The House of Representatives today (Wednesday) decided to forward a “progressive” liquor draft bill, which seeks to break the oligopoly in liquor production in Thailand and allow new producers to enjoy a more competitive market, to the cabinet for its approval, before it is returned to Parliament for the first reading, adding two months to the process.

207 MPs voted in support of the cabinet vetting, against 196, most of whom from the Opposition, who disagreed.

The Opposition’s Move Forward MP Taopiphop Limjittrakorn, who proposed the bill thanked his colleagues in the opposition and some government MPs for supporting the bill.

The bill, he said, will break up the decades-long oligopoly in liquor production in Thailand, involving a handful of rich families, and will provide an opportunity for new and smaller players to enter the market for the production of liquor and beer.

Taopiphop has long been known as a campaigner against oligopoly in liquor production, as he himself was arrested five years ago for brewing his own craft beer.