Beer Laws

Strange laws about beer sales in Thailand......Open sales from 11am to 2pm and from 5pm to midnight. Signs in Thai are posted snd enforced in Big C, Tesco, Tops, etc. No beer sales on some religious and royal holidays, also.

Today was Buddhist Lent so went to Big C this morning around 10am to get the shopping done before the pickups loaded with villagers started arriving. Noticed a few people loading up their carts with boxes of beer which made me wonder so I found a stock gal and asked her about it. She led me to a sign and pointed to the number "10" near the bottom. What I gathered was that if you buy 10 liters of beer, irregardless of the time as long as the place is open, then the laws don't apply. So, a case of cans of Leo is 7.92 liters (24 cans x 330ml). Top it off with another case of Leo or a few large bottles and you're home-free. Makes no sense but I tested it and they rang up my two cases with no problem. Beats having to keep an eye on your watch while you're shopping anyway.

so they interpret the closing hours of day trading V's the non sales during a religious holiday.

Interesting if they apply this on Dec 5th this year ??

that much beer would last me way too long in the house, drink most alcohol out with lunch or saturdays at NM. tea toddler at home, or shall i say coffe/baileys toddler, on those rare occassions.

This is not a new thing, it's been like this for years, i think it's because anything over 10 litres of beer is classed as a trade purchase, the time restrictions only apply to non trade purchases (i.e for your own consumption)

Crazy i know.

As Trubrit pointed out on another thread the sale of alcohol is not forbidden by Thai law over the Buddhist lent days. It is just a request made by BIB to some establishments as an act of respect.
It is forbidden by law to sell alcohol on election days & most national holidays like the Kings' birthday. No matter how much alcohol you try to buy at whatever time on December 5th. you will be refused by all the major supermarkets.

It obviously doesn't apply to small village shops and outlets as I have purchased as little as 6 cans of beer during the forbidden hours.

Perhaps they have greased the palms of the BIB

Lionheart wrote:It obviously doesn't apply to small village shops and outlets as I have purchased as little as 6 cans of beer during the forbidden hours.

Perhaps they have greased the palms of the BIB

No, that's in line with what Bob said above. It's a request not to sell beer not a requirement. According to the Dragon (the TW), it's at the discretion of the shopkeeper.

JimboPSM wrote:It should be against the law to sell gnat's p*ss as beer [/list]

You need to qualify that statement:

Any brands in mind?

Feel free to name and shame (subject to relevant litigation laws).

As I recall, rules were put into place that only allowed alcohol sales between 17:00 and 24:00, to prevent students from buying alcohol while their parents were at work. Then there was a clamor, and they allowed sales from 11:00 to 14:00 so workers could have a drink or three with their lunches. I don't suppose that anybody stopped to think that enforcing the existing law against selling alcohol to children would have worked.

In any case, if I recall correctly, the exception for purchases over 10 liters was to allow businesses to buy alcohol. The thinking (apparently) was that high school kids weren't likely to buy more than a bottle or two.

Thanks Rick, I always wondered about the logic of it - at least there was some logic
I also know that some 7/11s will not sell alcohol (which I though was related to distance from a Wat) but went into one the other day that didn't sell ciggies either. They told me it was because they were "x" metres from a school.
I sometimes wonder at Thai logic about things when viewing from a western standpoint but, often, there is actually genuine thought behind it. You (well I mean I ) might not necessarily think it is the best way to go, but there is often a sensible Thai reason for it...

Gas stations (with 7/11's) can't sell alcohol ........ law changed about 2 or 3 years ago, as it was deemed that drivers would get drunk, when in truth they just wanted a "top up" for the bottle of 100 pipers thay had already consumed.

westerby wrote:

JimboPSM wrote:It should be against the law to sell gnat's p*ss as beer [/list]

You need to qualify that statement:

Any brands in mind?

Feel free to name and shame (subject to relevant litigation laws).

anything with a low alcohol content usually tastes of weak urine(gnats)..(i know because someone told me)

Yeah. about the time they took alcohol out of the gas stations, the decided that it can't be sold within 500 meters of schools and (I think) Wats.

Small shops will sometimes sell outside of the officially allowed hours, but at places like Big C and Tesco, there is a real risk of getting caught, and no clerk would be willing to loose her job and possibly do jail time just to sell a can of beer.

so the idea would be to either buy beer in bulk, or go to the village 7-11 where they know you and will serve you anytime