An ardent beer fan and advocate for reforming the nation’s draconian brewing laws was sentenced to jail time and a hefty fine today, all for posting a photo of a beer he tasted.
Artid “Artie” Sivahansaphan, who uses Facebook to talk about his love of Thai craft beer culture, announced this morning that he was originally given a sentence of eight months in prison, suspended, and a THB200,000 fine for illegally promoting beer by simply posting about one that he tried and liked.
“I just posted a photo of beer,” he told Coconuts. “I made a page about craft beer, and posted a picture of this beer, and what it’s about, which is really normal. But in this country we have laws that prohibit us from talking about alcohol.”
The court said he “enticed” others to drink. Artie said that he negotiated the penalties reduced to six months and THB150,000. But he…
