Campaigners want to stop the flow of alcohol on all holidays

It's an eye-opening figure: the Thai Health Promotion Foundation has revealed that 70.3 per cent of us believe religious and cultural holidays should be alcohol-free - and tomorrow's Loy Krathong is no exception.

The foundation has joined hands with key Loy Krathong venues to promote its "Loy Krathong Festival - No Alcohol" campaign. The dry message will be spread at Chulalongkorn University, Yai District and Banglampoo's Suan Santi Chaiprakarn Fort in Bangkok, as well as Phitsanulok's Naresuan University and venues in the provinces of Sukhothai, Chiang Mai and Phayao.

The foundation is hoping the campaign will extend to other areas, fanned by the strong support it has from the Stop Drink Network.

Statistics show that beer and whisky were the most popular alcoholic drinks during last year's festival, and the foundation wants to curve their consumption to protect Thais' health. Part of their concerns are with road safety: almost 20 per cent of us drove after drinking alcoholic last year. There is also the problem of increased violence due to alcohol consumption.

A recent Abac poll shows that 66.5 per cent of people were annoyed by the behaviour of teens drinking and smoking during last year's Loy Krathong. DAILY XPRESS