Drinks law that was rarely enforced is canned after 50 years

Thailand has lifted a decades-old ban on the serving of alcohol in the afternoon.

It was a law that most tourists knew nothing about, and was rarely enforced.

The scrapping of the prohibition, which banned alcohol sales in restaurants from 2pm to 5pm, brings an end to a regulation dating back to a 1972 Revolutionary Council Order.

Restaurants said it could spark higher sales and a be a boost to tourism and the economy, although that would seem debatable.

Sorathep Rojpojchanarat, president of the Restaurant Business Association, thanked both the former administration and opposition parties for “listening to the voices of business owners.”

Sorathep described the law as outdated, noting it had been in force for more than 53 years despite Thailand’s transformation into one of the world’s most-visited tourist destinations.

The lifting of the ban applies to restaurants only, not retail outlets such as convenience stores, which are still officially prohibited from selling liqour between 2-5pm.

The new rule will officially come into force in November.

Image: Black Ginger, The Slate, Phuket

Facial recognition technology prevents alcohol sales to minors

You may soon be sold alcoholic drinks by a smart vending machine that uses facial recognition technology.

Businesses in Germany and the US are already selling alcohol using "facial age estimation".

Biometric Update reports that Diebold Nixdorf algorithms in Germany and IDScan.net technology in the US are two such examples that are being monitored using AI.

German store Dorfladen Freckenfeld, which is sometimes unmanned, sells alcohol using facial age estimation from Diebold Nixdorf Smart Vision biometric facial age estimation technology, ensuring alcohol is not sold to minors. 

Diebold Nixdorf vice-president of retail technology solutions Matt Redwood said: “The village store in Freckenfeld is a successful example of how modern store technology with self-service checkouts can help to ensure that local supplies, which are urgently needed in rural areas in particular, are available around the clock.”

Redwood added: “The automatic, AI-based age verification solution also enables a faster checkout process. This pleases customers and allows employees to concentrate on their core tasks.”

Then there is 614NOW, a beer vending machine that has been launched in Columbus, Ohio, by craft brewer Land-Grant and local partner VenGuard.

The vending machine reportedly uses face biometrics for age verification by comparing a photo to the image on a scanned ID card. The system is also trained to recognise fake IDs after training an algorithm with fakes collected from local bars.