Draught beer in convenience stores declared illegal
The Official Government Gazette of Thailand has officially declared that selling draught beer, with a specific definition of “sales of beer through beer taps, or beer machines in convenience stores is illegal” the declaration is effective from 31 October 2018.
The Goverment Gazette gives the definitions to
“alcohol dispensary machine”: to be a tool or an outlet that is a mechanic or electric machine that can dispense alcoholic beverages for immediate consumption.
“Convenient Store”: A retail store or a store that directly sells to consumers for convenience to answer demands of customers, where the store is a rightful seller with a license of type 2 alcoholic beverages.
The argument of whether it is deemed rightful to sell draught beer in convenience stores has been an ongoing argument in the online world since October of 2017 when the major franchise of convenient stores “7/11” decided to test out the market by placing draught beer machines in 10 branches throughout the nation. They later decided to remove the draught beer machines out of the stores after only a short period of time due to the backlash from the community and the online world.
It is seen that beer sold through a machine is too easy to access, causing minors and buyers to have an easy access to beer making them believe that drinking beer is normal on a daily basis. Others also argue that the difference from draught beer vs. traditional can and bottled beer is that draught beer requires consuming the beer fresh from the tap, which can result in intoxication on the area of the convenient stores, including on the streets that can lead to reckless driving on the roads.
The declared law on this issue implements the power of section 28 and section 30 of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act B.E.2551 with the authorities resolution declaration thereof.
Facebook Caption: The argument on whether draught beer can be sold in convenience stores is officially a “NO”.
Source: Sanook, Thai PBS
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