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Police Prepare For Election Day Expat Sobriety Riots


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Let's go riot!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bangkok’s alcoholic farang population “unpredictable”

BANGKOK – Thailand’s police have called up all reserve staff for a full show of force ahead of this weekend’s election, as a precaution against unrest and violence from angry, sober alcoholic expatriates during the ban on alcohol sales.

The ban, in accordance with national election law, prohibits retail alcohol sales at stores, bars and restaurants from 6pm Saturday to midnight Sunday. The 36-hour period is traditionally a high-risk period in areas with high concentrations of expats, such as Sukhumvit Road in Bangkok and large swaths of Pattaya.

“Due to the importance of this election, we are taking no chances with expatriate sobriety-related violence,” said a stern National Police Chief Police General Wichean Potphosri. He justified the deployment of over 20,000 additional security officers nationwide as a necessary precaution against “deranged, sober foreigners.”

Additionally, numerous bars and nightlife areas in Bangkok and other cities will be shut down altogether to avoid gatherings of large numbers of non-drunken expats. Wichean has launched a PR campaign encouraging them to stay home on Saturday night “for once.”

Although large-scale rioting by un-intoxicated foreigners is rare, many previous Thai elections have seen small outbreaks of civil unrest, usually by expats who were unaware of the election at all and who reacted badly to being told that they can’t have a drink at their favorite establishment.

“For many of these men, 36 hours without a drink and the company of a rented Asian female represents something unacceptable, terrifying even,” said Noppawan Rangkulan, sociology professor at Thammasat University. “Sobering up means becoming momentarily aware of their graying bodies and emotionally hollow lives. What we think of as an alcohol-free night represents an existential crisis for them.”

Noppawon claims this “sobriety shock” is an actual medical pathology and recommends that hospitals offer free alcohol IV drips during the election weekend.

“Most expats are perfectly reasonable people,” she said. “The few deranged ones that end up yelling at waitresses at Irish pubs, they just need help.”

But according to Election Commission member Prapun Naigowit, much of the problem simply stems from a lack of communication. “Many expats are so isolated from the realities of the country they live in that something as major as an election can slip under their radar,” he explained. “Those who prepare ahead of time can easily get through the weekend by having a case of beer and a few DVDs ready at home.”

The EC has launched an educational campaign by posting messages on Thaivisa.com, reminding expatriates of the alcohol ban and suggesting that they host ‘Election Parties’ in their apartments.

Major grocery chains such as Tops have also joined in the campaign, touting 12-packs of Chang and Singha at their outlets with offers of free coolers as part of their “Stay Home, Stay Wasted” promotion.

Although the EC is confident in their campaign, Noppawan still thinks that planning ahead simply goes against the mentality of the alcoholic in general, and the alcoholic expat in particular.

“The people likely to cause a stir on election day can’t think three hours ahead, much less plan for a weekend,” she said. “You might as well ask your dog to feed himself while you’re on vacation.”

http://notthenation.com/2011/06/police-prepare-for-election-day-expat-sobriety-riots/

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that made me laugh very hard indeed! :lol:

it was funny, but it's a sad reflection on the Thai election process that the authorities feel that ppl can't be trusted to vote and/or behave "responsibly" if alcohol is on sale !!

mind u it doesn't bother me too much as i've always found somewhere that is serving beer and it's a lot better than elections in sri lanka. they had (on occassions) up to a weeks alcohol ban and nightly curfews, although that was more to do with the violence during elections there !!!

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it was funny, but it's a sad reflection on the Thai election process that the authorities feel that ppl can't be trusted to vote and/or behave "responsibly" if alcohol is on sale !!

It might be better if they stop ppl using money the day before.

Oh!! come on those corrupt politicians bought vote already, no need alcohol stuff... It's such a silly rule.

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it was funny, but it's a sad reflection on the Thai election process that the authorities feel that ppl can't be trusted to vote and/or behave "responsibly" if alcohol is on sale !!

!

umm... because they knew/realized already that prohibit the alcohol selling is easier than get the drunkard behave

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umm... because they knew/realized already that prohibit the alcohol selling is easier than get the drunkard behave

it's not so bad now, but years ago there tended to be outbreaks of violence during elections in northern ireland. however they never tried to ban the sale of alcohol !!!

probably because the violence would have been 10 times worse if they had tried to ban booze !!!

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It's actually pretty sad that a group of people can't go a few days without drinking. That's what really sheds a negative light on expats, and what the article rightly implies from past actions.

FFS ... the law is a thai law aimed at thais during election times ... WTF has it got to do with farangs or how does it show farangs in a bad light !!!

i guess the main complaint from most ex-pat farangs is that

a) it's actually a sad reflection on thais that they have to ******* ban alcohol during their elections.

B) farangs r not allowed to drink even though we can't vote here and they always seem to have their elections at weekends... anyway no ******* big deal ... never been stuck for a beer in bkk yet !!!!

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not such a rare law...Common in South America, I think....

I was on St, Maarten by chance during their National Elections...24 hours of no alcohol...

what was odd was the U S Navy frigate parked in the harbour ...(by chance??? hummmm...)

well like bkk, perhaps, tourist could quietly get around it.

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FFS ... the law is a thai law aimed at thais during election times ... WTF has it got to do with farangs or how does it show farangs in a bad light !!!

i guess the main complaint from most ex-pat farangs is that

a) it's actually a sad reflection on thais that they have to ******* ban alcohol during their elections.

B) farangs r not allowed to drink even though we can't vote here and they always seem to have their elections at weekends... anyway no ******* big deal ... never been stuck for a beer in bkk yet !!!!

