He shared a photo of a beer on Facebook. Thailand fined him more than US$4,000
- Artid Sivahansapha was initially sentenced to eight months in prison and a US$5,800 fine for posting a review of his beer on social media in 2020
- A Thai court ruled that he’d violated a law on advertising alcoholic beverages. He plans to launch an appeal in the hope of getting the law changed
Artid Sivahansaphan said on Monday he plans to appeal his conviction in the hope of changing a law he believes is unfair to consumers and small entrepreneurs.
The 2008 Alcoholic Beverage Control Act prohibits “advertising or displaying, directly or indirectly, the name or trademark of any alcoholic beverage”. It carries a maximum penalty of one year’s imprisonment and a fine of 500,000 baht (US$14,560).
Artid was convicted on Friday by a court in Nonthaburi, just north of Bangkok, for a post on Facebook in 2020. An initial penalty of eight months in prison and a 200,000 baht (US$5,820) fine was reduced to a suspended six-month sentence and a 150,000 baht fine because the court considered his testimony helpful, he told reporters.
Thailand is a country where it’s illegal for people to drink a beer and say it’s delicious
Supak Ko-it, a coordinator of Beer People, a group that promotes the liberalisation of production and sale of beer, attended the court session and confirmed the details of the sentence.