E-Malt.com News article: Thailand: FDA decided that dumped the plan to fully ban alcohol advertising

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) abandoned October 26 its plan to enforce a total ban on alcohol advertisements in all forms of media, Bangkok Post Posted October 27. Acting FDA secretary-general Manit Arunakul said the agency had reconsidered the ban and decided that the prohibition, which would be put into effect by the end of the month after it is published in the Royal Gazette, would cover only the logo of liquor products and alcohol displays.

Commercials aimed at promoting a liquor company's corporate image would still be allowed to broadcast 24 hours a day, but the brand symbol must be removed. Names of liquor companies would also be allowed on-air on condition that those names must not be similar to the alcohol brand or contain alcohol-related words, such as liquor, brewery and winery.

''If the liquor companies follow these rules and regulations, they can advertise their products around the clock,'' he said, adding violators could face a 30,000-baht fine and a three-month jail term.

Under the ban, posters, signs and materials such as chairs, tables and umbrellas carrying logos and names of alcohol brands will be banned from outdoor beer gardens, restaurants and other public areas, Mr Manit said.

However beer girls wearing outfits without alcohol logos are allowed to work at those places. Liquor manufacturers could continue to distribute promotional materials without product symbols.

Alcohol product displays would be removed from the shelves of convenience stores, department stores and retail shops.

Similar to the tobacco control law, point-of-purchase displays luring people to buy alcoholic beverages would be prohibited, he added.

The authority was also working with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration to tear down alcohol billboards by December 03, he said.

Saman Footrakul, head of the tobacco and alcohol control bureau, believed the FDA announcement would reduce number of young drinkers to some degree. However, it was impossible to completely abolish alcohol advertisements and ''indirect promotions'' of alcohol unless the alcohol control bill was enforced, he said.

Wattana Swanyatipat, acting rector of Kasetsart University, said the regulation would be unable to solve the problem at its root cause.

''Education and family guidance would be the best solution to this social problem,'' he said.

Mr Wattana also shrugged off a recent survey showing the university has the highest number of liquor outlets among 12 universities surveyed.

There are up to 48 such shops and 16 alcohol advertisements within the university's 500-metre radius.

Student inspectors were always on duty to check if students were drinking alcohol at the university or nearby areas, he said.

Meanwhile, Parinya Thewanarumitkul, representative of a network of deputy rectors for student affairs from 79 universities, submitted October 26 a petition to Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Pridiyathorn Devakula, calling on the government to declare a 500-metre area around a university as an alcohol-free zone.


27 October, 2006