foreign purchasers of condominiums can bring funds into Thailand to make purchases but buyers should clearly state the project name and unit number when remitting funds, she said.

''We welcome this clarification which means that foreign property purchasers are not affected by the new regulations. We believe that this will reassure existing and potential property purchasers,'' she said.

 
Stock Market suffers after bank move to restrict capital inflow

From The Independent

Fears of a repeat of the devastating Asian financial crash a decade ago yesterday prompted the Thai government to perform an abrupt U-turn on its unexpected imposition of capital controls.

The Bangkok stock market slumped as much as 20% after the government imposed penalties on foreign investors who did not keep their money in the country for a year.

The move was aimed at clamping down on speculative inflows that have lifted the Thai currency, the baht, to a nine-year high, and hurt the country's exporters.

But the move triggered the biggest single-day drop on the stock market since Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in August 1990 as foreigners sold $700m (£360m) of Thai shares.

It sent ripples across the region. Indonesian shares were down 3% while the markets in India, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam all fell by at least 2%.

Initially the authorities yesterday rebuffed calls for it to abandon the policy, but, after a matter of hours the finance minister, Pridiyathorn Devakula, announced equity investments would be excluded from the restrictions starting today. The restrictions still apply to overseas investments in bonds.

The volte-face was treated with derision in Bangkok. It's a joke, isn't it? A total farce, a foreign banker in the Thai capital said.

How can they change their minds? Why didn't they tell us sooner? And why now? The damage has been done, the head of research at a Thai brokerage told Reuters.

Mike Kerley, who manages Henderson's Far East Income fund, said the government's attempt to rein in the baht has made him nervous about the political situation: There's a huge credibility issue. It's an unelected government with no constitution. When we start to see policies like this, it makes us nervous. It has certainly put a spanner in the works.

 
On large transfers to Thailand

From The Nation

Foreign investors bringing in cash worth US$20,000 or more (approximately Bt700,000) would need to park 30% of the amount in financial institutions. The money would be fully returned if the cash kept in Thailand for at least 1 year, the Bank of Thailand announced yesterday.

The 30% reserve requirement on capital will take effect today. Thus, foreign investors who bring in more dollars than the amount would only be able to exchange 70% of their money into baht.

The reserve would be returned to them after 12 months.

Tarisa Wattanagase, the central bank governor, said at a press conference yesterday the measure would help curb speculation that has made the baht volatile and appreciated above its fundamental level.

Yesterday's move is the most stringent since 1997 to counter baht speculators, who have brought in billions of dollars in the past few months and pushed the baht to a level that has damaged Thailand's exports.

Last month, there were short-term inflows of US$300 million per week - that had tripled to $950 million per week this month, she said.

The measure will not apply to foreign direct investment (FDI), as the reserve would be returned to investors as soon they arrive in the Kingdom. There will be exemptions for cash related to trades in goods and services, or repatriation of investments abroad by residents.

Tarisa said the 30% was calculated from profits expected to be generated by speculators. She said the new measure would effectively discourage speculative inflows and reduce baht volatility.

However, the central bank would closely monitor the baht after the measure is launched today. She said the central bank might cancel the measure, change the reserve amount, or change the time limit depending on the situation.

For the benefit of newbies, the Thais love their king and don't take kindly to any offence. There will no doubt be 100% support in getting this guy locked up for the full 15 years. Pleading insanity may be his best defence as he must surely have been insane to even contemplate such an act.

From the Bangkok Post

A Swiss man was arrested on charges of insulting the monarchy by painting over images of His Majesty the King, police said today.

Jufer Oliver Rudolf, 57, was caught Tuesday on surveillance cameras spray painting over portraits of His Majesty with black paint at several locations in Chiang Mai, police Lt. Col Kittiphan Kamwan said. He was detained Wednesday night, and faces up to 15 years in jail if convicted, the police said.

Pol Lt Col Kittiphan said Rudolf claimed he was drunk.

The military has launched a separate investigation into the incident, suggesting Rudolf may have been hired by someone opposed to the Sept 19 coup.

The suspect must have been hired by someone so I have ordered soldiers to investigate the incident and bring the mastermind of this crime to justice,'said Saprang Kanlayanamitr, a member of the Council for National Security.

The partial return of the Stickman website

See Stickman

The popular readers submissions section of Stickman's website has made a reappearance.

Recent submissions have been added and the section will now be maintained by a guy called Bangkok Barry.

Where to put your Buddha

Doesn't say anything about more practical no-no's like offering 500 Baht for long time.

...And notice that such rules as no flip flops in temples don't even apply to Thais

From Thai Visa

Thailand's Ministry of Culture will distribute a handbook on Thai manners and 10 'Do's and Don'ts' in Thailand to foreign tourists to enable the visitors to understand and avoid doing things considered taboo in the kingdom, according to Minister of Culture Khunying Khaisri Sri-arun.

Khunying Khaisri said the handbook is designed to create more understanding among foreign tourists regarding Thai etiquette.

The Fine Arts Department and the Culture Monitoring Centre frequently receives complaints of inappropriate behaviour by foreigners such as placing Buddha image heads at inproper places.

Many foreign tourists were found dressing inappropriately when visiting temples in Thailand, she added.

The minister said the handbook would be issued in eight languages including English, Chinese, Japanese and Arabic, and would be given to foreign embassies in Thailand for distribution. The manual would also available at hotels, Suvarnabhumi Airport and on board Thai Airways International aircraft.

Ladyboy contests mentally ill label

From the The Nation

A male transvestite yesterday has lodged a complaint with the Central Administrative Court asking for a change of wording in his Army conscription record paper categorising him as being branded "permanently ill mentally" for his homosexuality into something not so discriminatory.

Samart Meecharoen said the term in the record paper had prevented him from making any business deals or applying for any jobs, because he was regarded as legally incapable.

The court received Samart's complaint but has not decided whether it would proceed against three defendants responsible for a conscription event in Lop Buri in April last year: the first is the Defence Ministry, the second the Army Reserve Command. An Army officer, who is head of the provincial conscription centre, and another officer who is a senior medic - are jointly third defendants.

In his complaint, Samart said the three officers professional opinions towards his nature were unlawful and they had violated his dignity as a human being.