It's Thailand duh. They have way too many foreigners that think they should change the laws for them when they are here.....hahahahahaha. They want to not have people buying alcohol during the elections, and at other times, so what. It's their right to restrict everyone.

Just off the top of my head I remember the idiot drunk in Chiang Mai that went to jail a while back that defaced a picture of H.M.T.King because he could not buy alcohol. That's just one example. With a google search I'm sure you can come up with others that support the perceived need for extra police in the tourist areas for possible idiot actions by those that just have to have a drink.

You're lucky, you know where to go to buy your election day alcohol, but not everyone has your experience, and they are the idiots that end up causing the problems that will be refered to by the authorities in the future, and from past actions have the police increasing their numbers in the tourist areas.

If you can't see how it shows foreigners in a bad light, then something is wrong. It's bad enough that every foreign male gets labeled as a sex tourist, but to add alcoholic to that because some idiots can't take a few days off from drinking will happen in a very short time.

Your country origin might relish in being labeled that way, but not everyone holds your hopes.

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FFS ... the law is a thai law aimed at thais during election times ... WTF has it got to do with farangs or how does it show farangs in a bad light !!!

i guess the main complaint from most ex-pat farangs is that

a) it's actually a sad reflection on thais that they have to ******* ban alcohol during their elections.

B) farangs r not allowed to drink even though we can't vote here and they always seem to have their elections at weekends... anyway no ******* big deal ... never been stuck for a beer in bkk yet !!!!

at a): In Austria, we had an alcohol ban on voting days up to the 1990's (and as I see nowadays, there has been a reason for that...)

at B): Nobody owning or serving in an establishment that offers alcoholic drinks can be burdened with the decision whether or not someone is allowed to vote. So there is an alcohol ban - for ALL. Full stop! F*ck those who don't understand it - actually, those should be banned from voting also in their country of origin because they are certifiably insane.

Edited by kaunitz
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It's Thailand duh. They have way too many foreigners that think they should change the laws for them when they are here.....hahahahahaha. They want to not have people buying alcohol during the elections, and at other times, so what. It's their right to restrict everyone.

Just off the top of my head I remember the idiot drunk in Chiang Mai that went to jail a while back that defaced a picture of H.M.T.King because he could not buy alcohol. That's just one example. With a google search I'm sure you can come up with others that support the perceived need for extra police in the tourist areas for possible idiot actions by those that just have to have a drink.

You're lucky, you know where to go to buy your election day alcohol, but not everyone has your experience, and they are the idiots that end up causing the problems that will be refered to by the authorities in the future, and from past actions have the police increasing their numbers in the tourist areas.

If you can't see how it shows foreigners in a bad light, then something is wrong. It's bad enough that every foreign male gets labeled as a sex tourist, but to add alcoholic to that because some idiots can't take a few days off from drinking will happen in a very short time.

Your country origin might relish in being labeled that way, but not everyone holds your hopes.

hahahahaha !!!! FFS it's a fake article from notthenation !!! there's not going to be any extra police in tourist areas !!

geeeeezzzz ..... u can take ur foot out of ur mouth any time now !!!

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at a): In Austria, we had an alcohol ban on voting days up to the 1990's (and as I see nowadays, there has been a reason for that...)

at B): Nobody owning or serving in an establishment that offers alcoholic drinks can be burdened with the decision whether or not someone is allowed to vote. So there is an alcohol ban - for ALL. Full stop! F*ck those who don't understand it - actually, those should be banned from voting also in their country of origin because they are certifiably insane.

u can see a reason for it ?? well u didn't do a very good job of explaining what the reason was !!!

unless the establishments that offer alcoholic drinks also double up as polling booths !!

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If people are so irresponsible that they cannot vote because of their alcohol intake, I wouldn't want them voting in my country anyway!

i think they would be better off stopping stupid ppl voting rather than banning the sale of booze !!

and that's without even starting on the whole vote buying bollocks !!!

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FFS ... the law is a thai law aimed at thais during election times ... WTF has it got to do with farangs or how does it show farangs in a bad light !!!

i guess the main complaint from most ex-pat farangs is that

a) it's actually a sad reflection on thais that they have to ******* ban alcohol during their elections.

B) farangs r not allowed to drink even though we can't vote here and they always seem to have their elections at weekends... anyway no ******* big deal ... never been stuck for a beer in bkk yet !!!!

spot on Ciaran, what does stopping drinking have to do with voting? you have a few drinks the nite before if you want to, you go vote the next day and have a few drinks that nite after voting, if you want to. whats so hard about that? why do they feel the need to ban drinking for xx hrs before voting. strange place indeed. amazing thailand

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If I didn't know better I'd have thought it was an April the 1st wind up!

Forget vote buying, murdering of canvassers and politicians, corruption, lets worry about white people not being able to get a drink for 36 hours.

Amazing Thailand.

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If I didn't know better I'd have thought it was an April the 1st wind up!

Forget vote buying, murdering of canvassers and politicians, corruption, lets worry about white people not being able to get a drink for 36 hours.

Amazing Thailand.

Nope...you just don't know better.

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spot on Ciaran, what does stopping drinking have to do with voting? you have a few drinks the nite before if you want to, you go vote the next day and have a few drinks that nite after voting, if you want to. whats so hard about that? why do they feel the need to ban drinking for xx hrs before voting. strange place indeed. amazing thailand

Not only Thailand! Several countries had and still have this regulations. In Austria, up to the 80's, alcohol sale was banned on voting days. AND? What's the problem? Unfortunately, I have to say that in former times the ban on alcohol was preventing people of voting stupidly, nowadays they do the same even with 0.0%o. Bad enough!

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