I’ll never forget the first great disappointment of my second stint living in Bangkok. Well, that’s a bit dramatic, I guess. It was disappointing, not life-ruining.
Needless to say, it was a balmy July morning just after a summer rainstorm, and I badly needed a Saturday morning Bloody Mary. I’d even dragged a friend of mine to the Park Hyatt (which was brand-new, back then), on my tab.
The server didn’t care. “We can serve you the tomato juice cocktail,” she said, with a face so straight it made me even more annoyed than I might otherwise have been. “But no vodka—it’s Buddhist Lent today.”
Is alcohol banned in Thailand? No, at least not Saudi Arabia-style. But whether you’re unlucky enough to head for drinks on a holiday weekend, or simply during certain hours of the afternoon, you’ll feel like it is.
My Rude Booze Awakening in Bangkok
My incident at the Park Hyatt was my first major run-in with alcohol laws in Thailand (at least as they were revised in the mid-2010s—they weren’t in place circa 2010, when I first started visiting the Kingdom). They weren’t my last one, however, even though I foolishly hoped they would be. Buddhist Lent only lasts one day, but unfortunately that’s not the only reason Thailand goes dry.
On another day that summer (this is 2017, remember), I was eating a late lunch—or maybe early dinner—at The Wine Connection in the basement of Silom Complex. Having ordered a margherita pizza, I could think of nothing better to wash it down than a glass of sparkling rosé (this was a very rosé summer, if you recall). Mai dai, the young woman assisting me insisted; she couldn’t accommodate me. But she didn’t explain anything beyond that.
What to Know About Thailand’s Liquor Laws
Thailand is not for day drinkers
I’ll lay it out bluntly: Alcohol sales are forbidden in Thailand before 11 AM and between the hours of 2-5 PM. This came as a disappointment to me when I moved there from Austin in 2017. I’d been a major day drinker (and, on the weekends, brunch drinker) in the Texan capital; this was not to be in the Thai one.
Certain Buddhist holidays are dry
Buddhist Lent was when I discovered the scope of alcohol restrictions in Thailand, but it’s not the only holiday when you can’t drink there. In addition to this July holiday, there are five Buddhist holidays in Thailand when alcohol is banned, including Makha Bucha Day in February, and Vikasa Bucha Day in May or June.
Hotels can sometime get around the rules
Officially speaking, luxury hotels are able to sell alcohol during the windows where doing so is banned in the outside world, though in practice this is a complicated matter. For example, some hotels (such as the Park Hyatt Bangkok, I learned) will only sell alcohol to their own guests, and not day visitors.
Some restaurants and bars will bend them
While I won’t name and shame for obvious reasons, I’ve been to probably two dozen bars and restaurants in Thailand who’ve sold and served me alcohol during “banned” hours. In some cases, this was a matter of “don’t ask, don’t tell”; in other cases, staff either didn’t know or didn’t care.
It’s not about you
The Thai government doesn’t want to ban foreigners from drinking—quite the opposite is true. In fact, from what I gather, the Kingdom’s laws on alcohol are designed to discourage day-drinking among working-class people in the provinces, who would often drink themselves to excess before the bans were enacted.
Will Thailand Ever Loosen its Liquor Laws?
As Thailand begin rolling back its covid-19 restrictions at the end of 2021, the topic of nightlife (and alcohol more broadly) suddenly re-entered the public conversation. On one hand, paranoid lawmakers were convinced that liberalizing draconian rules on drinking in public would spread the virus (which, by that point, most of the rest of the world had accepted was little more than a cold for 99% of people). On the other hand, businesses were hurting.
The good news? Bars were allowed to reopen around the time tourists started trickling back in, first until a rather conservative hour, and finally just as they had pre-pandemic (and, in some cases, even later). The bad news? While authorities did briefly discuss revising drinking laws in Thailand to eliminate bans during the afternoon and maybe even on Buddhist holidays, nothing has materially changed as of late 2024.
Other FAQ About Alcohol Bans in Thailand
Can tourists drink alcohol in Thailand?
Tourists can drink alcohol in Thailand, with a couple of exceptions. First of all, the sale of alcohol is banned before 11 AM, and between the hours of 2-5 PM. Secondly, alcohol sales are also banned on certain Buddhist holidays. While not all businesses enforce these rules, the majority of them do, for better or for worse.
Why can’t you buy alcohol in Thailand between 2 and 5?
As far as I’ve been able to tell, the ban of daytime alcohol sales exists mainly because people in rural parts of Thailand drank themselves to excess before it is instituted. It’s not at all because of tourists, though the government also hasn’t tried to make any exceptions to allow foreigners to buy alcohol during this period.
What is the beer rule in Thailand?
Officially speaking, you cannot buy alcohol before 11 AM, or between the hours of 2-5 PM. This is Thailand, of course, so there are cases where shop and restaurant owners will turn a blind eye. Unfortunately, there’s no rhyme or reason to this, and it can often vary from day to day.
The Bottom Line
Is alcohol banned in Thailand? Not exactly, though there are days (namely, Buddhist holidays) and times (before 11 AM, and between 2-5 PM) that it’s officially forbidden in the Kingdom. Although the reasons for these bans are targeted more at locals than foreigners, the Thai government has not officially authorized exceptions for tourist-facing destinations, even if certain spots will turn a blind eye if you order booze during banned hours. I’m not as much of a drinker as I was once, but I also don’t judge anyone who is—it’s totally valid to feel annoyed or even upset by these laws! And it’s a fantastic idea to hire me to plan your Thailand itinerary.
