Gaybutton Posted October 24, 2006 Posted October 24, 2006 At first, raising the legal minimum drinking age to 25 was seriously considered. Now it has been settled that one must be at least 20 years old before liquor can legally be consumed. I am amused because either way a Thai boy can work in a bar at age 18, but he can't drink in the same bar until he is 20. BANGKOK, Oct. 24 (TNA) Thailand's Cabinet Tuesday decided to raise the threshold making the legal age for liquor consumption to be age 20 and to complete the process to enforce the new regulation along with the total ban on liquor commercials by November. Public Health Minister Mongkol Na Songkhla said the Cabinet discussed the legal drinking age, which was originally pondered to be 25, and decided on 20. The Disease Control Department will work out details of the draft Alcoholic Beverage Consumption Control Act before seeking Cabinet approval. After Cabinet endorsement, the draft will be sent to the Council of State and the whole process which leads to enforcement of this new rule should be completed by November, according to Dr. Mongkol. Apart from setting the drinking age, the Cabinet also discussed complaints about the impact of the Food and Drug Administration's order banning liquor advertisements around the clock that will result in a Bt200 million revenue loss to the state. Dr. Mongkol said the Cabinet is of the view that advertising revenue from the alcoholic drink sector is neither significant nor sustainable. The Cabinet is pondering a possible solution in the form of increasing the so-called 'sin tax' Quote
