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24 June 2011
Area 555 Weird News Property Marketplace The Cup Runneth Over...
parched?
three weekends out of the next month see alcohol sales prohibited
HUA HIN THAILAND As the Thai election on July 3rd approaches, the eyes of the nation and the world are watching and hoping that it passes off peacefully and fairly. The eyes of the nation’s bar owners and alcohol companies will, though, be drawn to the regulations that call for the closure of bars and the forbidding of the sale of alcohol before and during the election. There is a great deal of confusion and interpretation of these rules, but from the information AWOL has been able to garner, the situation in Hua Hin seems to be this: on Sunday 26th June is a pre-election voting day for those who are unable to vote the following Sunday, and this is supposed to be observed in the same way as the actual election day, with the prohibition of alcohol sales; however this had not been confirmed to any of the bar owners we spoke to ahead of publication. The following weekend in Hua Hin, it has been announced that alcohol sales will be prohibited on both Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd July, so bars will have to close on both days. No information has yet been forthcoming on when they can reopen, but Thai law states that it is once the voting has ended. To pile further misery onto the bar owners, Friday 15th and Saturday 16th July are Buddhist holidays (Asana Bucha Day and Wan Khao Pansa, or Buddhist Lent) when alcohol sales will also be prohibited. These should, of course, have been planned for as they occur every year, but coming so soon after the election closures it does not do the alcohol or tourism industries any favours. As always, the determined tourist, expat or Thai voter will be able to find somewhere that will serve them, but this just highlights the odd nature of the election alcohol regulations and the virtually impossible task of enforcing them, designed to prevent vote buying at lavish parties, which instead just prevents foreigners who are ineligible to vote from spending their money here.
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