Eight years after he founded an alcohol delivery service with more than a quarter million followers online, Jerome Le Louer found out this morning that Wishbeer鈥檚 days are numbered: Come December, its core business will be illegal in the eyes of the law.
鈥淵es, we won鈥檛 be able to do e-commerce anymore,鈥 Le Louer said, describing the 鈥減ivot鈥 he and other online sellers must make. 鈥淲e might do more physical stores indeed.鈥
Making good on a two-month-old threat issued after online sales surged during the pandemic, the ban in the Royal Gazette prohibits 鈥渄irect sales of alcoholic beverages through electronic devices or in a manner of electronic communication.鈥 It goes into effect in 90 days on Dec. 7.
It does not ban selling and paying for alcohol electronically 鈥 by transfer or card 鈥撀 at stores, restaurants or other licensed establishments. But it will spell the end of adding a beer or other bottle to dinner delivery orders.
Online beer community Prachachon Beer called upon its more than 20,000 followers to bring a case to the court, possibly through a class-action suit.
鈥淲hoever is affected by this ban, please join us in filing complaints to the Administrative Court,鈥 its admin .
The amendments to the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act were signed by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha and cited the difficulty of controlling time, place and manner restrictions on alcohol sales.
Le Louer said it was an unnecessary and business unfriendly move.
鈥淭echnology allows that, so it鈥檚 counterproductive to simply ban,鈥 he said today. 鈥淭hailand is not setting an example in regards to innovation, and will also scare off investors even further.鈥
The new regulations are also characteristically vague, forbidding 鈥減ersuading and introducing鈥 new alcoholic products or related services via electronic channels in which sellers and customers don鈥檛 meet in person.
The ban was floated amid a pandemic social climate friendly to longstanding prohibitionist ambitions. It came after online sales gave people a way around a nationwide ban on sales, ostensibly imposed to help contain COVID-19.
Coronavirus anxiety not only saw all sales banned nearly a month at the height of the outbreak, but also vague regulations on advertising zealously enforced, and to this day bars operate with strict limitations that include early closing times.
Related:
Thailand鈥檚 Next Booze Ban: No more online sales
鈥榃e鈥檙e not drug dealers鈥: Brewers, bar owners want advertising ban lifted
Stay home, drink well: These Bangkok bars are now delivering booze
