Thailand mulls lifting 53-year-old ban on afternoon alcohol sale in bid to boost tourism

[JVHyatt]

Fina-fucking-ly.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/thailand-alcohol-ban-afternoon-sales-paetongtarn-shinawatra-4938351

[Brit In Myanmar]

Does anyone know if this was actually followed through on? Or will 11th May still be alcohol free?

[Johny333]

Yesterday I was in a big Lotus supermarket in the North of Thailand at 3PM and the cashier took out my bottle of red wine saying it was not allowed. I asked in my miserable Thai "why is it in the shop?" but she said only after 5 o 'clock. 

So this old rule is apparently still applied. 

[ricktoronto]

Do you think stores remove all the liquor and beer between 2 and 5 every single day and then at 5:01 they put it all back? 

It's still the law.

[Herbby]

I don’t really care either way. You can always get a drink if you want one anyway.

[psi_starstorm]

They’re making weed illegal again so somehow I doubt they are that worried about making substances more available for tourists. 😔

[ricktoronto]

The weed thing will turn out to be a racket to make money on permits and hopefully to lessen the amount pot smoking in the open.

As for and until the booze ban changes there is the option of buying booze before or after the ban hours and keeping it in the fridge.

I think more people if given the option would rather there be zero no drinking days and leave the sake hours alone.

[bgtp]

As of last month, they are now allowing bars in some areas, such as tourist areas, to open on the major Buddhist holidays. So that’s one positive change imo.

[psi_starstorm]

I wonder how important "buying alcohol in the afternoon" really is for tourism as a whole? Like would you not go to a county because you couldn't buy a beer in the off-hours? There's a lot of other stuff to do. 

[Sabooboo]

1 hour ago, psi_starstorm said:

I wonder how important "buying alcohol in the afternoon" really is for tourism as a whole? Like would you not go to a county because you couldn't buy a beer in the off-hours? There's a lot of other stuff to do. 

Would you really not go to a country if it were 5% more expensive? Would you not go if the service staff were 5% less friendly?. Or the beer were slightly less tasty or food less interesting, the traffic worse,  scams a tiny bit more common, .... They all make a difference, just maybe not to you personally.

This stupid rule makes a difference in the overall enjoyment of some people's trip. Sometimes a big difference.

Edited August 1, 2025 by Sabooboo

[Herbby]

14 hours ago, Sabooboo said:.

This stupid rule makes a difference in the overall enjoyment of some people's trip. Sometimes a big difference.

I may find that hard to believe. It’s a few hours. And you can still get booze in most places anyway.

[Sabooboo]

2 hours ago, Herbby said:

I may find that hard to believe. It’s a few hours. And you can still get booze in most places anyway.

It's not about hard core alcoholics who just need any shot of alcohol. For people who actually enjoy good alcohol and find it enhances their life, it is a big fucking deal.

If you've walked a half hour in the heat to a new craft beer bar only to find out that they won't be serving in the afternoon, it's a big deal. Sure, you could find a place to sell you a Singha if you were a desperate alcoholic, but that's not the point.

If you drive 40 minutes to the middle of nowhere to play top golf and find that they stop serving beer in 15 minutes, it's a big fucking deal. Yes, you could play without drinking, but it's absolutely not the same.

If you are meeting people for a fancy late lunch and find out that they can't serve good wine to enhance that lunch, it's a big deal.

If your girlfriend is shopping in a busy mall for way too fucking long and there is a craft beer bar right in the middle with decent beer? Sounds great, but nope, they just stopped serving.

Those are all things that have happened to me (and many more) even though I know the concept of this fucking law it still surprises me and confuses me and nobody can properly explain it. Yes, with enough knowledge, planning and language skills you can mitigate this annoyance, but you shouldn't have to.

 

This obviously doesn't matter to you and the majority, but it does matter to many. Even more to those who only have a few days to enjoy Bangkok.

If there were a similarly stupid law for something you or they cared about, say pussy, they would find it a big deal too. If there were a nuru parlor with 22 year old hotties and you researched and spent time and money getting there, but it's shut for the next 3 hours because of some arcane law, would you be happy to be told, "don't worry about, it there's a massage joint next door with some toothless hags who will jerk you off"?