Campaign Works Well
The vigorous campaign against giving alcoholic beverages as presents has led to a win-win situation for both givers and recipients during the festive season.
For the former, the cost of their New Year gift purchases has fallen significantly.
A survey last year showed 51.23 per cent of gift baskets available at department stores and modern-trade outlets included alcoholic beverages. On average, these baskets cost a little over Bt6,000. The lowest option was sold at Bt2,540 and the priciest fetched Bt9,567.
For non-alcohol baskets, prices ranged between Bt503 and Bt2,631 each, averaging Bt1,567.
As the trend for non-alcohol gift baskets has naturally grown this year following an official ban, people can now hand them out without being perceived as offering cheap presents.
In a recent survey by
The majority of gift recipients also said it was a good thing that alcoholic beverages were now not part of a basket's contents.
Without such gifts, they will drink less because buying liquor themselves is expensive. And when they drink less, they can avoid health problems.
The Thai Health Promotion Foundation (ThaiHealth) has aggressively campaigned against alcohol gifts of any kind.
The message "Giving Liquor is like Cursing" appears in print ads, radio spots as well as TV commercials nationwide.
Centre for Alcohol Studies director Dr Taksaon Thammarangsi said ThaiHealth and the Stop Drink Network had gained momentum against alcohol gifts partly because the Alcohol Beverage Control Board introduced a ban on the distribution of liquor gift baskets on October 8.
People who broke the law face up to six months jail and/or a fine of up to Bt10,000 for violating Article 30 (50) of the Criminal Law, while those deemed to have violated Article 32 about alcohol ads faced up to a year in jail and/or a fine up to Bt500,000.
The shop could also be fined up to Bt50,000 a day for the period items were on sale.
As this is the first year the law is being implemented, the Disease Control Department's Alcohol and Tobacco Consumption Control Office chief Saman Futrakul said they had called related agencies and shops to explain the regulations and give advice on gift baskets.
Any violation of the ban can result in a fine and/or jail term.
In
For decades, gift baskets sent to The Nation on the occasion of New Year had often included liquor bottles, but no more.
The same phenomenon is seen at other newspaper offices.
People are in fact doing better without liquor gifts.
When they drink less, they will not just lower their health risks but also have less chance of ending up drunk at the wheel. Drunk driving is a major cause of road accidents, which claim so many lives and ruin thousands upon thousands of others each year.
In a bid to prevent such casualties, checkpoints are now up and running across
Convicted drivers are fined, put on probation and/or jailed.
Legal enforcement in such cases is now swift. If you are found driving drunk tonight, you will likely be sent to court tomorrow.
Then, the court may order you to stay in jail for at least a day by way of punishment.
So when you open your New Year gifts this year, be happy if you find no alcoholic beverages inside.
Refence:
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/read.php?newsid=30119464&keyword=Alcohol