Samart, or Namwan, said he had earlier contacted the Lop Buri conscription centre asking that the term "permanently ill mentally" be altered to another deemed more appropriate, but the senior medic said he could not change it under a new Defence Ministry regulation issued in 1997. The term "permanently ill mentally" applies to Samart for his "feminine mental characteristics and consumption of female hormones to alter his chest into women's breasts."

Before submitting his complaint, Samart was cheered by a number of gay activists who showed up outside the court compound.

60,000 new recruits to monitor movement of government opponents

From the Bangkok Post

The army plans to put the Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc) back in full charge of security affairs, with a new structure modelled on the US Homeland Security Department. Army chief Gen Sonthi Boonyaratkalin, chairman of the Council for National Security (CNS) said all security agencies will come under the umbrella of the new Isoc structure.

Security supervision power, which is swinging back to the military, will include keeping track of supporters of the previous administration who may be stirring up trouble for the interim government.

An army chief will be appointed to take charge of the Isoc, which will be given more comprehensive powers to deal with both internal and external threats including drug trafficking, illegal immigration and terrorism, which have significant implications for the country's security, Gen Sonthi said.

Army chief of staff Gen Montri Sangkhasap, as secretary-general of the Isoc, said a new law on security is already in the pipeline to assist its work flow.

He said a security coordination centre will be set up with daily meetings of representatives of all ministries and the Office of the Narcotics Control Board, the Anti-Money Laundering Office, the Department of Special Investigation and the Royal Thai Police.

Under the Isoc's new structure, about 60,000 new staff members will be recruited and assigned to security missions in all 76 provinces. Their tasks will include monitoring the movements of opponents of the interim government and the CNS.

Update: Secret Police

A secretive 14,000-man special operations force already deployed across the country with a mission to quell unrest was given funds of Bt556 million by the Cabinet yesterday.

The Council for National Security asked to have its own special force to maintain peace and the rule of law in our country. The endorsement was in line with the interim constitution, government spokesman Yongyuth Mayalarp said.

The CNS asked the Cabinet to allocate Bt556 million from the central fund, he said.

The 13,625-strong force of the Council for National Security's Special Operations Centre were recruited from the armed forces and police, and are already stationed at undisclosed locations.

The rapid deployment force began operating on December 1, and Yongyuth said it would be dissolved along with the CNS, tentatively on September 30 next year, which is the end of the fiscal year. The budget would cover 305 days of operations in total. The CNS has promised elections and a return to democracy by the end of 2007.

10 digit mobile phone numbers are now mandatory

From Thai Visa

From December 1, 2006, Thailand's mobile operators will change all Thai mobile numbers from 9-digits to 10-digits numbers. The old 9-digit numbers will no longer  work from today.

Fixed phone lines, 'land lines', are not affected by the change.

The new 10 digit mobile numbers have been optional since September but are now mandatory.

An 8 has been inserted after the leading 0. If the old number was, for example: 01-5432109, the new number is now 081-5432109. Similarly from overseas +6615432109 becomes +66815432109

From the Bangkok Post

The government yesterday decided to lift martial law in Bangkok and 40 other provinces including Pattaya and the capital's immediate neighbours. However, 35 provinces remain fully or partly under martial law.

The government's decision came one day after the Council for National Security (CNS) forwarded its recommendation that martial law be lifted in 48 provinces and retained in 28 other provinces, including Bangkok. Yesterday's cabinet resolution to partially lift martial law will not take effect until there is royal endorsement.

He was confident that the lifting of martial law in Bangkok and its surrounding provinces would boost the country's image in the eyes of investors and tourists.

The provinces that remain entirely under martial law are Amnat Charoen, Buri Ram, Chaiyaphum, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Kamphaeng Phet, Khon Kaen, Loei, Maha Sarakham, Nakhon Ratchasima, Narathiwat, Nong Bua Lam Phu, Pattani, Roi Et, Si Sa Ket, Surin, Ubon Ratchathani, Udon Thani and Yala.

The provinces where martial law is still enforced in some districts are Chanthaburi, Kanchanaburi, Mae Hong Son, Phayao, Phetchaburi, Phitsanulok, Prachaup Khiri Khan, Nan, Ranong, Ratchaburi, Sa Kaeo, Satun, Tak, Trat, Uttaradit and Songkhla.

Based on an article from the The Nation

The The ban on alcohol advertising that was initiated by the Food and Drug Administra-tion (FDA) will be postponed for 30 days pending a review by the Council of State into its ruling that the ban is invalid, the Food Committee announced yesterday.

The ban was initially scheduled to take effect on December 3.

Last week, the Council of State ruled that the FDA had no mandate to ban alcohol advertising comprehensively. The Lawyers Council of Thailand yesterday said the ruling was legitimate.

More worryingly the Public Health Ministry's proposed Alcohol Control Bill sailed through the Cabinet yesterday.

From the Bangkok Post

The cabinet yesterday revoked a measure ordering petrol stations nationwide to close at 10pm.

Starting on Friday, fuel pumps will be allowed to open 24 hours a day without restrictions. The Thaksin Shinawatra government in mid-2005 ordered all petrol stations to close from 10pm to 5am as part of measures aimed at reducing the country's energy consumption.

The Energy Ministry, which pushed for the lifting of the rule, said that the measure had had very little impact on actual fuel usage.

Energy Minister Piyasvasti Amranand said that the closure had caused inconvenience to people working at night. Many petrol station workers were deprived of jobs and income, he added.

However, the ministry would maintain the time limits upon large billboard signs as this had contributed a great deal to the nation's energy savings.

From the The Nation

The Public Health Ministry will be seeking a green light from the Cabinet today for its Alcohol Control Bill, after efforts to ban alcohol advertising hit legal problems.

The Council of State ruled last week that the ban was invalid because the Food and Drug Administration did not have the mandate to enforce such a ban.

Although the Council of State will be asked to review its ruling, it is clear that the ban cannot take effect on Friday - as initially scheduled.

Public Health Minister Mongkol na Songkhla said yesterday his ministry would seriously push for the Alcohol Control Act now that the FDA ban had been declared invalid. The Alcohol Control Act should be able to ensure a happier society, he said.

Mongkol said relevant authorities had spent more than four years preparing the Alcohol Control Bill and it had already passed through public hearings.

