The Stop-Drink Network Thailand has warned against liquor companies using music marketing strategies to promote their products.
Teera Watcharapranee, director of Stop-Drink Network Thailand, said that a network survey found liquor companies used music marketing as a lever to bring singers and artists together and hold concerts to promote their products through various channels, particularly on social media.
The survey was conducted during the Songkran festival on April 13-14, with volunteers sent out to monitor marketing campaigns by three major liquor companies.
It was found that activities were held in and outside major shopping malls, restaurants, and other nightlife venues. Most of them were free concerts, while some concerts required payment to attend, he said.
These companies employed a brand sharing strategy by using the same brand names and logos for alcoholic products to promote non-alcoholic ones such as still water and soda water to circumvent restrictive alcohol advertising regulations, Mr Teera said.
This could violate Section 32 of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act, which regulates alcohol advertising, he added.
In some cases, concert attendees could use the tickets to get free beer and organisers also failed to screen for underage people, he said. Mr Teera said the information will be presented to the government's Road Safety Centre to look into the matter.
It will also be forwarded to a House committee amending the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act to ensure the revised version of the law will put in place measures to keep up with the marketing of liquor companies and curb indirect advertising of their alcoholic products, he said. He emphasised the law must be amended to control the sale of alcoholic beverages by major liquor companies.
He added that the Public Health Ministry should focus more on dealing with new marketing campaigns by liquor companies rather than on road accidents caused by drunk driving.
New marketing campaigns have been devised to lure new drinkers, Mr Teera said.
"Without any action taken, it is the Public Health Ministry that will shoulder medical bills and other financial costs," Mr Teera said.