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Alcohol, one of the oldest, most socially accepted, and legal addictions, has been present in societies from time immemorial, aptly deriving its name from the Arabic Alkhol, or "that which is vital to life." Ethyl alcohol distinguishes itself into two categories: fermented (beer, wine, champagne) and distilled (whiskey, brandy, rum, cognac). The Babylonians and Egyptians first discovered the process of fermenting grapes into wine
and barley rice into beer some 6,000 years ago. The discovery of distilled alcohol followed some 5,000 years later. Although the Chinese had been distilling alcohol since the 7th century, the popularity of the resultant whiskeys, brandies, rums, etc. - containing an alcoholic content more potent than fermented products - skyrocketed only after the process was inadvertently rediscovered by scientists in Italy in the 12th century. |
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The drink of choice in Thai society for many thousands of years prior to the acceptance of alcohol in this Kingdom was either water or tea. Alcohol consumption increased exponentially only after the Second World War (after Singha Beer's creation in 1934, followed closely by Mekhong whiskey in 1941), which was rather late compared to other societies around the world. But once alcohol was accepted into Thai society, a dedicated following
emerged. In 1946 the Thai government collected 40 million baht in revenue from alcohol sales. In 1968 that figure increased to 500 million baht. Last year, revenue from alcohol sales stood at an impressive 45 billion baht! This has certainly translated into helpful revenue for a burgeoning economy then, and for a cash-strapped economy now. Sadly however, the rapid manner in which these figures grew, and the fact that those sales derived more from consumption than production,
was and is perhaps not a reflection of a booming economy so much as a commentary on the well being of our society... |
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