In a related development, Office of the Consumer Protection Board secretary-general Rasamee Vistaveth said the best way to enforce the ban on alcohol advertising now was to push for the Alcohol Control Act. But if the FDA wishes to urgently enforce the ban, it could also push for the ban to take effect and wait to hear what the Administrative Court says, she said.

I wonder what the typical metered journey from Pattaya to the airport costs. The negotiated rate seems to be 800 Baht at the moment.

From the The Nation

Hundreds of cabbies blocked the taxi terminal at Suvarnabhumi Airport last night in protest at a police arrest and ticketing of a driver.

As many as 300 police were deployed to the protest.

The arrested driver had failed to turn on his meter when ferrying a passenger to the airport from Pattaya.

One of the protesting drivers said the blockade demanded justice for the arrested driver. He said taxis travelling interprovincial routes did not have to use meters.

Hundreds of taxis blocked entrances and exits to the commuter area while others blockaded the Thai Airways catering building, causing traffic congestion in the airport compound.

The protesting taxi drivers agreed to disperse late Sunday night after police asked them to wait for a week for the management of the airport to decide on measures of taxi services in the airport's compound.

They threatened to protest again if the airport would not allow them to pick up passengers freely in the airport.

From the Bangkok Post

All 322 schools in Pattani province in Southern Thailand will close indefinitely from tomorrow after the director of a community school was shot and burnt by Muslim militants on Friday.

Bunsom Thongsriplai, chairman of the Pattani Teachers Federation, said all classes would be suspended until authorities could come up with better security measures for teachers in the province.

In Narathiwat's Rangae district, many business operators have decided to yield to insurgent demands to close their businesses every Friday and Sunday. Small businesses in the district have closed their stores on Fridays due to similar threats in the past.

But yesterday, business operators received a letter signed by ''Terrorist Group,'' telling them to also close their shops on Sundays. The letter says all businesses in Rangae district's Tambon Tanyongmas municipality must acknowledge that Sunday is also a holiday as well as Friday. Any business operators failing to comply with the announcement would have to bear the consequences on their lives and property, the letter threatened.

An intelligence official in the deep South predicted possible simultaneous, coordinated attacks against state officials and public facilities by separatist groups in villages where members of muslim militant groups are living. The militants are believed to be planning bombing attacks on local electricity generating facilities in the villages before hitting other targets.

The insurgents also planned to fly their Pattani State flags at villages where their military operations were successful, said the source.

The funding for the operation was believed to have come from the Bersatu separatist movement.

From the Bangkok Post

The Public Health Ministry has vowed to push ahead with a ban on alcoholic drink advertisements despite a ruling by the Council of State that says the ban has no legal effect.

The ban, which will come into place on Dec 3, now looks uncertain as the government's legal arm has found the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the ministry has no authority to put the ban into effect.

The Council of State has backed its argument by pointing out a flaw in the definition of alcohol which is interpreted differently in related laws.

A five-page recommendation sent by the Council of State to the Disease Control Department yesterday says alcohol is defined as "food" according to the 1979 Food Act so the ministry cannot treat it as a "product" and the use of the Consumer Protection Act to control its labels and advertisements is not possible.

Because alcohol is defined as a type of food, the law states that it must be overseen by a certain agency, not a committee controlling product labels.

The Council of State has therefore ruled that the ministry cannot cite the Consumer Protection Act to allow the FDA to control alcoholic labels on behalf of the label control committee.

The ministry is also unable to curb alcohol advertisements because such a ban requires approval from the state advertising and labelling control committees, but the latter has no authority in placing controls on foods.

Based on an article from The Nation

The Council of State looks set to rule that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has no mandate to comprehensively ban alcohol ads because of a section in the Consumer Protection Act, an informed source revealed yesterday.

The source said the Council of State had based its planned ruling on the "letter of the law", not the intention behind it.

It is going to say that Section 30 of the Act will exempt factory-made or imported alcoholic-drink products from the ban, the source said.

The ban, which had been due to take effect on December 3, proposes banning most alcohol ads. If the FDA is unable to enforce the ban, the Public Health Ministry is expected to seek legal changes or to introduce the Alcohol Control Act to continue pushing for a ban - which the ministry and many groups strongly support.

Meanwhile, the Lawyers Council said yesterday the proposed ban had double standards and may favour particular companies. The council also stated that the total ban on alcohol advertising was not in line with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) principles of fair business treatment.

Public Health Minister Mongkol Na Songkhla said his ministry would convene a meeting of all provincial public-health chiefs on Monday to brief them about how to enforce the ban: We can expect some hiccups in the very beginning because this is a new measure. However, with close monitoring, the measure will be efficiently implemented in the future.

He said the ban on alcohol ads could begin with a lenient phase during which offenders would just receive warnings. But after a period of time, we will be tough with enforcing the ban and offenders would be bound to face legal action.

Based on an article from The Nation

Bangkok Rock Festival 2007 - which was initially scheduled for February 10 and 11 - will be cancelled mainly due to the government's ban on alcohol advertising from December 3.

Riverman Asia Company yesterday announced the cancellation of the rock festival, saying that it would be hard to find sponsors for this big event with the virtual ban on alcohol advertising: Such a big event is going to cost more than Bt80 million because international rock stars will be part of this festival.

Leo Beer's pinup calendar promoted through the media as a New Year's gift for customers could breach the alcohol-advertising ban, the Public Health Ministry said yesterday.

I'm not saying the brewer can't give away the calendar, but they aren't allowed by law to advertise their products in such a medium, said Dr Narong Sahamethapat, a deputy director-general of the Diseased Control Department.

With the local beer's brand name running alongside photos of three sexy nude models, the calendar could be against the law taking effect on December 3 which prohibits all forms of alcohol advertising, with limited exceptions such as live telecasts of foreign sports events and foreign magazines, he said.

If the company wants to continue distributing its calendar, it must not carry the brand name, pictures of the alcoholic beverage and any other materials aimed at advertising, said Narong, who also belongs to the national committee on alcohol consumption control.

And even those who were lucky to get the calendar before December 3 need to be careful about how they show it: If you hang it on your bedroom wall, that's totally fine. But if you put it where it can be seen by public eyes, such as your grocery store, that could cause trouble.

The Food and Drug Administration, which had pushed the alcohol ban to become law, will today discuss what to do with the calendar issue, secretary-general Sirwat Thiptharadol said.

