By 7pm, the six employees of the Hunsa bar had gathered around the white wooden table to eat their home-made kanom jeen, a dish consisting of rice vermicelli served with curry.
The Hunsa bar is one of many which has been forced to close, leaving people out of work and the owners waiting for clarification on the new law.
“We’ve got nothing to do and we don’t have money, so we just come here and eat,” said X, an employee at the bar for seven years.
Even during school breaks, college students would pile into the bars along Vibhavadi Rangsit Soi 2, a small side street which leads to the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC), as early as 6pm.
On regular school days, the venues became so packed customers would stand on the pavement with a drink in hand, while the thumping sounds of loud bass-driven music from both sides of the street would rattle car windows.
But on Tuesday night, one week after the army-led National Council for Peace and Order published an order banning alcohol sales near schools and universities, Hunsa had no choice but to close, along with hundreds of other venues selling alcoholic beverages near the UTCC.
The move came after a decade of attempts to pass legislation to reduce the number of new drinkers, in a country with almost 600,000 venues with licences to sell alcohol, according to last year's data from the Excise Department.
While there is no available information on the number of alcohol vendors nationwide located near educational institutes, the recent measures are likely to take a major toll on more than 1,700 vendors within a 300-metre radius of 15 universities in Bangkok and its outskirts, according to research by the Centre for Alcohol Studies.
STATE OF CONFUSION
On Tuesday night, only a few minutes after the roller doors were half closed, three officials claiming to be from the Excise Department walked into Hunsa.
It was the second time the men had visited to try and take back the bar’s permit to sell alcohol, and it was the second time X had refused to cooperate. When that didn’t work, the officials asked for the owner’s phone number.
empty: Above, the Hunsa bar has been closed, and below, bar staff eat home-cooked food.
“The owner is discussing this with his legal adviser to see whether revoking our permit is even possible,” said X, who preferred to be identified only by his nickname.
Officials from the department told Spectrum they were asking bar operators to cooperate and return their liquor licences “to show that they intend to stop selling alcohol”.
“It’s easier to just give it [the permit] back to us,” said an official, who asked not to be named. “If we later find them selling alcohol, they will not be able to open a venue elsewhere.”
The official said his area covered 13 universities and 21 vocational schools, and between 400 and 500 venues fell within a 300m radius of them.
A day earlier, he had met with the universities, all of which had a different interpretation of “near”.
The vaguely worded junta order banning the sale of alcohol “near” educational institutes has been in effect since July 23, but it does not specify what distance, or how “near”, was acceptable.
The police, meanwhile, immediately started enforcing the order, raiding and shutting down pubs near Rangsit University in Pathum Thani and the UTCC.
Bars like Hunsa, which is about 200 steps from the back entrance of UTCC, only agreed to shut down after the police called and asked them to.
“The Din Daeng police are not sure what the word ‘near’ actually means, so they asked us to stop selling alcohol just in case,” said X.
Even law enforcers like Pol Col Pawon Ponpromma, the superintendent of Din Daeng police station, admitted vagueness had been a problem.
“The law is already in effect, but the problem we have today is that the radius has not yet been determined,” Pol Col Pawon said. “So they [the venues] have to stop selling as a precautionary measure.”
The police have a valid reason to be overly cautious. According to the NCPO order, officials who do not act in line with the order will face civil, criminal and administrative action, while supervisors will be investigated by the National Anti-Corruption Commission.
The order specifies all types of venues, which means fast-food chains, family-run shops and convenient stores will be affected. In practice, however, efforts to clamp down on alcohol sales have been focused largely on bars and pubs, with Din Daeng police informing bar and restaurant owners near the UTCC that they had to stop selling alcohol from July 23.
Family Mart and 7-Eleven stores located less than 100m from the UTCC’s back entrance were still selling alcoholic beverages when Spectrum surveyed the area last week.
