Alcohol advertising in Thailand

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Alcohol advertising in Thailand is effectively illegal under voluntary observance of a ban by Thai advertisers. Internet advertising remains legal.

Although not signed by King Bhumipol Adulyadej After the 2006 Thailand coup in September, the ban has been voluntarily observed by Thai broadcasters.

The interim Minister of Public Health, Mongkol Na Songkhla announced the plan to impose a complete ban on alcohol advertisements in all media 24 hours a day by November; the ostensible aim of this law was to protect people’s health and to reduce road accidents.

In the view of advertisers, however, the ban will slash advertising revenue around 2 billion Thai Baht, a loss most acutely felt in the wake of the beer garden festival. Nonetheless, the Kasikorn Research Center opined that this regulation would only affect revenue short-term in 2007, given that alcohol advertising represents only 2-3% of the total advertising expenditures through all media.

In addition, the president of the Advertising Association of Thailand (AAT), Witawat Jayapani, commented that the ban would hurt Thai beverage companies in competition with foreign entrepreneurs because the Thai government cannot control incoming of goods. Witawat also urged the government to focus on other media because of the ease with which alcohol reaches young people. Some alcohol enterprises gave the opinion that the beer sales later this year would drop 5-10%