It was also speeding up drafting the guidelines for the booze ban before it comes into effect, he said.

From Mango Sauce
See also Stickman
See also NotStickman

Stickman seems to have taken a long term decision to take down most of his popular website. He has now posted a note:

The strains of working a full-time job and trying to run a website at the same time have token their toll on me and I have decided to take a break from the site to concentrate on teaching.

This seems to be the result of the ever escalating actions from the NotStickman site. The latest episode identifies both Stickman and the man behind the pseudonym, John Galt.

Apart from being a destructive dispute in its own right, it shows how precarious any investment of money/time/life in Thailand really is. The whole thing can be sitting on a knife edge just waiting for something to come along and give it a nudge.

Update: From Stickman on Pattaya Secrets

The site will remain up, but with reduced content through to the end of the year. All of the readers' stories will be moved to another site where two long-term readers will take care of them before they will likely be migrated back to the site with a major re-launch early in the new year.

There are one or two things that will be worked out before the site is re-launched. Use your imagination on what that might be...

From Mango Sauce
See also Stickman
See also NotStickman

Stickman's popular site was taken down a few days last week but reappeared in time for the Sunday update on 12th November.

However the site has now been taken down again with no explanation beyond an empty homepage.

The rather alarming website rivalry between Stickman & John Galt is being closely monitored on Mango Sauce. See the latest news in a thread named: Ahoy there! Keith Summers gets his 15 minutes.

Whilst on the subject of improvements, it would be nice to be able to buy a coffee or beer in domestic departures. Perhaps reuse some of the wasted space on shops that sell Bendix of Mayfair chocolate teapots

From CNN

Airport Authorities said they will triple the number of toilets at the newly opened Bangkok international airport following a flood of passenger complaints.

Suvarnabhumi International Airport only has some 100 toilets for the more than 100,000 daily passengers, sparking frustration and anger among those having to stand in long lines.

We are aware of this burden on the passengers and I have ordered a quick resolution to this problem by ordering the building of 200 more toilets. The project has already begun, the head of the Airports Authority of Thailand Chotisak Asapaviriya told The Associated Press. The  project is expected to be completed within 45 days.

From the Bangkok Post

The Thai pop star, Yuenyong Opakul, alias Ad Carabao, has found himself in hot water after his blasphemous remarks sparked a storm of protest from Muslim communities across the country.

Muslim residents in Mahanak put up banners and placards in protest against the musician's remarks published in Hamburger magazine's October edition.

Yuenyong questioned people's failure to respect the truth while adhering to religious icons he said were invented by humans.

The Office of the Chularatchamontri yesterday issued a statement denouncing the magazine for running the interview containing the insulting remark.

The statement slammed Yuengyong for offending Muslims and said he was ignorant of the principle regarding the Islamic faith in God and the Prophet.

Yuenyong handed a letter of apology to the Islamic Central Committee of Thailand (ICCT) yesterday. He said in the letter that he uttered the offensive remarks because he was drunk: I would like to apologise...to all Muslims in Thailand and across the world.

The ICCT said it was satisfied with the apology and would not take action against him.

From The Nation

Riche Monde (Bangkok), distributor of Johnnie Walker scotch whisky, has urged the government to decide within two weeks whether it can use the logo and brand to promote the upcoming Johnnie Walker Classic golf event in Phuket.

If the government bans the use of the logo and brand, as well as prohibits the company from using the brand in the name of the tournament, the alcohol company is ready to move the event to either South Korea or South Africa.

The Johnnie Walker Classic has been thrown into jeopardy by government legislation banning alcohol advertising and sponsorship, which will take effect on December 3.

Riche Monde is set to hold the tournament in Phuket in March, and many of the world's top 50 players are expected to participate. It is hoped the event will boost Phuket's tourism income, and golf stars including Ernie Els and Adam Scott have agreed to join the tournament. Vorathep estimated that the tournament would generate employment and at least Bt1 billion in profit for Phuket.

Riche Monde asked the Prime Minister's Office and the health, tourism and sport ministries about three weeks ago for permission to keep the name Johnnie Walker in the tournament's title and maintain billboard advertising around the course. The government is yet to respond.

Riche Monde currently employs more than 300 women and spends almost Bt400 million in media advertising a year. The company said: Ninety per cent of these girls use their wages to finance their education. If they become unemployed, does it mean we're driving them to seek money in inappropriate ways?

From the Bangkok Post

The future of Thailand Privilege Card Co and Thai Longstay Management Co hangs in the balance now that their cost-effectiveness and management efficiency will be reviewed.

Tourism and Sports Minister Suvit Yodmani said yesterday that the evaluation of the effectiveness of the two companies set up by the previous government would be completed in one or two months.

Both companies have been operating for three years. Thailand Privilege Card (TPC) was set up to sell and manage memberships of the one-million-baht Elite Card that promises privileges to high-heeled tourists. It was told to attract one million subscribers by 2008. But so far only 1,734 memberships have been sold.

But the company claimed it had enough cash flow to continue its operation, eliminating the need for financial support.

Suvit said that after reviewing TPC, the committee would re-evaluate the performance of Thai Longstay Management Co (TLM). It has no members so far but recently floated a novel long-term property leasing proposal to attract foreigners.

From International Herald Tribune

Thailand's military-installed government have announced a flurry of initiatives  including a proposal to introduce Shariah law in the restive Muslim southern provinces.

Speaking to foreign correspondents for the first time since taking office, Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont refused to set a firm timetable for elections but said he hoped he would no longer be in power in 2008.

Surayud traveled to the southern provinces to apologize for the government's handling of the Muslim insurgency that has left more than 1,700 dead since 2004,.

Surayud said Muslims in southern Thailand should be allowed to have their own legal system, a fundamental shift in policy from previous governments.

They should have the Islamic law in practice - the Shariah, Surayud said. Muslims in southern Thailand have different values from Buddhist Thais, he said: You can live with your own rules, your own laws.

From Mango Sauce
See also Stickman
See also NotStickman

Stickman's popular weekly updates have been suspended and the entire site has been removed with the rather bland statement:

The Stickman site is down and offline for a short period. It will return soon.
Apologies for the inconvenience.
The Stickmanbangkok team

The site has been taken down after aggressive opposition from John Galt (a pseudonym) posting on a site named Not Stickman. It seems that the Not Stickman site was started in response to negative 'product placement' type comments on the Stickman site and escalated to the point where Stickman has been 'outed'. Clearly content on the Stickman site needs to be re-evaluated now that the cover of anonymity has been broken.

