Roads in Thailand the sixth most dangerous

[TotallyOz]

Songkran alcohol ban mulled in a move to reduce deaths during holiday

The Alcoholic Beverage Control Committee will on Monday consider whether to issue a ban on the sale of alcohol during the Songkran holiday period, Songkran Pakchokdee, director of the Anti-Alcohol Organisations Network, told The Nation.

 

A ban, aimed at reducing deaths from road accidents over the period, will be proposed by Dr Saman Futrakul, director of the Disease Control Department's Office of Alcoholic Beverage and Tobacco Consumption Control Committee.

 

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Roads-in-Thailand-the-sixth-most-dangerous-30202575.html

 

There is also a great chart on this page. check it out. Makes you wonder about driving during certain holidays and I have known at least 5 Thai boys personally killed in motorcycle accidents.

[Guest fountainhall]

An alcohol ban has been tried before - many times - and in my view it does zilch to reduce the number of road deaths. It's like the ban on the sale of alcohol in the afternoons. If anyone wants alcohol in this country, they buy it before or after the shops stop selling it. That ban is just plain ridiculous!

 

Bans might - only 'might' - work if the government was to stop its nonsensical resistance to changing its alcoholic beverage tax/excise duty laws. When spirits are taxed at a lower rate than beer or wine, is it any wonder that Thais drink themselves senseless with hard liquor? 

 

But then, this is Thailand and someone is always paid to ensure things do or do not happen. It's no coincidence that an unnamed official was paid US$600,000 between 2004 and 2008 by the world's largest producer of spirits, Diageo, to lobby for maintenance of the status quo. And as we know, in this country, under-the-table money talks.

[Guest]

The way to stop drink driving is to have frequent random breath tests, with fines for anyone a little bit over the limit and jail sentences for people significantly over the limit.  Make it socially unacceptable.

Of course, that requires an effective corruption free police force & judiciary.

[a447a]

It's like the ban on the sale of alcohol in the afternoons. If anyone wants alcohol in this country, they buy it before or after the shops stop selling it.

Not even that.  I have bought alcohol during the afternoon ban from the little (and I mean really little!) shop on Suriwong next to the massage place/evening magazine seller. I would not have even spotted it unless I hadn't been taken there by a boy who wanted a beer.

 

Let's face it, you can buy anything, anywhere, from anybody in LOS. So a ban on anything is a total waste of time.

[Guest fountainhall]

. . . that requires an effective corruption free police force & judiciary.

 

Even though it ain't going to happen, I'll drink to that! 

[Guest colinr]

A higher tax on spirits could backfire if it led more people to turn to moonshine. Re Diageo, western goverments seem equally susceptible to being leant on by big business - look at what they do for big pharma for example.

[Guest Devint6669]

Hey guys let me tell i use to have a restaurant and banishing never worked for us because we serve it in a plastic glass with no bottle on the table it was no problem this is the way thai do it normally...

 

And what Colinr said it's totally true if you raise tax on all alcohol their will switch  moonshine and this will be worse...