A LONG TIME COMING
Efforts to enforce such alcohol bans date back 11 years, when the Public Health Ministry proposed 500m dry zones around all educational institutions and temples to the Thaksin Shinawatra cabinet.
According to an official 2005 report, the Council of State, the government’s legal arm, suggested the legislation cover only alcohol vendors situated immediately next to educational facilities or temples. Venues separated by a street or other vendors were to be exempt.
“The Council of State has considered the appropriateness of the 500m radius and we think it will seriously affect business operators,” the five-page document said. “In some provinces, that would mean no alcohol vendors are allowed at all.”
Concerns of a fresh crackdown on alcohol vendors came in early June after Rangsit University students were attacked on their way to a dormitory after leaving a nearby pub in the early hours, resulting in the death of one student.
“As soon as that news came out, we saw an increase in police checks and we thought we might soon have to close down,” X said.
After the incident, Justice Minister Paiboon Koomchaya urged Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to invoke his special powers to curb the problem.
Confusion has come, however, after two sets of orders were announced. The July 23 order, under Section 44 of the interim constitution, states only that alcohol could not be sold “near” educational institutes, but the did not set a radius for the dry zones. That was followed by the cabinet affirming a set of regulations from the Prime Minister’s Office banning alcohol sales within 300m of universities and technical colleges. However, that directive has not been published in the Royal Gazette and will not become law until 30 days after publication.
The seemingly overlapping orders left both the public and police confused over which areas were legal, with some uninformed websites speculating that large swathes of Bangkok, Pattaya and Phuket would be designated dry zones.
REDUCING THE NUMBERS
That it took a decade to push forward with the legislation came as no surprise to Songkran Pakchokdee, the director of the Stopdrink Network, who acknowledged passing such a law under a “normal” civilian government would prove difficult.
“[Past] governments were reluctant to pass such a law … and we all know that the alcohol industry supports all political parties in elections,” he said.
The Stopdrink Network has been working since 2003 to lower alcohol consumption, but Mr Songkran pointed out the aim of the new law was to prevent first-time drinkers, not to help problem drinkers.
“[The law] can’t reduce the amount of problem drinkers, but it will prevent non-drinkers, especially youth, to go out and drink with their friends if the venue is just outside the university,” he said.
Research by the Centre for Alcohol Studies shows a 72% increase in venues selling alcohol within a 500m radius of 11 universities in Bangkok and its suburbs last year, compared with 2009. The CAS estimates that every extra minute it takes to travel to the nearest alcohol vendor lowers the chance of drinking by 2%.
The number of new drinkers aged 15-24 has increased during the past decade, with 25.2% of drinkers aged 15-24 last year, compared with 23.9% in 2004.
Mr Songkran said the basic Buddhist teachings on alcohol are quite clear, with abstinence from drinking alcohol falling under the Five Precepts.
“According to Buddhist teachings, selling alcohol is a sinful occupation on par with selling weapons and drugs,” Mr Songkran said. “As a result, all sales of alcoholic beverages should be prohibited.”
But Pongkwan Sawasdipakdi, a lecturer at Thammasat University’s political science faculty, said although it was typical for states to regulate to restrict the behaviour of citizens, the ban on alcohol crosses a line and violates people’s basic rights.
“The state is now telling students that they’re too stupid, too immature to think for themselves,” she said.
She also expressed concern over the government’s notion of an ideal society that consists of only one set of morality rules authorised by the government, while those who do otherwise are considered “bad people”.
“This is no different to a fascist regime, using fear to control people according to what the state, its leader or the elite desire,” Ms Pongkwan said. “This will prevent any kind of creativity that will drive society and its economy forward.”
NOT SOLVING THE PROBLEM
For the past 10 years Hunsa has been in business, the staff have formed a close relationship with students from the nearby UTCC and Rajamangala University of Technology Tawan-Ok’s Chakrabongse Bhuvanarth campus.
