Speaking during a briefing on the country’s social conditions in the first quarter of this year, Danucha Pichayanan, secretary-general of the NESDC, said consumption of alcoholic beverages and cigarettes increased during the quarter.
Alcoholic beverages, which have a negative effect on public health, should be reconsidered in terms of tax structure, he noted, reports the Bangkok Post.
Thailand’s alcohol tax system uses a two-tier structure that calculates both an ad valorem tax (a percentage of the retail price or value) and a fixed volumetric tax rate (often called a specific tax) based on the volume of pure alcohol. The higher of the two computed amounts is applied as the base excise duty.
According to a study on alcohol taxation and consumption behaviour conducted by the Thai Health Promotion Foundation (Thai Health) aimed at improving taxation standards for health-risk products, Thailand’s alcoholic beverage tax structure still has significant limitations.
In particular, the use of fixed-rate volumetric taxes (for example, wine is taxed at B1,000 per litre of pure alcohol) causes the real value of the tax to diminish over time and reduces the long-term effectiveness of taxation in controlling alcohol consumption.
The study also cited research by Wilson et al (2025) that found increasing alcohol prices through appropriate tax mechanisms can significantly reduce consumption.
Agencies should consider revising the alcohol tax structure so it more accurately reflects health risks, while establishing systematic and continuous tax adjustment mechanisms to ensure levies remain effective in reducing consumption and mitigating long-term public health impacts, according to ThaiHealth.
Regulators recently finished a pilot programme that eliminated the afternoon alcohol sales ban from 2pm to 5pm. The new policy as of May 29 permits continuous sales from 11am to midnight.
After 90 days of implementation, monitoring and evaluation by the Department of Disease Control found alcohol-related deaths from Dec 31, 2025 to Jan 1, 2026 increased by 4.8 times compared with 2023, after controlling for confounding factors.
The findings suggest extending alcohol sales hours may pose greater risks to public safety and human life than initially anticipated, noted the department, adding any decision to continue or expand the alcohol sales policy should be considered carefully.
In addition, vendors should share responsibility for verifying that buyers meet the age requirement, are not clearly intoxicated, and preventing people from purchasing alcohol on behalf of minors.
Penalties should be imposed on operators who fail to comply, said the department.