{"id":1732,"date":"2023-11-07T18:54:22","date_gmt":"2023-11-07T11:54:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thailands-alcohol-regulations-effect\/"},"modified":"2026-09-05T19:57:41","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T12:57:41","slug":"thailands-alcohol-regulations-effect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/thailands-alcohol-regulations-effect\/","title":{"rendered":"La r\u00e9glementation tha\u00eflandaise sur l'alcool : est-elle efficace ?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Update, current position, read against the amending Act itself on 3 September 2026.<\/strong> Le Alcoholic Beverage Control Act (No. 2) B.E. 2568<\/strong> was given on 6 September 2025 and published in the Government Gazette on 9 September 2025<\/strong>, volume 142 part 57 Kor, page 8. Four provisions of it decide everything on this page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Section 2, commencement.<\/strong> The Act comes into force when sixty days from publication have elapsed<\/strong>, which puts it in early November 2025. That alone disposes of the September 2025 date that circulated in the press, and it explains the report that the afternoon ban was still being enforced weeks after the Act passed: it was not yet in force. Section 3 (1), the repeal.<\/strong> Revolutionary Council Announcement No. 253 of 16 November 1972 is repealed outright, and section 3 (2) repeals NCPO Head Order No. 22\/2558 with it. Section 20, the power.<\/strong> It replaces section 28 of the 2008 Act, so prohibited selling days and times are now fixed by announcement of the Control Committee<\/strong>; before, they were fixed by the Prime Minister on the National Committee’s recommendation. Section 43, the transitional.<\/strong> Every regulation and announcement made under the 2008 Act stays in force, so far as it is not contrary to the amended Act, until an announcement made under the amended Act replaces it<\/strong>, and those replacements must be made within one year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u26a0\ufe0f Section 43 is why repealing the 1972 Announcement did not, by itself, end the afternoon gap.<\/strong> The same 11:00 to 14:00 and 17:00 to 24:00 hours are imposed a second time, independently, by the Prime Minister’s Office Announcement on prohibited times for selling alcoholic beverages, B.E. 2558<\/strong>, made under section 28 and published on 22 January 2015. That announcement was not repealed by the new Act, and section 43 keeps it alive until a Control Committee announcement takes its place. The National Alcohol Policy Committee approuv\u00e9<\/em> lifting the afternoon ban on 13 November 2025 and the lift was reported in early December, which is consistent with such an announcement having been published, but an approval is not an instrument and we cannot produce the announcement.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So: the 1972 source of the afternoon ban is certainly gone. Whether the ban itself is gone depends on whether the 2015 announcement has been replaced, and that is the one thing to check before you sell at 3 pm.<\/strong> Ask your provincial public health office or look for a Control Committee announcement in the Gazette. The historical account below is kept for context; treat any specific 2023 rule in it as superseded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thailand\u2019s alcohol regulations effect spark debates on impact and effectiveness. Discover the rationale and consequences of these restrictions on society and tourism. It worths analyzing Thailands alcohol regulations, their effect and the alcohol consumption in Thailand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In November 2023, Anutin, then Minister of the Interior, announced a trial allowing some nightspots to serve alcohol until 4 am. When you study alcohol sales in Thailand, you can see the illogical alcohol restrictions in place in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trial covered Chonburi (Pattaya), Phuket, Chiang Mai and Bangkok, and was announced to run until 15 December 2023. That date has long passed and this page does not track what replaced it, so check the rule in force in your province before relying on this paragraph.<\/strong> The wider regime remains inconsistent and, in places, counterproductive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last reviewed: 3 September 2026, on its statements of law only. This page is partly an opinion piece and its argument is the author’s; the review did not touch it. Revolutionary Council Announcement No. 253 of 1972 was read in full from the consolidated Thai text, and clause 2 is the source of the 11:00 to 14:00 and 17:00 to 24:00 selling hours, of the permission route through the Directeur<\/a>-General of Police or the provincial governor, and of the after-midnight carve-out for entertainment venues, which is narrower than this page previously described. The Alcoholic Beverage Control Act B.E. 2551 was read for the age of 20 and the prohibited-place rules the page cites. A second pass on 3 September 2026 added the amending Act, read from its Gazette text: section 2 (commencement, sixty days from publication), section 3 (the repeals), section 20 (the new section 28 and the transfer of the power to the Control Committee), section 21 (the new section 29), section 26 (the new section 32, which bans drinking at a selling venue during prohibited hours), section 27 with Chapter 4\/1 on advertising, and the transitional sections 42 and 43. The two 2015 Prime Minister’s Office announcements made under section 28, on prohibited times and on prohibited days, were read in full from the Gazette text.