Yesterday the ministry, which earlier proposed launching austere measures to curb drinking, adopted a milder approach. It agreed to allow alcohol ads around the clock, but alcohol producers and distributors must not include product logos in the commercials.

The ministry also issued details on how the producers and distributors could carry on advertising their products. Company names could be included in television commercials, but not the products or the logos. So now it's okay for Singha Corp to put its name on an advertisement, but not a picture of a Singha beer can. Television viewers would no longer hear the cheery words "Singha", "Heineken" or "Chang".

Rural people, who each year or so receive free blankets from Thai Beverage Plc, will no longer see the "Chang" beer logo on the blankets. All they would see is the name of the company. Now Thai Beverage must be hoping that villagers know what the company stands for, or the donation will mean nothing.

Indeed, Thai Beverage's major shareholder Charoen Siriwadhanabhakdi might not mind this, for throughout his time as a billionaire, he has donated many things without mentioning his name.

Now that Royal Ratchaphruek 2006 is to kick off next week, many corporate sponsors have been sending out invitations to the media - surely they have the right to make sure there will be coverage of their sponsorship.

Some companies should be praised for their good preparation. Singha Corp issued invitations about one month before taking reporters from Bangkok to Chiang Mai yesterday. PTT Plc was also among the first. To ensure strong media coverage, PTT prepared two trips.

Surprisingly, Thai Beverage Plc was quite slow on this. Its invitation landed in newsrooms less than a week before the scheduled trip this week.

More surprising must be the invitation from Thai Airways International. The airline offered to take reporters to Chiang Mai - by train. They were scheduled to leave in the evening and rest during the journey. In the morning, they would be whisked to Mae Hia, where the event takes place. Throughout the day, they would wander through the site and in the evening they would be taken to the airport to fly home.

It is a big surprise that an airline has to take reporters to Chiang Mai by train. All flights to the city were probably fully booked so that even the national carrier could not find seats for its guests.

achara_d@nationgroup.com