New Governor for Udon Thani .

by **trubrit** » December 2, 2010, 3:50 pm

Yet again we have a new appointed governor in town . He is making his mark already with several edicts to the police to enforce straight away, not all to their liking . The major one which will effect some of our members . No selling alchohol in bars from 2-5 pm unless with food .I understand some places have already received a visit from the BIB, and beer ads have had to be covered up ..No alchohol to be sold in and around the Tungsri Muang festival and for some strange reason, no pancake sellers to be allowed peddling their wares in the streets either .The enterprising guys that used to rope parts of the pavement off and charge 10bht to park your motorbike there under their supervision have all been shifted on. This latter one is causing the most BIB upset, apparently up to this morning, 150 bikes have already been reported stolen .
All this on Udon radio news . :roll:

TIT .

by **BobHelm** » December 2, 2010, 3:58 pm

trubrit wrote: The major one which will effect some of our members . No selling alchohol in bars from 2-5 pm unless with food .

Jon at Chern Chim had better stock up on Walkers crisps then as he will be having a run on sales!!!

I had heard that a couple of bars in Day & Night had been 'fined' 2,000 baht for doing so. No body seemed to know where the edict had come from (so thanks for that TB) or if it was actually legal....

by **stattointhailand** » December 2, 2010, 4:31 pm

I assume that the law does not allow the sale of alchohol between 14:00 and 17:00. It's clearly marked in the major supermarkets, and STRICTLY adhered to......... unless ..

One thing that has always puzzled me. If you don't ask for your checkbin until AFTER 17:00 then there has been NO SALE made before that time. If you are a regular in a certain establishment, providing the proprieter allows you to run your "bin" until the following day, you havn't purchased anything on the "banned" day, or perhaps you could arrange to pay up front on the day before.

by **trubrit** » December 2, 2010, 4:48 pm

stattointhailand wrote:I assume that the law does not allow the sale of alchohol between 14:00 and 17:00. It's clearly marked in the major supermarkets, and STRICTLY adhered to......... unless ..

Just to throw a little light on this .The retailsale of alcohol is forbidden between those times. You can't buy a bottle but you can buy a case plus 2 bottles . That then qualifies as a wholesale purchase .The Ngee Soon supermarket being a wholesale outlet will sell you some at any time. The anomaly here is that Makro, another so called wholesaler won't.
Tesco and Big C will, subject to the minimum purchase as above .The cafeteria in the Centra sells beer by the glass all day, but Tops at the other end of the complex sticks strictly to the rules . Not even permitting wholesale purchase. Apparently the tills are programmed to freeze alcohol bar codes during these hours .So if you want to get pee'd do it in a big way, by the case not a bottle at a time . :-"

TIT

by **kopkei** » December 2, 2010, 7:40 pm

i don't follow ,i always buy beer in morning at makro , (i always like to shop in morning, hate shops , banks, whatever opening at 11.00h), they told me when ever you buy 2 box of beer ( and more), no problem, the law doesn't say you can not buy or drink a beer in a restaurant , bar , during the so called prohibited hours ,or am i wrong? this only refers to shops, TIT ielie................ and very stupid....

by **BobHelm** » December 2, 2010, 8:07 pm

After doing a bit of reading there has been quite a bit of talk and police action in Bangkok & Pataya over the last couple of months around the provisions of The alcohol Control Act 2007.
As far as I can gather one of the main thrusts of the act was the banning of advertising alcohol, apart from 'bottles on shelves'. So large Leo/Chang etc. signs (or attractive ladies dressed in uniforms that suggest alcohol) are not permitted. This has largely been left to lie until a few months ago when the police started to enforce it farther south. It has now reached Udon Thani.
Another part of the act that has gone largely unenforced is the restriction placed on zero alcohol near public buildings - that has also been enforced south of Udon.
I understand that the law says this about the time of sale of alcohol.

controls the sale of alcohol by specifying the prohibited time and places to sell the alcohol. The prohibited times are during the day from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 12 p.m. each day. For the important four Buddhist religious days, the sale of alcohol is absolutely banned.

However nowhere have I seen that this restriction is also placed on "bars" but not "restaurants". Neither have I found any evidence that such a restriction has been applied anywhere else in Thailand.
It could be a 'misinterpretation' of the law by the local police, or it could be a 'misunderstanding' by those fined as to what they were actually been fined for - I would suspect that nearly every establishment selling alcohol (shops excepted) fall foul of the 'unable to advertise' law...

by **Tafia** » December 3, 2010, 12:46 am

My wife runs a small bar in Soi Sampan, she was fined 2000 the other night for not being closed at midnite, a couple of customers, all had check binned was finishing off their beer and saying their farewells, she had cashed up and bar lights outside switched off...the time 20 minutes after midnite...!!
She has also been informed (by other bar owners)of the 2-5pm rule, (usual opening time at 2.30..now 5pm.)
I wish the authorities would inform everyone in writing so everyone knows exactly whats what; there are far too many grey areas.
Does this 2-5pm rule also apply to the many mom & pop shops that serve alcohol that is drunk outside their shops??

by **trubrit** » December 3, 2010, 7:14 am

BobHelm wrote:I understand that the law says this about the time of sale of alcohol.
controls the sale of alcohol by specifying the prohibited time and places to sell the alcohol. The prohibited times are during the day from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 12 p.m. each day. For the important four Buddhist religious days, the sale of alcohol is absolutely banned.

