The Alcohol Control Bill will not impose a comprehensive ban on alcohol advertising, according to the latest amendment by a vetting committee of the National Legislative Assembly (NLA).

The move is set to cause uproar among health-related non-government organisations, which described the ban as the essence of the bill.

"There will be stricter restrictions, but not a virtual ban," the committee's chairman Praphan Koonme said yesterday.

His committee is charged with vetting the bill before it goes back to the NLA for the second reading.

Initially, the Public Health Ministry stated in the bill that alcohol advertising must be banned in all media with limited exceptions such as live broadcast programmes.

"All members in the committee believe it's better to use certain control measures," Praphan explained.

He said the virtual ban on alcohol advertising was enforced in only one or two countries in the world, and the enforcement had "proved impractical".

According to the vetting committee, alcohol advertising will be allowed in printed media but the warning message space must rise from 20 per cent to 25 per cent of the total ad space. The ads must not have a presenter.

"Outdoor advertising boards should be smaller in size. What size is appropriate will be determined later by ministerial regulations," Praphan added.

On TV commercials, the vetting committee said alcohol advertising should still be allowed to go on air between 10pm and 5am but alcohol products must be seen for no longer than five seconds.

Praphan insisted the committee's decision was not influenced by any lobbying efforts. Alcohol companies had reportedly fought to have the right to advertise since the bill was first proposed.

"The [comprehensive] ban is too strict. To discourage alcohol consumption, campaigns are a much better option," he said.

Praphan also ruled out a suggestion by Thailand Development Research Institute's respected academic Ammar Siamwalla, that the alcohol companies should pay for advertising about alcohol-consumption warnings.

"No one will want to pay for what will hurt his or her business," he said.

He said Thai Health Promotion Foundation should be responsible for advertising cost, space and airtime when it came to campaigns against alcohol consumption.

Meanwhile, health-related non-government organisations called on Public Health Minister Mongkol na Songkhla to stand by the proposed stipulation of the comprehensive ban on alcohol advertising.

"About 13 million people have supported the bill," said Kamron Chudecha, the co-ordinator of the Stop Drink Network.

Mongkol said he would "do his best".

However, he hinted that if the conflicts arise, it would be better to step back and continue the mission at a later time.

"That way, we can also achieve what we want. If we do our best and achieve some progress, we can do more in the future," he said.