Buddhist Lent Day Designated as Thailand’s “No Alcohol Day”

Buddhist Lent Day, known among Thais as Khao Phansa, has been designated as Thailand’s “No Alcohol Day.”

The decision was made by the Cabinet, during its meeting on July 8, following a proposal by the civic sector network, which submitted a letter to the Government on July 7.

The letter states that it is a traditional practice by many people in Thai society to declare their intention not to have alcoholic drinks in observance of the Buddhist Lent.

Buddhist Lent Day marks the start of the three-month Buddhist Rains Retreat, usually between July and October. The request by the network for the Government to declare a No Alcohol Day is to promote the good traditional practice, in the same manner as the observance of “No Tobacco Day.”

The beginning of the Buddhist Lent falls on the first day of the waning moon of the eighth lunar month. This year, it falls on July 18, when several religious activities are held to mark this holy day. Refraining from drinking alcohol is considered a worthy act, not only for keeping people in good health, but also in the observance of Buddhist principles. One of the five precepts in Buddhism is to abstain from intoxicating drinks, which are a primary cause of carelessness and anti-social behavior.

A campaign to encourage people to refrain from drinking alcohol during the Buddhist Lent has been carried out since 2003. A study indicates that the campaign, conducted between 2005 and 2007, was successful in raising public awareness of alcohol abuse. More and more people were found to join the campaign during the Buddhist Lent and they voiced their support for the proclamation of “National Anti-Alcohol Day.”

According to an ABAC Poll conducted in 2006, most people, 88.6 percent, were in favor of the designation of a No Alcohol Day, and 61.6 percent were of the opinion the first day of Buddhist Lent should be proclaimed No Alcohol Day. The anti-alcohol campaign has received a positive response from the general public.

The civic sector network quoted a survey that Thailand ranks fifth among the largest alcohol consuming countries in the world. Also, the number of alcohol drinkers among young people, aged 15 and 19, is on the rise in the country.

Heavy drinkers may suffer from serious health problems, such as heart disease, abnormal blood circulation, and paralysis. They may become emotionally unstable, affecting their ability to make decisions and observe moral conduct. More than 50 percent of road accidents are caused by drunk driving, and many cases of violence in the home and other crimes are also caused by intoxicating drinks.

Thailand’s Alcohol Control Act, which came into force in February 2008, seeks to ban liquor advertising and restrict the sale of alcohol in or near temples, public parks, government offices, and schools. The proclamation of No Alcohol Day is also in line with the alcohol control law.

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Thailand Vacations & Thailand Travel
3 Airlines cut routes to save costs

Three low-cost airlines - Nok Air, One-Two-Go and Thai AirAsia - have cut and rescheduled flights in response to record-high jet fuel prices.

Effective yesterday, Nok Air cut three domestic routes - Bangkok-Chiang Rai, Bangkok-Ubon Ratchathani and Bangkok-Krabi. It is also considering reducing its 21 flights a week to Phuket.

Affected travellers are being transferred to Thai Airways International and Thai AirAsia.
The domestic route changes followed the cancellation of its international Bangkok-Bangalore and Bangkok-Hanoi flights.

“We’re losing money,” an airline representative said, who declined to confirm if losses were as high as Bt1 billion as had been reported. The reports have fuelled expectations that the airline would be shut down soon.

Meanwhile, One-Two-Go has cut the number of Bangkok-Chiang Mai and Bangkok-Phuket flights from 28 per week to 21, starting yesterday. The flight frequency to Hat Yai has also been cut by half to seven, while those to Chiang Rai and Nakhon Si Thammarat are down from seven to two flights per week. The daily flight to Surat Thani is to continue.

Thai AirAsia has cancelled the weekly flight to Xiamen, China, due to lack of passengers.
Tassapon Bijleveld, chief executive officer of Thai AirAsia, said operating costs had jumped from 30 per cent to 50 per cent due to spiking oil prices.”However, we have no further plans to reduce or cut more flights,” he said.

The airline planned to add more international routes from Bangkok to Hong Kong and Guangzhou, China, within the next two or three months. It is also studying scheduling flights to
Bali. The airline recently started flights to Jakarta and Ho Chi Minh City.

Thai AirAsia has increased its flights to Phuket and Chiang Mai. The airline expected the number of passengers to reach 4.6 million this year, a 25-per-cent growth rate.

To survive the lower passenger traffic due to higher travelling costs, the airline has approached 15 corporate clients to encourage more business travel.

To boost loyalty, the airline has launched a programme paying up to Bt1,800 to compensate passengers whose flights are delayed more than three hours.

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Cabs stand still as LPG runs short

About one fifth of Bangkok’s taxis had to stay idle Monday after many service stations ran out of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

“There’s nothing to fill these taxis’ tanks,” Siam Taxi Cooperative president Witoon Naewpanich said.

Taxi drivers complained that the sudden shortage had hit them at a time when they usually got more passengers than usual because of the payday period.

Speaking to a traffic radio station, a taxi driver lamented yesterday that his cab was running out of the LPG.

“Please help me find a station that sells LPG. Paying for expensive LPG is better than not having LPG to fill up my cab,” he said.

Witoon said his group would meet with Energy Minister Poonpirom Liptapanlop this afternoon to voice their concern.

“Now, it’s LPG. Soon it could be NGV,” he said.

It is widely speculated that some vendors have been hoarding LPG to profit from the expected price hike once the Energy Ministry floats the price.

“Some people say a litre of LPG will rise by just Bt1 or Bt2. But others say the price may rise by up to Bt10,” Witoon said.

Internal Trade Department directorgeneral Yanyong Phuangrach said his department was conducting surprise inspections of service stations to prevent hoarding.

Yanyong also urged people to report unfair practices on the 1569 hotline.

LPG is a controlled product and sellers are required by law to display the price at their place of business. Failure to do so is punishable by a fine of up to Bt10,000.

The penalty for hoarding is up to seven years in jail and/or a maximum fine of Bt140,000.

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Food Institute chief sees need to restructure farm sector

Thailand should restructure its agricultural sector for the overall improvement of production in preparation for an expected heightening of the global food crisis, according to the food industry executive.

Food Institute director Yutthasak Supasorn said the severity of the food crisis was predicted by scientists and economists, who based their calculations on various factors, but on energy prices in particular.

They believed food prices would increase 20-50 times in the next decade.

He said Thailand, unlike many other countries, might not be adversely affected by the crisis because it is a major food producing country

However, the country must restructure its agricultural sector, invest in its production bases to give easier access to the farm sector, and improve the value-added of raw materials used for food production.

Mr. Yutthasak said he believed Thailand would not be affected by the world food price crisis during the next three to five years.

Still, food prices in the country might increase by three to five times in the next decade.

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