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Three Thai women charged for promoting alcohol on Facebook
Three Thai women have been officially charged with violating Thailand’s ‘Alcoholic Beverage Control Act 2008’ for promoting beer sales on Facebook, which could lead to up to 200,000 baht (US$6,016) fine, following Thai police’s latest campaign to crack down on social media alcohol promotion.
The three women were identified as Janjira Jansakha, Nanthida Punyamanoch and Nantharika Pheukkliang. Photo source: The Star
The three promoters were arrested overnight on 31 July after posting a five-minute long Facebook live video on 23 July promoting “buy one, get one [free]” beer sale in revealing outfits for a bar in Saraburi’s Muang district, reported The Nation.
A statement from the local police station said, “The three women were arrested because they wore improper clothes and tried to advertise alcohol.” In the video, young women, all in their 20s, asked customers to visit the bar and buy one bottle of Leo beer to get another one for free.
The arrest came just a few days after Thai police have launched a campaign against social media posts with celebrities, social media personalities promoting alcohol consumption. Earlier this week, Tithirat “DJ Fah Sai” Inthep was also charged with illegal advertising alcoholic products on social media.
The Thai government introduced its alcohol ban that forbids people from advertising alcoholic drinks and brands including names and logos in 2008, but there seems to have been a renewed effort to crackdown on social media promotions in recent months.
Under Thailand’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Act, first-time offenders can be punished with a 50,000 baht (S$2,039) fine and repeat offenders with a 200,000 baht fine for violating the law.
According to Thai law, no images of alcoholic drinks, including photography, and logos in any language which “invite” the public to drink alcohol are allowed. Alcohol advertising when allowed on television, movies, video and other electronic formats can only be done between 10pm and 5am, and the logos can only be shown at the end of the advertisement.