Thai Drinks Industry Shrugs Off Regulatory Changes But Faces New Threats

Thailand tweaked rules governing alcohol sales in recent months but experts do not see significant effects on business, yet. 

In May 2026, the Thai government confirmed a series of updates to the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act. Though widely reported on in the local and international media, the changes were largely technical in nature, including the transfer of the responsibility of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Committee from the Prime Minister’s Office to the Ministry of Public Health. The committee is in charge of issuing notifications including these covering sales during specific events like election days and religious holidays. The revised Act also confirms the existing ban on alcohol sales and consumption in a variety of places including public parks, government complexes, petrol stations, in road vehicles, at piers and on state railway trains. 

Exceptions that will be most noticeable to consumers and visitors remain largely unchanged. Those include hotels, international airport terminals, and special events like customary banquets held on public grounds or pop-ups at Bangkok’s historic railway station at Hua Lamphong which is being transformed into use as a multi-use exhibition, retail and events space. 

“This new law doesn’t affect us, as these locations were already banned before,” says Michel Conrad, deputy managing director of one of Thailand’s biggest wine importers Independent Wine and Spirit (IWS), when interviewed by Vino Joy News. “It’s just a review of the old law, and maybe more enforcement.”

The biggest change for consumers and business operators was implemented in December2025, when the ban on afternoon drinking from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. was repealed for a 180-day trial period. The law that dated back to 1972 mimicked licensing laws from Victorian Britain was designed to force workers, and in the case of Thailand, specifically civil servants, to return to work after potentially boozy lunch hours. The restrictions on afternoon sales have been permanently lifted, meaning that alcohol can now be sold uninterrupted from 11 a.m. to 12 midnight.

Echoing Michel of IWS, Holly Chiu, Alcohol Operations Manager at Central Retail, agreed the May update would have limited impact on business operations. The afternoon alcohol sales removal will have a far greater effect, she added. 

“We believe this change is likely to have a more meaningful and lasting impact on alcohol purchasing and consumption patterns in Thailand. We will continue to monitor the situation closely, ” says Chiu. 

Niks Anuman-Rajadhon, who runs several high-profile Bangkok bars including Teens of Thailand, Asia Today and G.O.D., and distills locally produced Issan Rum, welcomed the move but remained critical of the broader regulatory environment. 

“You should be able to consume alcohol throughout the day,” says Anuman-Rajadhon, who is critical of the paternalistic approach successive Thai governments have had dictating when individuals can drink. “It’s very outdated.” 

His bigger concern is taxation: the current government is pushing to tax producers and distributors based on retail prices, a methodology the industry considers unfair and impractical. “The worst is that [the current government] is trying to ramp up the tax” on locally produced alcoholic beverages, with a project to tax producers and distributors, but irrealistically based on retail prices. “We need to speak out,” says Anuman-Rajadhon. “We as an industry don’t have enough of that.”

The worst is that [the current government] is trying to ramp up the tax on locally produced alcoholic beverages. We need to speak out. We as an industry don’t have enough of that.

Niks Anuman-Rajadhon

Also in May but unrelated to the licensing regulations, the Thai cabinet announced the end of 60-day visa waivers currently granted to nationals of 93 countries. The exact date of the return to 30-day tourist stays has yet to be confirmed. The longer visa-free stays were introduced after the pandemic to encourage tourism. The change is seen as a reaction to highly publicized crackdowns on illicit business ownership, often through Thai proxies, and of other illegal activities, including the discovery of a cache of military grade arms in the home of a tourist on a long-term visa.

For Conrad, it is this, not the alcohol law changes, that poses the greater threat. “I worry more about the reduction of visa from 60 days to 30 days,” says IWS’s Conrad. “[There is also] talk of increasing travellers’ airport fees” as well as debate about tourism taxes on both foreigners and outbound Thai travellers. All are measures that could potentially impact tourism spending. 

Thailand welcomed 32.97 million international arrivals in 2025, down 7.23% from 35.55 million in 2024, generating 1.53 trillion baht (US$45 billion) in tourist revenue.