Despite its proximity to two universities, about 60% of the bar’s customers have already graduated.
“We don’t intoxicate the students, and we don’t force them to come here on a daily basis,” said X. “In fact, I tell them to go home if they have classes the next day.”
Although Hunsa is a bar on the outside, it also has a restaurant licence and is authorised to sell alcohol. The recent alcohol ban has forced almost 10 employees out of work, plus dozens of band members — mostly university students — who played music at the venue from Mondays to Saturdays.
The bar also employed two UTCC students. One of them, a 24-year-old business administration student nicknamed Tee, had been working part-time at Hunsa for three to four years and earned 300 baht a day.
The employees argued setting up venues further away from campuses would increase the risk of drink-driving, and even if there are no alcohol vendors nearby, the students would still drink in their apartments.
X said the main factor contributing to the emergence of first-time drinkers is their state of mind.
“At that time [of a first drink], we might have had a fight with our boyfriend or girlfriend. So what do we do? We go to our friends, and they invite us to drink,” he said, adding the law will not lower the number of new drinkers because most choose to purchase alcohol at family-run shops.
X suggested that instead of prohibiting sales of alcohol, the penalty for those who disobey the law should be increased.
Thai Alcohol Beverage Business Association president Thanakorn Kuptajit said business operators were willing to follow the law, but wanted the government to clarify some of the vague terms associated with it.
The NCPO order prohibiting “venues selling alcohol” is vague and would have very wide implications, he said, while the term “educational institution” is not specific enough and could also be interpreted to mean tutors located in shopping malls.
“The 300m alcohol ban will not solve the problem,” said Mr Thanakorn, also corporate relations director of Diageo Moet Hennessy (Thailand), an importer and distributor of premium wines and spirits. “We have current laws related to alcohol sales, but they are not strictly enforced. What we could do, however, is impose a penalty on drinkers under 20 years old.”
A GATHERING FORCE
Vendors selling alcohol say they have never been part of the discussion during the period before the law on alcohol-free zones was enacted. But the lack of private sector involvement goes back to 2008, when the National Alcoholic Beverage Policy Committee, chaired by the prime minister, was set up.
According to the Alcohol Beverage Control Act, the committee is required to assign three representatives, one each from the Thai Chamber of Commerce, the Federation of Thai Industries and the Tourism Council of Thailand to act as advisers.
But Mr Thanakorn said those representatives were never appointed.
Those affected by the law turned to social media to voice their concerns. The very day the NCPO order became effective, a Facebook page was established under the name “People who have been affected by the 300m law”.
The page, which has more than 2,000 “likes”, is a platform for business operators to submit their names to a petition asking the NCPO to reconsider the alcohol ban.
Business operators are urged to send a message via Facebook to the page administrator with the name of their outlet and the number of employees.
“Please give us your name only, and do not make plans to gather,” said a post by the administrator on Tuesday.
While most posts involve confusion surrounding the law and the effects it may have on businesses, the page also received criticism for not following the rules.
“Since the law is already passed, why don’t the business operators just move out?” said a post on Monday under the name Sugar Print. “Some bars operating near universities allow students under the age of 18 to enter, and some don’t even have licences. It’s because of selfish business operators like these that such a law has to come out.”
“Let’s hope that the NCPO will not close down all the venues that signed the petition,” said another post under the name Kanthee Kittipatyothin.
The page administrator declined to disclose to Spectrum the number of signatures already collected.
Hunsa, meanwhile, may eventually have to sell only food to its customers if the law remains in place, but that would mean having to invest more in the venue. But X still clings to a tiny glimmer of hope that maybe they will be allowed to continue their business, which includes selling alcohol.
“I still think that we have a 10% chance,” he said. “But I wonder what the Army Club will do — they are right next to Shinawatra University; would they be willing to stop selling alcohol too?”
Open: Clockwise from top, entertainment areas in Patpong, Phetchaburi and Ratchadaphisek.