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| The Many Losses of Alcohol |
| UPDATE : 25 December 2009 |
Starting January 1st, 2010, the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) will be fully established. AFTA basically reduces or, for some products, entirely drop import taxes, putting more pressure on domestic businesses to compete with cheaper imported goods.
Imported alcohol will also be cheaper, which will add to the social problems associated with alcohol in this country. Though it may seem irrelevant, cheaper imported alcohol actually invites more drinkers better than any domestic brand will ever be able to. Word on the street has it that imported alcohol is the hit of this generation, and starting this New Year, it will be affordable.
One such example was reported by the Fruit Wine Producers Association and the Home-made Liquor Association. They say that there is an international producer which has established its business in the Philippines since 2003, in possession of 5.2 million boxes, or 62 million bottles, which is costing Thailand 1.9 billion baht. And this is only the effect of one added company to the market.
In the meantime, the average consumption of a Thai is 8.47 liters per year, 40th place out of 143 countries in the World. The World population consumption average is only 6.2 liters per year. You can bet that with cheaper imported alcohol, more young adults will join in on the 'fun', because in this day and age, it isn’t so cool to drink the home-made stuff.
And with more consumption of alcohol, one can expect its down-the-line effects to follow. To quote Professor Dr. Prawes Wasi, the President of the National Public Health Foundation, Thailand is losing 250 billion baht in the public health sector, and the costs are likely to increase 16% year on year.
A lot of that amount is surely due to alcohol consumption as the leading cause of death in Thailand is accidents, half of which is due to drunk driving. The financial losses aren’t necessarily caused by road deaths either, because many of the victims in such accidents are disabled and become a financial burden to their families.
When it comes to solutions, there have been various answers proposed. One popular one is to put pictures of victims of drunk driving on the alcohol beverage labels. However, this has faced some opposition as some claim that it could be a violation of the victim’s rights. Nevertheless, many such victims are more than willing to share their stories to prevent the same fate from occurring with others who are about to pick up that glass or can.
While this graphic measure may not reduce consumption as seen in when applied to cigarettes to curb smoking, it does make new consumers think twice.
As New Year’s comes around, so are the most dangerous days of the year in Thailand: the days of the drunk until dead before and after New Year’s. However, the Office of Alcohol Beverage in the Public Health Ministry has recently stepped up to flex its muscles in banning the notorious calendar advertising a local beer brand.
Authorities like Prime Minister’s Office Minister has also personally surveyed supermarkets to make sure New Year’s gift baskets don’t contain alcohol bottles as it is now prohibited by the Alcohol Consumption Act of 2008. Authorities are focusing on one particular part of the Act, which prohibits advertising alcohol beverages, or giving it out for free as a part of a package of other goods.
A campaign has been put forth to remind people that giving alcohol as a gift is the same as cursing someone.
In the end, even the profits of alcohol sales will never be able to cover the ensuing losses economically and socially. So when AFTA comes into effect in 2010, we better be ready.
From Post Today; Analysis pg.2
Monday, December 14th, 2009
By Chollada Ing-srisawang, Finance News Editor
Rewritten by Patcharapol Jitramontree (Friday, December 25, 2009)
patcharapol@tannetwork.tv
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