Attempt to ban sale of alcoholic drinks during New Year's festival renewed
BANGKOK: -- The Office of Alcoholic Drinks Control Committee of the Diseases Control Department has appealed to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha to ban the sale of alcoholic drinks during the New Year’s festival.
Dr Samarn Futrakul, director of the office, said today (Wednesday) that he wrote a letter on behalf of the office to the advisor of the prime minister asking for the imposition of the ban together with data showing the benefits of the ban imposed in New Zealand and several states of America such as Kansas and Connecticut.
Citing the data, Dr Samarn claimed that the ban has helped lower casualty rate from road accidents by 40 percent and assault rate against women by 50 percent.
He claimed that recent opinion survey showed that 81.79 percent of respondents supported the ban against 9.85 percent who disagreed.
Dr Samarn insisted that the ban was not a trade barrier but just a temporary measure to improve road safety and safety in lives during festive season s.
He noted that road accidents from drunk driving usually accounted for 80-90 percent of the accidents during festive seasons.
Source: http://englishnews.t...estival-renewed
-- Thai PBS 2014-12-18