Wider issues are also highlighted by this disturbing incident. Particularly how precarious Thai life can be when linked back to 'real life'.

Update: 10th November: Back

The archived section of Stickman's site has now been restored. No comment yet on the latest situation. The weekly updates have also restarted

From the Bangkok Post

Police said today they will set up a special task force and launch a new crackdown on intellectual piracy in order to demonstrate by the end of January that they are seriously addressing the trademark and other IP violations.

The announcement was made by police spokesman Pol Gen Achirawit Suphanphesat, who is also deputy commissioner general.

It followed a meeting with representatives of 57 trademark owners, who complained that police were "dead in the water" on IP piracy. They included representatives of music companies, film production firms, software companies and cable TV operators.

Achirawit said that the police would set up a special task force to crack down on pirated goods and will continue to cooperate with the intellectual property rights owners.

The operation would not be "just a flash in the pan," he said, adding that he was confident the problem of pirated products would be considerably reduced within three months.

Progress will be periodically reported to the Police Commissioner and the Chairman of the Council for National Security, he said.

Comment from Thai Visa

Lower prices, and stop censoring every film available. I'm sick and tired of buying authentic DVD's and VCD's and find out that every cigarette; breast; bottle; gun; etc, has been pixelated out of the bloody film! It just spoils the whole viewing experience. And as a consequence, I now look for the pirate copies.....

From The Nation

Bangkok Authorities warned organisers against including sexually suggestive dances in events to celebrate today's Loy Krathong Festival.

The Loy Krathong Festival is a beautiful part of Thai culture. We hope all relevant parties will hold appropriate activities for this festival, Culture Ministry acting permanent secretary Veera Rojanapojanarat said.

He was referring to ongoing moves to stop scantily clad young women from dancing erotically in public places. Widely dubbed "coyote dancing", this sexually suggestive dancing began in pubs but has recently spread to public events.

According to Veera, provincial culture officers have been instructed to work closely with local administrative bodies to ensure that no damage was done to the country's culture.

Religious Affairs Department director-general Preecha Kanthiya said the "coyote dances" could be counted as offences against the National Culture Act of BE2485. Please refrain from any activity that will harm society, Preecha said.

National Culture Commission secretary-general Prisana Pongtadsirikul said organisers of activities should ensure that performers act and dress appropriately: There should be no 'coyote dancing'. For traditional dances, organisers should also ensure that dancers do not wear too-short skirts and do not perform any erotic moves.

From Thai Visa

The Provincial Official of the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security warns adolescents of the risks from sexual relationship during Loy Krathong Festival

Somkid Somsi, the ministry’s provincial official, revealed that his office had studied a research about adolescents’ sexual behaviors during Loy Krathong Festival. The research shows that an increasing number of adolescents have sexual intercourse during the festival.

The most susceptible group consisted of high-school students and vocational students. Besides, locations where most sexual behaviors took place were dormitories, rented houses, hotels, and unexpected places like dark corners in public parks.

Information collected from this research was used to outline measures preventing premature sex of young people. Most of the people sampled in this survey went out with their friends, partners, and other people outside their families. Alcoholic drinks were also found to be the main cause leading to sexual behaviors during the festival.

From Phuket Gazette

Schools across the island will ask Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit to petition the Ministry of Education (MoE) to ease – if not scrap – new regulations requiring all new teachers to have at least a bachelor’s degree and to pass an extensive background check before they can begin work.

The decision was made at a meeting at the Phuket Educational Service Area (PESA) office. At the meeting, attended by representatives of 37 private schools and 14 government-run schools on Phuket, it was agreed to ask the Governor to petition the MoE to also allow schools to put teachers to work while the lengthy background checks are being conducted.

Owners of small private schools employing foreign teachers, especially language schools, feel the new requirements, which came into effect September 29, are too restrictive and time-consuming, taking months to complete before a new teacher can be hired.

The new policy requires that all foreign teachers possess at least a bachelor’s degree, a certified copy of which must be presented to the local MoE office along with a certified copy of the applicant’s transcript (academic record).

Before hiring a new teacher, schools must wait for approval from the MoE’s International Education Promotion Division, which must check the authenticity of the teacher’s credentials by seeking a confirmation letter from the university the applicant claims to be graduate of.

From the Bangkok Post

Strict road speed limits should be introduced to boost the country's energy conservation, replacing the existing limit on the opening hours of petrol stations, which has proved ineffective, according to Energy Minister Piyasvasti Amranand.

Piyasvasti said his ministry was mapping out a new energy-saving scheme with both mandatory and persuasive measures to ensure effectiveness. All measures would be clearly laid out within one month.

Mandatory measures issued by the previous government would be reviewed. For instance, he said, the orders for petrol stations to shut down at 10pm, and for billboards using over 1,000 watts of power to be switched off after 10pm may be scrapped.

Both have proven quite useless as measures to save energy, said the minister. The limit on petrol-selling hours only forced motorists to adjust their buying habits

A more effective measure would be to set a speed limit of not more than 100kph, he said.

Piyasvasti also said the ministry would ask the government to consider setting a minimum energy-saving standard for electrical appliances, and perhaps for vehicles too.

From Thai Visa

The satellite service, UBC, has removed MTV and VH1 from its programme line up.

Despite saying something about "In response to what the UBC subscribers wish to view"... UBC have replaced it with a rather unappealing G Square featuring video gaming.

A little bit of conspiracy theory suggested that the MTV channels may have been removed due to some political interference from those that want to blame the world's ills on the music that the kids watch.

Perhaps there is a more likely explanation, a few years ago my farang cable service chucked out MTV because they were simply too expensive. They were trying to charge around £0.25 per month per subscriber.

Based on an article from The Nation

A proposed knee jerk regulation to ban women aged younger than 20 working as so-called "coyote dancers" is attracting fire for alleged violation of workers' rights.

Culture Minister Khunying Khaisri Sriaroon yesterday vowed to resolve the issue of young women promoting products or entertaining at public events "dressed in skimpy outfits and moving erotically". She said she was exploring legal avenues to restrict the practice.

