Hey, remember how there was a coup in Thailand and the first Muslim general in the country’s history was suddenly in charge of the whole country? Check out what just came over the wires of Metroblogging Bangkok:
In order to promote a healthy lifestyle, the Public Health Minister announced today that the government will impose a complete ban on all alcohol advertisements in all forms of media. Dr. Mongkol na Songkhla was quoted as saying “The prohibition will protect people’s health and to reduce road accidents” and the new law will see an introduction of drinking free zones and control of venues selling alcohol… The legal limit for purchasing alcohol is now 25. Deputy Chief of the Disease Control Department, Narong Sahamethapat, was quoted yesterday as saying that the idea was proposed by a network of parents early this year during a public hearing of a draft bill to control alcoholic drinks. From now on, alcolol free zones include: Universities, Schools (and any other places of education), Temples, State Offices.
As of this post, there’s about thirty relevant hits on Google News for thailand+alcohol. There is an AP article on the issue floating around, but it’s been out for a day and a half and few outlets seem to be picking it up. No worries – this potential evidence of creeping sharia in Thailand is probably not even worth discussing.
