Alcohol Ban in Thailand on Valentine’s Day

On Friday 14th February 2014, Thai Buddhists will be celebrating Makha Bucha Day. By coincidence this year, this is also Valentine’s Day. In order to encourage Thais to be good Buddhists on this day and to keep the precepts, the Thai government imposed a ban on the sale of alcohol back in 2009 on all Buddhist holidays.  Offenders face 6 months in prison and/or 10,000 Baht fine. This includes all retail outlets and pubs and bars. This also goes for the Full Moon Party that is delayed one day until Saturday night.  The only exception under the law are properly registered hotels that mainly have a foreign clientele. However, they sometimes self-impose a ban on alcohol. The alcohol ban starts on Thursday at midnight and runs for a complete 24 hours until midnight on Friday.

One thought on “Alcohol Ban in Thailand on Valentine’s Day

  • February 12, 2014 at 9:32 am
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    It is Macha Bucha Day, Valentines’s Day and it’s my birthday! So I WILL have a drink!! I am not a Thai but I do confess to a Buddhist philosophy. It isn’t illegal to drink alcohol so people will stock up the day before and still plenty of places to buy on the day if you are that desperate.

    The idea of banning alcohol to encourage good moral fortitude is rather quaint but outdated and unrealistic. Wouldn’t it be nice for “good” Thais to impose a self ban for the day?

    Reply

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