The fund will have an annual budget of about Bt5 billion, to be taken partly from alcohol manufacturers' own pockets.

Public Health Minister Dr Mongkol na Songkhla said the Cabinet had already approved a bill to set up the fund and a public organisation to manage it, as proposed by the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security.

The fund would support activities like sports, social and cultural events and media that promote a good

culture and society. Its budget would come from a 3 per-cent share of the annual excise-tax collection on "sin" goods, including alcoholic beverages and tobacco, he said.

"This Bt5-billion budget should be more than the money spent by alcohol companies to exploit such activities for the purpose of promoting their products," Mongkol said.

The fund was intended to reduce the impact of the new alcohol control bill, which has also been approved by the Cabinet and is being considered by the Council of State, the minister said.

The new legislation would affect groups or individuals that receive sponsorship or advertising revenue from alcohol companies, he said.

Mongkol said he was confident that the bill to set up the new fund would sail through the legislative process and become law soon because its negative impact on alcohol companies would be far less than the new alcohol control bill.

He said his ministry would also forward a proposal to the Cabinet to raise the tax on alcohol to the "maximum limit" as soon as possible.

The tax hike was advised by the National Conference on Alcohol Consumption and Related Problems Control on Wednesday as a measure to counter increasing alcohol consumption.

Arthit Khwankhom

The Nation