Her Majesty the Queen recently expressed concern at television coverage of young women dancing at a Buddhist charity event at Nong Khai.

Labour Protection and Welfare Department chief Padungsak Thephasdin na Ayutthaya said prohibiting under-20s from working as dancers was against labour rights. He said women aged around 20 were mature and had a right to work where and at what they wished.

He said event organisers should do their homework before sending dancers to events or locations to ensure it was appropriate for them to appear. The dancers themselves could use their own discretion and cultural knowledge to determine if what they were doing was tasteful.

The law already provides regulations restricting young people from certain work - in the sex trade for example.

Education Minister Wijit Srisaan warned the Culture Ministry to proceed with caution. Regulations had to be workable and individual rights protected: This is not an issue like drinking alcohol. If anyone dances in public in a lewd manner it would be inappropriate regardless of age.

From Thai Visa

The Ministry of Social Development and Human Security stated that the dancing show of the “Coyote Girls” was influenced form the western cultures, and it reflected family issues.

Suwit Kantharoj, the Director of the Office for Women and Children under the Social Development and Human Security Ministry, commented on Her Majesty the Queen's concern over a TV program showing “Coyote Girls” dancing in a temple. He said such display was due to the overexposure of western cultures, and certain people may perceive it as cool and trendy. He added that many “Coyote Girls” have family problems, and they are trying to earn easy money by dancing.

Therefore, the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security and the Ministry of Education together with various private developmental agencies are working together to solve this problem by campaigning for a strong family foundation and educate youths with beautiful traditions of Thailand. Besides, temples will be the place for young women to calm their minds and souls, instead of performing such inappropriate dancing.

Suwit added that the government is currently concentrating to promote happiness in the society without being materialistic.

From Thai Visa

The Minister of Public Health has affirmed that from December 29 onwards, smoking in such public places as bus stops, public parks, and transport terminals would be banned.

Speaking after launching the no-smoking campaign focusing on the danger of the second-hand smoke on close family members, Mongkol Na Songkhla said that as from December 29, the 17th Public Health announcement for this year which extends no-smoking areas to more public places, would take effect.

The law forbids smoking in transportation terminals, public parks, bus stops, sports stadiums, hotel lobbies, and traditional massage parlours. Violators would face a maximum fine of 2,000 baht.

Does this mean that Thai people can play with dynamite outside of the festival?

From Thai Visa

Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayodhin indicated that for this year’s Loy Krathong Festival the authority will put more emphasis on public safety. The water levels in Chao Phraya River and other canals remain high. People are also strictly prohibited to play with firecrackers during the festival.

Apirak said the officials continue to monitor the water situation in the capital closely, and they will consider whether the public parks will be opened for people to float their banana vessels. The officials will announce whether certain locations will be closed before the festival starts.

The Bangkok Governor added that people are also strictly prohibited to play with firecrackers and dynamite during the festival, and he would like the producers and distributors to cooperate with the authority on this issue. However, children can still play with cool fires only if they are being closely supervised by their guardians.

Well it looks like Thailand will join the elite band of repressive countries that ban the sale of alcohol to adults. How disgraceful to be grouped with the likes of Saudi Arabia, Iran & Iraq.

From the Bangkok Post

The minimum age to buy alcohol will be raised from 18 to 20 after the cabinet-appointed panel yesterday finalised the most controversial point of the Alcohol Control Bill.

Public Health Minister Mongkol na Songkhla said the panel chaired by Kosit Panpiemras, deputy premier and industry minister, had already adopted the plan to raise the minimum age for buying liquor: Panel members believed it is the most appropriate solution to the issue. The consideration is based on the constitution which defines adults as people aged 20 years upwards. Therefore, they should be fully aware of the health hazards caused by alcoholic drinks.

This is also the minimum age of those allowed into entertainment spots under the bill which controls their operations.

Unlike the matter of minimum age, the panel did not object to incorporating into the bill designated areas to become alcohol-free zones. These would include temples, state offices, schools, universities and other educational institutions.

But the health minister said that cabinet consideration of the Alcohol Control Bill had to be postponed to next month as the floods nationwide and unrest in the deep South were the priority now.

The ministries of education, justice and social development and human security, would have to present in-depth details about the impact and repercussions of the Alcohol Control Bill to the meeting in November.

The public health minister hoped the bill would be endorsed before New Year.

In addition, the Kosit-chaired panel agreed in principle to increase the sin tax from 2% to 4% to boost the state's annual income by two billion baht. The government would channel the extra tax revenue into sports-related activities, which would suffer financially from the alcohol ad ban, said Mongkol.

From the Bangkok Post
See also www.thailongstay.co.th/vip

The real estate industry on the resort island of Koh Samui could receive a major boost if a plan to offer foreign buyers perpetual leases materialises.

The Vacation Investment Programme (VIP) is being offered by Thailand Longstay Management (TLM), a company set up by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) to promote long-stay tourism.

TLM says that VIP will instill confidence in the real estate profession, which has come under heavy scrutiny on Samui, by granting licences to developers who pass certain criteria. Only these licensed firms will be allowed to use VIP services.

While foreigners can buy leasehold property in Thailand, leases are for 30 years only. They can be extended only after the 30-year term is complete but this is not always guaranteed. Under VIP, 30-year renewals would be available in perpetuity.

Chaiyakarn Sudampanthorn, managing director of Samui Estate Corporation, says that VIP could help reverse some of the damage caused by the "economic tsunami" that battered the resort island for the past three to four months. VIP would also shore up foreigners' confidence in buying and leasing property in Thailand, especially after waves of negative publicity.

Foreign individuals and businesses have been on edge because of continuing questions about the use of nominees in establishing businesses, and policies toward foreign investment following last month's coup.

Buyers of perpetual leaseholds under VIP will have their own names registered on the title deed and should they sell the buyer obtains a new 30-year perpetual lease with his or her name transferred to the deed. Should the buyer pass away the lease is transferred to the next of kin.

However, VIP will be open only for residential purposes. An added benefit for VIP members will automatic one-year visas, a genuine perk in light of the new restrictions that took effect on Oct 1 to curb the abuse of the tourist-visa system.

