Alcohol sellers empty kegs of beer outside Health Ministry to protest Covid rules
Bar owners and breweries in Bangkok have come together to register their frustration at ongoing Covid-19 restrictions by emptying kegs of beer outside the Ministry of Health. Yesterday’s protest action comes a week after the coalition of alcohol sellers called on health officials to ease the rules that are having a severe impact on their livelihoods. In a protest they call, “Justice Poured Out”, representatives of bars and breweries emptied around 12 kegs of spoiled alcohol down the drain in front of Department of Disease Control offices.
Archirawas Wannasrisawas from the Craft Beer Association says the protest was to highlight the amount of beer going to waste as a result of the ongoing sales ban. He says over 300 venues and 5,000 individuals in the Bangkok metropolitan area have been impacted by Covid-19 restrictions and are currently losing around 150 million baht a month.
The group is proposing that officials allow bars to re-open and restaurants to serve alcohol, provided safety measures are in place, such as social distancing, no dancing, and no sharing of glasses. Alcohol representatives are also demanding additional reforms, such as the removal of the advertising ban and lifting the restrictions on hours of sale.
SOURCE: Coconuts