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Updated 3 September 2026, second pass. The earlier note here said this review could not read the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act (No. 2) B.E. 2568 because it is not in our law library. That was true of our library and not of the sources available: the Act’s full Government Gazette text has since been read in the original Thai, and the sections cited above, 2, 3, 20, 21, 26, 27 with Chapter 4\/1, 42 and 43, are quoted from it. What is still not certified is narrower and more specific: we cannot produce the Control Committee announcement that would replace the 2015 selling-hours announcement<\/strong>, and under section 43 that announcement, not the repeal of the 1972 Announcement, is what ends the afternoon restriction. Anyone relying on being able to sell between 14:00 and 17:00 should confirm that it has been published.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Quand est-il possible d'acheter de l'alcool en Tha\u00eflande ?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Retail sales are still restricted by time of day, but the afternoon window is no longer one of the restrictions<\/strong>. Until the 2568 Act, clause 2 of Revolutionary Council Announcement No. 253 of 1972 confined holders of a type 3 to type 6 liquor licence to selling between 11:00 and 14:00 and between 17:00 and 24:00<\/strong>, unless the Director-General of Police (for Bangkok) or the provincial governor had permitted otherwise. That Announcement has been repealed. \u26a0\ufe0f But the same afternoon gap is imposed a second time by the Prime Minister’s Office Announcement of 2015<\/strong>, made under section 28 of the 2008 Act, whose clause 1 allows selling only from 11:00 to 14:00 and from 17:00 to 24:00 with two exceptions: inside an international airport terminal building<\/strong>, and in a licensed entertainment venue<\/strong> during the hours it may open under the Entertainment Places law. Section 43 of the 2025 Act keeps that announcement in force until an announcement under the amended Act replaces it, so the repeal of the 1972 Announcement removes the older source of the gap and not necessarily the gap. The night restriction, from midnight to 11:00, is the part readers still run into at a convenience store. \u26a0\ufe0f One correction to what is widely repeated, including in earlier versions of this page: it was never true that bars, restaurants and nightclubs could simply sell “according to their operating hours”. Clause 2 paragraph 3 let an entertainment venue licensed to open past midnight sell outside the fixed hours only after 24:00, until closing<\/strong>. It did not open the afternoon to them. How does Thailand\u2019s Alcohol Regulations Effect works in reality? What are Thailand\u2019s Alcohol Regulations Effects?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Des exceptions \u00e0 ces r\u00e8gles concernent les f\u00eates bouddhistes importantes et les jours d'\u00e9lection. Lors des f\u00eates bouddhistes importantes, la vente d'alcool est interdite toute la journ\u00e9e. Parmi ces f\u00eates figurent Makha Bucha, Visakha Bucha et Asahna Bucha. Sont \u00e9galement concern\u00e9s le d\u00e9but et la fin du car\u00eame bouddhiste. Pendant les \u00e9lections nationales et locales, la vente d'alcool est interdite de 18h00 la veille du scrutin jusqu'\u00e0 18h00 le jour de l'\u00e9lection. Les a\u00e9roports et certains h\u00f4tels peuvent \u00e9galement appliquer des horaires prolong\u00e9s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Why Alcohol Sales Were Prohibited Between 2pm and 5pm<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Thailand\u2019s alcohol sales restriction between 2pm and 5pm has been a subject of debate and discussion for several years. The government created this policy to reduce heavy drinking. It aims to lower the health and social problems linked to alcohol use. However, there have been growing concerns about the effectiveness of this restriction and its impact on businesses and consumers. There have also been exceptions, such as in hotels and airports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was traveling abroad between October and May 2022 in neighboring countries, and NO OTHER COUNTRY has this rule. What are we saying? Thai people can\u2019t drink responsibly? Or that they should buy more before 2pm so they can be drunk until 5pm and continue later? We can understand why illegal drugs are forbidden by the government. Alcohol is more complex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I personally do not understand why Thailand has so many rules. Here, you can drink until 4am, but only in 4 provinces. But you can\u2019t between 2pm and 5pm? These 4 provinces can behave responsively but not the other provinces? It is strange.<\/p>\n\n\n\n