A quick correction Bob . Those are the permitted times.
As you correctly point out, the laws made by parliament are interpreted and enforced, differently in several regions. This is because the government appointed local governors are the arbitrators of the meaning and scope of enforcement of the law . They are literally the boss of all that goes on in their appointed region . So you have the situation, as we have now, of a new governor enforcing his particular understanding of it, differently to his predecessor, and as under the current volatile administration, we seem to be changing governors quite frequently, obviously we have this yo-yo effect depending on the individuals personal, dare I say, foibles ( Insert your own word).This is not only confusing to us , the users, but think about the vendors and dare I say it , the police, who have to constantly change their priorities of enforcement, to match the whims of the new man .I think I have said enough from which you may gather, I am not the only one getting confused . :roll:

by **parrot** » December 3, 2010, 1:23 pm

A Thai friend of mine tells me the new governor is anxious to clean up Udon's act then return to his hometown of ?Chonburi?

My wife and I toured half the Tungsrimeuang fairgrounds yesterday afternoon. Lots of government displays of farming techniques along with lots of low quality/low price kitchen/home wares along with the plants for sale on the street. We left empty handed. For what it's worth, the fair used to be THE opportunity to buy unusual plants/orchids/etc......and you can still buy them there. But with the proliferation of nurseries around town over the years, there's a good selection elsewhere as well.

As for the governor and the laws, I have no problem with enforcement. I prefer the enforcer over the guy who looks the other way. If his actions help in keeping Udon from following down the path of Pattaya, that'd be fine with me.

by **Tafia** » December 3, 2010, 2:24 pm

As for the governor and the laws, I have no problem with enforcement. I prefer the enforcer over the guy who looks the other way. If his actions help in keeping Udon from following down the path of Pattaya, that'd be fine with me.

I'm in full agreement..... as long as everyone is informed of what is and what is not allowed.
They just need to clear up the 'grey areas' and make it black and white so everyone knows what is expected, then it's up to the individual whether to comply or ignore.
My wife wishes to comply but is unsure what to do as it depends on who she speaks to and who is in authority at the time.

by **Aardvark** » December 6, 2010, 11:33 am

Well it annoys me ! Except Tuesday Pool Comp and maybe a Saturday Night I'm an Afternoon Drinker from maybe 3pm to 7pm and then it's Dinner and off to my Room. All this does is encourage People to go out Drinking at Night when the most problems occur. Totally Stupid in my opinion. And what if your a Tourist ??

by **stattointhailand** » December 6, 2010, 1:03 pm

And what if your a Tourist ??

I suspect that most will be TOURING, not sitting in a bar !!

Tourists to the UK, didn't have "afternoon drinking" until a few years ago, but it didn't seem to stop them comeing.

Anyone who is that desperate for alcohol between 2 and 5 in the afternoon, really does need to see their doctor.

by **trubrit** » December 6, 2010, 1:22 pm

stattointhailand wrote:And what if your a Tourist ??

I suspect that most will be TOURING, not sitting in a bar !!

Tourists to the UK, didn't have "afternoon drinking" until a few years ago, but it didn't seem to stop them comeing.

Anyone who is that desperate for alcohol between 2 and 5 in the afternoon, really does need to see their doctor.

Can't really say if the Thai law says's it, but the way I see it, is that the governor is trying to enforce virtually the same system we have in the UK, whereby most pubs went over to serving food and catering for a more :"family orientated" customer base .The purely drinking dens, like D&N here, for the most part , either disappeared, or still don't open during the day time .Leaving the genuine tourists to enjoy a drink with a bar meal in an environment conducive to experiencing the joys of an quintessentially British pub, then if they wish, diving down the many beer holes that open up after dark .
I am all for that approach .

by **old-timer** » December 6, 2010, 1:48 pm

Check in to the centara hotel then they will serve you 24/7. Bit of an expensive way of doing things though. The next best option is to load up the fridge at home, and the next best option after that is to wait to 5pm and then make up for lost time.
Doing away with the 10 or 20 baht secure mc parking at tungsi muang seems a bit illogical. I cannot think of a downside of having it. OT's had 2 mc's stolen over the years. My wife says they havn't been stolen, it's that I can't remember where I left them. She's got a point.

OT........... $\:D/$

by **hey you** » December 8, 2010, 9:05 pm

there was an article in the bkk post about 2 months ago on the banning sales of alchol for three hours. the logic behind the law is if the sale of alcohol is banned for three hours it will help thai to be better buhddists. the writer pointed out the law was so vague it could be used to shut down bars during the same time. i have seen falangs in the old soi falang ordering their first beer of the day at 0900hr.

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