The
Prime Minister’s Office has issued a proclamation of Prohibition on Sales of Alcoholic
Beverages by Electronic Means B.E. 2563 on August 7, 2020, the main contents of
which are: 1) It is prohibited for any person to sell alcoholic beverages or
provide services related to alcoholic beverages directly to consumers by electronic
means, or to recommend the purchase, promotion or sales of alcoholic beverages
directly to consumers by electronic communication where the consumer and the
seller do not have to meet. 2) This proclamation does not apply to electronic
payment for the purchase of alcoholic beverages in shops, restaurants or places
where alcoholic beverages are served; and 3) This proclamation shall come into
force 90 days after the date of its publication in the Government Gazette (or
from November 6, 2020 onwards).
KResearch
believes that there has been an increase in the numbers of complaints about
online sales of alcoholic beverages recently, likely due to the following
reasons: 1) Consumers are changing their behaviors and are shifting more to
electronic channels for a variety of daily activities; 2) The lockdown measures
in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have led to a decline in physical shop sales,
but the online channel sales are expected to be relatively small or t account
for less than 1% of the total alcoholic beverage market. Given the situation that
the sales of alcoholic beverages contracted by 16.8% YoY in the first half of 2020,
manufacturers and sellers have had to struggle to find channels accessible to
their consumer bases, making them shift more towards selling their products through
other channels, especially online. This in turn leads to easier access to
alcoholic beverages for consumers. The sale of alcoholic beverages online is difficult
to regulate, although provisions have been made in the Alcohol Beverage Control
Act,. B.E. 2551 and Excise Tax Act,. B.E. 2560 regarding the date and time of
sales, the manner of advertising, the license to sell and the buyer age. There
are no special provisions yet for the sales of alcoholic beverages online.
In the social dimension, the
above-mentioned decree coming into effect will help reduce the risk of increased
consumption of alcoholic beverages and the accessibility of alcoholic beverages
to public, especially for underage groups, and will reduce the marketing
activities and practices by alcoholic beverage operators through online channels
that violate the regulations on alcoholic beverages. In the business
competition dimension, it is undeniable that the alcoholic beverage
manufacturers will face tougher challenges in their marketing activities,
because marketing channels will be more limited, but manufacturers with
well-known products and diversified channels will have more comparative
competitive advantages.
The
enforcement of the Prohibition on Sales of Alcoholic Beverages by Electronic
Means will initially enable the government authorities to prevent or restrict consumers
from easily accessing alcoholic beverages via online channels, although it will
not have a significant impact on the alcoholic beverage market. However, the
impact on underage consumption of alcoholic beverages must be addressed in parallel
with a variety of approaches. Meanwhile, possible changes in legislation must
be tracked in the next phase, as the government may again allow the marketing
of alcoholic beverages through online channels if it can effectively and
systematically regulate the inspection mechanism and obtain the operator’s information
in the future, as is the case in the following countries where operators are
allowed to sell alcoholic beverages via online channels if they are regulated
by laws:
New
Zealand: 1) Vendors selling alcoholic beverages online must hold an off-licence
that must be presented on the sales website. There are no restrictions on sales
dates and hours, but the deliveries to consumers cannot be made between 11.00 p.m.
and 6.00 a.m., or on Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Christmas Day or before 1.00 p.m.
of Anzac Day; 2) Vendors must ask the age of the buyer when they first access
the website and, and must make sure that the buyer is 18 years of age or older.
Australia: 1) Vendors selling alcoholic beverages online must prominently
display their sales license on their website and may only sell to buyers who present
an ID with a birth date to prove that they are 18 years old; 2) Adolescents are
prohibited from receiving alcoholic beverages purchased online[1]
[1] Legal
problems in regulating the sales of alcoholic beverages online (Prita Pitiwattanaphat,
2019)
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