Bangkok (VNA) – Thailand has relaxed alcohol sales restrictions, allowing consumers to buy wine, beer and spirits during previously prohibited afternoon hours in a six-month trial.
As reported by the Singapore-based Business Times, liquor stores, bars and other purveyors were previously banned from selling alcohol from 14:00 to 17:00, but the eased rules permit sales from 11:00 to midnight during the trial while a committee studies its impacts.
Officials last month reviewed the long-standing 2.00 to 5.00 pm sales ban, a rule originally introduced to prevent government employees from drinking alcohol during work hours and often puzzling foreign visitors.
Health Minister Pattana Promphat said that the move was “appropriate to the present situation”, according to a statement in The Royal Gazette published on December 2.
The country has some of the highest alcohol consumption rates in Asia, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), with locals typically reaching for the ubiquitous Chang, Singha and Leo beers.
Thailand ranked 16th out of nearly 200 countries for the most road traffic deaths per capita in 2021, WHO data shows. Nearly 33,000 people were killed in drunk driving incidents in the country from 2019 to 2023, according to public health ministry figures./.
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AOT estimates that, with an average of 35 million passengers passing through its six airports annually, the increase in the PSC will generate around 10 billion THB in additional revenue per year.
