bakedbean

It's stupid. Just driven up to Trang and tried to buy a few refreshing beers in Tops supermarket. We know the drill. Have to buy in bulk before 5pm or cannot do. Picked up a slab of beers and now they are saying you have to buy more now... 2 slabs. What's this all about? S'pose we'll have to drink them now

nonthaburi

There is some rule about it has to be so many litres. Maybe one slab wasn't enough. you could have just gone to a ' Mom and Pop ' shop though as they always sell no matter what.

Still, it oculd be worse. You now have shitloads of beer.:be er:

bakedbean

Ya plenty of beer. But what exactly is the point of the rule?

nonthaburi

In theory it is supposed to stop people getting drunk during the day when they could be working. You are allowed to buy in bulk because you may be a shopkeeper stocking up.

In practice it's a load of bollocks because you can just go to a small local shop and buy what you want.

Also, all the problems with drinking in Thailand come from people drinking the rice whiskey ( lao kao ) which may be sold by the shot or M150 bottle in a shop.

Reminds of when my dad was here and we were on holiday in Krabbi. Went to 7-11 to get some beer but it was in the afternoon so they wouldn't sell it. So we went to a shop over the road that did. My dad was a bit puzzled by it all.

bakedbean

Yup exactly. I note that Villa Market in Phuket which is part of a chain I think, completely ignores the rule too.

nonthaburi

It's also strange that the shop on my estate that sells no matter what is actually cheaper than 7-11 too. Normally you would expect the small shop to be a bit more pricey. We're only talking about 3 baht but heh !

always funny at election time when everyone seems to be drinking from plastic cups when out and about.

Bodenis

And how about wine, any restrictions, do I have to buy in bulk....my wife will be pleased....
Can we buy wine at the supermarket?
Thanking you

bakedbean

It's the same for wine. Are you going on holiday there?? Don't worry too much. When we were living in Phuket, we found that the smaller mini-marts don't give a hoot about the law and you could buy wine, beer, spirits at any time you like. It's some of the bigger chains that enforce the law. Tops still does. Tesco always used to apply the law.

Villa Market doesn't seem to, though I did see one day that they had the "official" notice up at the checkout. I kind of indicated towards it and the check-out girl just shrugged

Bodenis

Tks for info,
Will be staying in Pattaya for two months, wouln't want to run out of wine and beers.....and my occasional scotch.

ztoo

It's supposed to be 10 liters, not sure what the logic is but i like it!

Bodenis

Greetings
And how about after 5PM....

ztoo

After 5.pm it's normal and you buy whatever you want. That is assuming they have stock, at the moment the floods around Bangkok have affected the distribution and in Phuket at least there are beer shortages in the supermarkets and many bars have put the price up, seems to still be plenty of wine though.

Bodenis

Greetings
I was told that in Pattaya beer is cheap, wine is a bit expensive and scotch is hard to come by.....was I well informed?

bakedbean

I suppose it depends what you are comparing with. If you are comparing with Canadian prices, I've no idea.

Compared with prices in Malaysia, beer and wine prices comparable more-or-less. Spirits are way cheaper in Thailand than Malaysia.

Compared with prices in Singapore, everything is cheaper

Bodenis

Greetings
Out of curiosity, how much would a botle of wine cost in bht
and most important for me....a bottle of scotch.
I will have a layover in Tokyo for a few hours
I might buy my scotch at one of the duty free shops at the airport.
TKS
PS: bakedbean, if you're around Pattaya we could share a pint.