24-hour booze ban for local elections
published : 31 Jan 2025 at 12:35
writer: Gary Boyle
ORIGINAL SOURCE/WRITER: Online Reporters

A 24-hour ban on all alcoholic beverages will be enforced from 6pm on Friday in 76 provinces, including popular tourist destinations like Phuket and Chiang Mai, as Thailand prepares for local elections nationwide.
The Election Commission has reminded shops in the provinces holding elections of the ban, which will be in effect from 6pm Friday to 6pm Saturday. Violators could face fines of up to 10,000 baht and/or a six-month jail sentence.
Elections for provincial administration organisation presidents or PAO council members, or both, will take place across the country on Saturday.
Bangkok and the Pattaya city area are exempt from the ban due to their status as special administrative zones with their own elections. However, areas in Bang Lamung next to Pattaya will have an alcohol ban, as they are part of Chon Buri province.
Vocabulary
- ban: an official statement ordering people not to do, sell or use something - การห้าม
- ban: to officially say that someone is not allowed to do something - ห้ามอย่างเป็นทางการ
- booze: (informal) alcoholic drink - เครื่องดื่มที่มีแอลกอฮอล์ (คำไม่เป็นทางการ)
- election (noun): the process of choosing a person or a group of person for a position, especially by voting - การเลือกตั้ง
- Election Commission: the independent government agency that oversees elections - คณะกรรมการเลือกตั้ง
- exempt: not affected by something - ได้รับการยกเว้น
- Provincial Adminstration Department: a department under the Ministry of Interior in charge of provincial affairs - กรมการปกครอง กระทรวงมหาดไทย
- remind: to make someone think of something they have forgotten or might have forgotten - เตือนความจำ