House rejects People’s Party liquor liberalisation bill

The House yesterday rejected a bill proposed by the opposition People’s Party to liberalise the liquor industry.
The House voted down the bill sponsored by People’s Party MP Taopiphop Limjittrakorn by 237 votes to 137.
The bill would have allowed people to have alcohol distillation equipment and make liquor for their private consumption without seeking government permission.
Before the vote, government chief whip Wisut Chainarun from the coalition-core Pheu Thai Party said the bill was impractical.
“This is a big issue,” he said. “If every household is allowed to make liquor without legal controls and that leads to death, the consequences will be severe. Permission is necessary.”
The House instead approved more conservative bills developed by Pheu Thai and the United Thai Nation Party, a coalition partner, with 384 and 385 votes, respectively. It will now proceed with the scrutiny of the bills.
Under these bills, anyone wanting alcohol distillation equipment to be used for producing liquor must first have government permission.
Mr Taopiphop said his bill was part of his party’s broader campaign to end monopolies in several businesses.
A lawyer turned craft brewer who was once arrested for illegal brewing, Mr Taopiphop has been campaigning for years to make laws friendlier for small-scale producers.
More than half of the country’s alcoholic drinks market, valued at about 470 billion baht, consists of beer.
The beer market is essentially a duopoly with Boon Rawd Brewery controlling a 58% share followed by Thai Beverage Plc at 34.3%. ThaiBev is the runaway leader in the spirits market with a 59.5% share, with the second-placed player holding only 8% of the segment, according to Krungsri Research.
Mr Taopiphop aims to remove high barriers to entry, mainly in the form of required capital and annual production volume, that favour big firms like Boon Rawd and ThaiBev. He said this would help small domestic brewers gain 10% of the market within a decade.