Abstract:
This study aimed to investigate 1) the recognition of and the compliance with the Alcohol Control Act B.E. 2551 of Mahasarakham University students and the alcoholic entrepreneurs around Mahasarakham University, 2) the recognition of and the enforcement of the Alcohol Control Act B.E. 2551 around Mahasarakham University authority, and 3) the factors influencing the recognition of and the compliance with the Alcohol Control Act B.E. 2551 of Mahasarakham University students. The study employed mixed-method research, both quantitative and qualitative. There are three groups of a total of 449 samples selected by using different sampling approaches. The first group is the 398 Mahasarakham University students who were selected by Stratified Sampling. The second and the third groups were selected by purposive sampling with 31 alcoholic entrepreneurs and 20 officials, respectively. Three sets of questionnaires and semi-structured in-depth interviews were employed to collect data. Then the data collected were analyzed by using descriptive statistics with variable frequency, percentage, average and standard deviation as well as the inferential statistics tested with the Independent Sample t-Test, One Way ANOVA. The double comparison with the Scheffe Test was up to determine the level of significance at 0.05 in hypothesis testing. The research revealed that: 1) More than half of Mahasarakham University students recognize the Alcohol Control Act B.E. 2551 and a higher proportion of Mahasarakham University students comply with the Alcohol Control Act B.E. 2551; 2) only a smaller proportion of alcoholic entrepreneurs recognizes and complies with the Alcohol Drinks Control Act B.E. 2551; 3) a higher proportion of the authority recognize the Alcohol Control Act B.E. 2551, but with a smaller proportion of the enforcement of the Alcohol Control Act B.E. 2551. This is due to the lack of effective law enforcement such as the law is not strictly enforced against the violator; also there is insufficient authorized power to enforce the law; there are insufficient human resources and budget, as well as there are heavy workloads. 4) The factors influencing the recognition of and the compliance with the Alcohol Control Act B.E. 2551 of Mahasarakham University students are: gender, monthly income, and expenses, which are based on the difference of distributing and drinking places accounting with 0.05 level of significance. The recommendations proposed by the research are: raising the awareness of the disadvantages of alcoholic drinking; seminar on related laws to enhance the understanding of laws: this would help obeying and eventually dealing with law violations; the University; the community and the authorities should collaborate to problem solve; the specific unit may be established to monitor new drinkers; zoning distribution should be defined to limit alcoholic trading areas, such as alcoholic trading areas should be far away from the university with the distance of at least 1,500 meters; the authority should be trained to enforce the law strictly; and strict punishment in cases of law infringement should take place.