Samui was chosen for the pilot project because it is a small island and easy to regulate, he added: They will expand to other tourist centres such as Phuket, Hua Hin and Pattaya in the future.

Not much evidence that any actual thinking is involved in drawing up hare brain ideas. It all sounds fine when applied to closed shops but Thailand is an open air sort of place where bars, restaurants and shops are rarely hidden away behind convenient doors and screens. Does this mean that beer bottles cannot be seen in an open beer bar?

Based on an article from The Nation

Shops nationwide cannot have displays of alcoholic drinks that can be seen from outside from December 5 onwards, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said.

However, they can still display alcoholic drinks inside.

Thawat Sunthracharn, the beleaguered director-general of the Public Health Ministry's Disease Control Department, noted that the alcohol industry was subject to less strict restrictions than those imposed on tobacco companies.

Cigarette packs cannot be displayed at all, but the display of alcoholic drinks in shops, convenience stores and groceries will continue to be legal as long as passers-by cannot see it from outside.

The measure is not aimed at preventing regular drinkers from drinking, but to block the increase of new drinkers - especially teenagers, Thawat said. Thawat said the ministry would finalise details of the restrictions on alcohol advertising and announce these nationwide by December 3. Manufacturers, retailers and state officials who enforce the law might be confused about what's allowed and disallowed, so we will clarify everything before the ban takes effect, said Thawat. [And give 2 days notice to comply!]

FDA deputy secretary-general Manit Arunakul said alcohol advertisements on banners and billboards placed in public view will be prohibited. Advertising banners placed in front of shops must also be moved inside.

Manit said "sexy" drink promoters would be allowed to work as long as there is no logo of alcoholic products on their clothing.

Public Health Minister Mongkol na Songkhla yesterday insisted the proposed Alcohol Control Act sent back by the Cabinet for reassessment would be enforced before the New Year as it was aimed at reducing the death toll from road accidents during the long weekend.

Deputy Prime Minister and Industry Minister Kosit Panpiemras will chair a meeting of the working group set up by the Cabinet to discuss the Act next Tuesday. The main issue to be reconsidered will be the minimum legal age to buy alcohol, initially specified at 25.

The minimum age will be lowered to under 25, but the exact age will be decided by the working group, said Mongkol.

It could be 21, 20 or 18 years, said Thawat. Thai people graduate at about 22 and have the right to vote at 18. It might be too much if those people have no right to buy a drink.

Based on an article from the Bangkok Post

The minimum age for buying alcohol is likely to remain at 18 years after cabinet voiced concerns over the necessity and effectiveness of a measure to raise it, incorporated in the alcohol control bill.

Disease Control Department director-general Thawat Sundarachan said yesterday that health authorities had to reconsider whether it was essential to increase the minimum age for buying alcohol from 18 to 25 years, after cabinet on Tuesday was concerned the idea might not work well in reality.

Health authorities will reconsider the issue with law enforcement agencies and the Education, Justice, Social Development and Human Security ministries next week. The alcohol control bill will be tabled again at the cabinet meeting on Oct 31.

There was no need to increase the legal age for buying alcohol to 25 if the meeting agreed to consider the age based on the 1997 constitution, because it defined people aged 18 years upwards as adults and said they also have the right to vote, Thawat said. They should be aware of the health hazards caused by alcoholic drinks before buying them, he added.

But any changes in the details and guidelines of the proposed alcohol control bill would not cover displays of alcoholic beverage logos and other materials at live international sports events, so the enforcement would be in line with the round-the-clock ban on alcohol commercials which would become effective on Dec 5, he said.

Thawat said it was necessary to exclude international broadcasts ''for the sake of sports promotions'' although a local alcohol brand is a major sponsor of a football club playing in the English Premier League, which is available on local television programmes. He was apparently referring to Chang beer, which sponsors Everton FC.

He believed football enthusiasts would be able to watch live football matches via other alternatives such as the Internet and satellite anyway. In addition, it was impossible to blur all logos appearing on live programmes, he added.

Sounds more of a reprieve than the total rejection of this ludicrous bill.

Based on an article from the Bangkok Post

The cabinet yesterday rejected the alcohol control bill because of a lack of clear guidelines on its enforcement and the loose definition of alcohol-free zones. Public Health Minister Mongkol na Songkhla conceded that cabinet ministers had widely debated the bill and found it unacceptable in its present form.

Health officials were required to provide details on the bill's enactment to make it more effective if the legal minimum age of alcohol buyers were to be raised to 25 from 18, and about some areas designated to be 100% alcohol-free, he said.

Mongkol said the cabinet agreed in principle with the bill and the ministry would next week resubmit the bill to the cabinet after making the necessary changes to it. Cabinet approval is required before the bill can be forwarded to the National Legislative Assembly for its scrutiny and approval.

The Public Health Ministry would seek a meeting with law enforcement agencies and the education, justice, social development and human security ministries for their views before making changes to the bill, said Mongkol.

He would also ask the finance minister to increase the excise tax on liquor by another 2%, following a threat by alcohol producers that they might cut prices or produce much cheaper products after the round-the-clock ban on booze advertisements takes effect later this year.

However, Bundit Sornpaisarn, director of an academic centre dealing with alcohol-related issues, cautioned it was the responsibility of the Finance Ministry and the Excise Department and not the Public Health Ministry to call for an increase in the excise tax.

He accused the Finance Ministry of using double-standards in its tax collection methods against liquor producers: While producers of the locally-made lao khao liquor are only being charged 70 baht per litre in excise tax, producers of brandy and other types of alcohol have to pay as much as 400 baht per litre. No value-added tax is being imposed on lao khao.

Meanwhile, Boonchuay Thongcharoenpoolporn, secretary-general of the Federation on Alcohol Control of Thailand, urged the Public Health Ministry to ensure fairness in imposing the alcohol ad ban. He said there should be no exceptions made to advertisements that appear on TV during foreign sports broadcasts. Boonchuay said the federation would petition the Administrative Court if the Public Health Ministry failed to slap a similar ban on commercials that appear on televised foreign sports events.

"Thawat Sundrachan, chief of the Disease Control Department, cited the World Health Organisation's findings that the number of alcohol drinkers in countries such as Iceland, Norway, Egypt and Jordan was 16% lower than in countries with no ban on adverts".

