Thread: Authorities to Impose Sobering-Up Areas to Prevent Drunk Driving Amid 4AM Bar Closing

Entertainment venues that are set to stay open until 4 AM in line with the Thai government’s policy have been ordered to set up sobering-up areas to prevent patrons from driving home drunk.




The announcement was made by the National Alcohol Beverage Policy Committee, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai, on Saturday, December 9th.

Santi Promphat, deputy minister of public health, announced after the committee’s meeting that bars and nightclubs must strictly obey the rules and regulations when they are allowed to operate until 4 AM, starting on December 15th, to ensure patrons safety and minimize alcohol-related incidents.

Entertainment venues in legal zones in Phuket, Chiang Mai, Chonburi, Bangkok and Surat Thani (only on Koh Samui) will be given this privilege, which also applies to hotels nationwide.


Santi stressed that operators are to specifically follow the Entertainment Place Act and Section 29 of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act, which prevent nighttime venues from selling alcoholic beverages to people under 20 years old.


He went on to say that venue operators will be required to conduct breathalyzer tests on patrons. If customers’ alcohol level is above the legal limit of 50 milligrams per deciliter, they will need to rest at the areas provided by the venues until they are sober enough to drive home.


In the event that a customer refuses to rest and has a breath alcohol level exceeding the legal limit, the bar operators must contact the customer’s friends or relatives or hail public transport to arrange for their transportation at the customer’s expense.

Relevant agencies will collect data to assess the impact of extended operating hours.


TPN Media notes it is unclear how this plan is expected to be enforced and many entertainment venue business owners have already brought up many issues, including logistical, with breathalyzing every customer leaving a venue as well as to who would be responsible for paying for the equipment and what to do if a customer refuses the test.

Thai Authorities to Impose Sobering-Up Areas to Prevent Drunk Driving Amid 4AM Bar Closings - The Pattaya News

Ffs - you cannot just wait 20 minutes or an hour to sober up…

More brainfarts from the 'authorities'.

That'll work

Truly, they are the stupidest, most ignorant, daftest bunch of idiots on the planet.

The average male liver takes around an hour to process one unit of alcohol out of the system. There is no way of hastening this rate, drinking coffee, jumping up and down and going for long walks etc will do fuck all to increase the speed of disposal of the poison. To the liver alcohol is a poison and getting rid of it is its primary purpose.

So, Somchai is on the piss and in the course of the night he has drunk over 14 units of alcohol, say half a 70 cl bottle of whisky. In Thailand the legal limit of the BAC is equivalent to, say, two units of alcohol. It’s 4 in the morning and time to fuck off. Somchai started his binge at 2100hrs and paced himself but sped up his intake after midnight and consumed 10 more of his units. In order to become legal to drive he’d have to wait probably until 0900 hrs next day at the very earliest to sleep it off allowing his liver to do its thing.

Thai literally have no common sense but putting the onus of sobriety upon the outlet is moronic even for them.

I don't think it's going to be much of a problem up here if rumours are true - that the only "tourist zones" will be a handful of venues in which "influential people" have a financial interest.