Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Alcohol Laws here in Thailand and a recent call by an MP here in Thailand to take a look at this. I'm just going to jump in. I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from The Phuket News, that is thephuketnews.com, the article is titled: Phuket MP Slams Alcohol Law Confusion. Quoting directly: “Phuket MP Chalermpong Saengdee has blasted the current state of the law regulating the sale of alcohol on Buddhist religious holidays for creating chaos, saying inconsistent interpretations are confusing both businesses and law enforcement." Quoting further: "It's time to reform the Entertainment Venue Act to be modern - for a sustainable nightlife economy," Mr. Chalermpong told The Phuket News."

You know, this term sustainable, it really is ubiquitous, and we needed to stop using it. It's a meaningless term and it's one of these terms that I don't know, it seems to be coming from primarily the West, what I can only call foreign undue influence and it seems to be coming up sometimes when people just; it's sort of as if how Valley Girls in English will say "like" all the time. It's unnecessary and superfluous, the same way they say "sustainable" all the time. It makes everything sound weird and frankly kind of dumb. I'm not saying he's dumb, I'm saying just that constant use of "sustainable", it's just why? Yeah, anything you do, you want to do for a long period of time, so we always want things to be sustainable; it is just redundant and nonsensical. 

Quoting further: "He said outdated and unclear rules led to the recent confusion over alcohol sales in Phuket during the Buddhist Lent holiday Wan Org Pansa one yesterday." Quoting further: "MP Chalermpong's comments came after Patong Police Chief Pol Col Chalermchai Hernsawat attempted to clarify enforcement during the Buddhist Lent holiday yesterday. Pol Col Chalermchai confirmed alcohol sales were banned at general stores, convenience shops, and "restaurants" not registered as entertainment venues." That is another one. Based on what authority? And it is my understanding that this whole thing was brought about by a law that was done under some coup government back in the '70's under military rule which again! That said, quoting further: "Only places such as hotels, airports and legally licensed entertainment venues are permitted to sell alcohol on the five main Buddhist holidays," - by the way, I thought it was three, two by the way. This just keeps changing. I agree with this MP is what I'm trying to say. There needs to be a real look in Parliament at these alcohol laws and let's actually pass something that's clear, concise and we all know what the rules are so that we can stop having all of this running around saying it's one thing, it's this many days, it's that many days, you can do this, these people can be open but these can’t.  Just set a Law and let everybody abide by it. Quoting further: "he said, acknowledging overlapping regulations from the Interior and Public Health Ministries had deepened confusion." Quoting further: "The confusion over the alcohol ban reared its ugly head in Phuket only in July, when police defended their closing of selected bars and restaurants across the island, saying that only service establishments with valid licenses are allowed to sell alcohol during the Asarnha Bucha and Khao Pansa Buddhist holidays."

So, yeah we all get the closure stuff for Buddhist holidays. Nobody's disputing that per se, but it's just the nature of the Law. I think this MP has a point. Let's get a Law through Parliament. Something that is clearly delineated; we know who's open, who's not, under what conditions, on what days or not have them, whatever we end up doing here in Thailand, but let's pass it through Parliament so it's clear, so we have got something we can sort of hang up on the wall and we know, "hey this is how it's going to be on these days. This is who has to be closed, this is who might be able to be open, or everyone has to be closed or everyone can be open." Whatever, let's come up with a law and actually enforce it in sort of a fair and balanced way rather than having all this arbitrary and capriciousness all around us, seemingly any time this issue rears its head.