This is the most ludicrous statistical conjecture that I have ever read! Egypt & Jordan are Muslim countries. Norway imposes enormous tax on drink, probably Iceland does too. This is surely the most incompetent justification for law in recent history.

Based on an article from the Bangkok Post

An around-the-clock ban on advertising of alcoholic drinks in all forms of media will be issued today, said Public Health Minister Mongkol na Songkhla.

The ban will take effect after announcement in the Royal Gazette for 45 days, Mongkol said after a meeting of the national commission on alcohol control.

The ban will be issued by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which has classified liquor, beer, and other alcoholic drinks as "health-hazard products".

Thawat Sundrachan, chief of the Disease Control Department, cited the World Health Organisation's findings that the number of alcohol drinkers in countries such as Iceland, Norway, Egypt and Jordan was 16% lower than in countries with no ban on adverts.

The number of casualties caused by drink-driving in those countries was also 23% less than those with fewer controls on alcoholic drinks, he said. In Thailand, according to the Public Health Ministry, the number of alcohol-related accidents has increased by 5% over the past four years. It is hoped the ban will cut the number of accidents and pull Thailand out of the list of high alcohol-consumption countries.

Giant brewer Boonrawd Trading said yesterday it would comply with the ban.

Mongkol said recommendations from the alcohol companies would be used to improve the alcohol control bill, to be sent to the cabinet for consideration today before going on to the National Legislative Assembly for enactment.

The bill, already going through public hearings countrywide, includes raising the minimum age for buyers of alcohol to 25, a ban against selling alcohol from vending machines, and making certain areas such as universities, temples, and other public places alcohol-free zones.

Violators would be fined up to 100,000 baht or jailed for one year. They would also be required to pay 10,000 baht a day during the period they break the law.

The ministry is also considering a 1-2% tax increase on alcoholic drinks to bring in more money to help victims of drink driving.

In Khon Kaen, a doctor group's representative, Nirut Utta, and the anti-alcohol network yesterday called on the government to designate Sunday an alcohol-free day.

From Thai Visa

A 3 year business visa is being made available. It is a Non Immigrant B visa with similar requirements to the current 1 year business visa. It allows multiple 90 day visits throughout the 3 year validity. Employment in Thailand is not permitted, presumably intended for those based abroad to do business in Thailand rather than be employed there.

It may be obtained from your embassy in your country of residence. It is notable that honorary consuls cannot grant this visa, possibly because they are considered as something of a soft touch.

So how many countries around the world ban adults from drinking? Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan, Somalia, USA, Iraq. What an elite group Thailand is striving to join!

This government are behaving like a bunch of dictators!

Based on an article from the Bangkok Post

Health authorities have stepped up measures to curb alcohol consumption among young adults by moving up the minimum legal age of buyers from 18 to 25 years. Narong Sahamethapat, deputy chief of the Disease Control Department, said that the idea was proposed by a network of parents early this year during a public hearing of a draft bill to control alcoholic drinks.

The measure to raise the legal minimum age of buyers is part of a national campaign to save Thai young adults from alcohol abuse, he said, adding that it has already been incorporated into Article 28 of the draft.

Under the bill, the following areas will be designated as alcohol-free zones: temples, state offices, schools, universities and other places of education.

Also, the authorities plan to declare an alcohol-free day when alcohol sales and promotional activities are prohibited. (Sunday closing?)

Public Health Minister Mongkol na Songkhla said earlier that a ban on alcohol advertising in all forms of media will be announced on Monday, while the draft alcohol product control bill will be proposed to the cabinet and the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) for approval as soon as possible.

Phra [Monk] Ratchdhamanithet, better known as Phra Payom Kalayano, voiced strong support for the anti-drinking movement. He said the drinking of alcohol, which is prohibited in the five Buddhist precepts, is much more harmful and sinful than lottery betting.

Thailand ranks No. 5 in the world for consumption of alcohol. On average, a Thai consumes 14 litres of alcoholic drinks per year, according to the Thailand Development Research Institute.

Advertising underpins the very infrastructure of bars, from beer pumps to bar names. And just image if they decided that premiership football could not be shown...

From The Nation

A ban on above-the-line [TV, cinema etc?] alcohol advertising could come sooner rather than later - even next week - as the Public Health Ministry dusts off a law to issue a decree.

The only possible exception would be for advertising in "live" TV sports shows, Dr Narong Sahamethapat, deputy director-general of the Disease Control Department, said yesterday.

New Public Health Minister Mongkol Na Songkhla wants to give top priority to this issue while the bill to completely ban alcohol advertising as well as zone the sales of alcohol waits to be passed into law.

Section 24 of the Consumer Protection Act of 1979 gives the "Committee of Advertisement" the power to issue orders to restrict or prohibit the advertising of goods that may be harmful to consumers, he said.

A ministerial directive would be prepared and the details, including the date it actually takes effect, should be finalised by next week when Mongkol approves its issuance, he said.

Such an abrupt change would hurt the advertising business for sure, said Chaipranin Visudhipol, former chairman of the Advertising Association of Thailand. And if the alcoholic beverage companies were forced to withdraw their advertisements, the ones that would suffer would be the media, he said.

The impact of the ban would vary according to its scope, he said. If it also covers below-the-line activities such as give-aways or sales promotions at the point of purchase, the situation would become like the one cigarette companies found themselves in. Then posters, signs and other materials would be pulled off and young women working at restaurants and bars to promote the sales of alcohol would lose their jobs.

If it extends to sponsorship by alcoholic beverage firms, many sports events particularly live telecasts of foreign sports would be greatly affected, not to mention the sports stars hired as presenters.

Visa rules are currently being implemented that restrict long term residence in Thailand to the more affluent. It is hardly surprising that a new tourist minister toes the line and follows suit. As to protecting the natural environment...absolute bollox springs to mind.

From The Nation

Thailand's newly appointed tourism and sports minister said he would target the quality of tourists, not their quantity, as there was a need to protect the natural environment.

Suwit Yodmanee spoke to reporters regarding his proposed work strategies, saying he welcomed suggestions from related government agencies to develop the country's tourism as well as to solve problems.

The new minister promised to continue ongoing tourism promotion programmes such as Thailand Elite, Long Stay and Thailand Riviera, which he praised as 'very good schemes'.

From the BBC

Thailand's king has sworn in a post-coup cabinet, ch