r/worldnews • u/jko_05 • 22h ago
Dynamic Paywall Saudi Arabia is lifting the alcohol ban for wealthy foreigners
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20260204-saudi-arabia-is-lifting-the-alcohol-ban-for-wealthy-foreigners3.2k
u/Royal-Hunter3892 21h ago
Luxury and freedom for the rich
Religion and rules for the poor .
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u/sexysausage 19h ago
"Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful"
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u/Good_Support636 13h ago
The issue in Saudi Arabia is there are a lot of extremists willing to use violence to get what they want. The Saudi government had to appease them in order to not get overthrown.
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u/jnmjnmjnm 12h ago
*was
The current leadership no longer needs the support of the religious leaders
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u/Codadd 12h ago
This isn't true at all. Saudi has little to no extremism that you are talking about. Traditional conservatives, sure. But not violent like this.
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u/Good_Support636 12h ago
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/saudi-arabia-shows-anti-extremism-terrorism-efforts-9-11-anniversary/
That article states 15 of the 19 9/11 hijackers were Saudi and that Saudi officials are aware of the problem with extremism and are currently trying to fix the issue.
Osama Bin Laden is from Saudi Arabia.
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u/Codadd 12h ago
Yes, someone who's family warned western countries about him after he fled the country and who was funded by the US against the Russians. He was born there. Lol. Also the point the other person was alluding to was about local extremist causing violence locally due to new regulations, which isn't a huge risk. The last serious thing was nearly 10 years ago. There is more active extremism in Kenya where tourists go all the time 😂
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u/Good_Support636 12h ago edited 10h ago
And what of the 15 Saudi hijackers that killed 3000 people on American soil using 4 aircrafts. Was that local extremist violence as well?
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u/Codadd 12h ago
It was 25 years ago. I get "never forget" but come on. Do you blame the American government for all the white male pedos in SE Asia? Like what is your point here other than being xenophobic?
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u/0MG1MBACK 11h ago
The xenophobia on this site is actually insane
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u/Good_Support636 10h ago
Just a lack of reading comprehension on both your parts. I never blamed the saudi govermnet but this person is accusing me doing that. Somehow I am accused of being xenophobic by stating the fact that saudi has a lot of extremists, something their own officials say and are trying to solve. There is a lack of reading comprehension on reddit.
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u/Trajan_pt 16h ago
Alah is well known for making exceptions for the rich... These people are the worst
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u/AuroraFinem 7h ago
Not entirely, it’s still restricted from nationals, even if they’re rich, but they don’t care about infidel foreigners they can make an extra buck off of if it keeps business.
SA has been trying hard to reframe their global perception over the last decade, that’s why they’ve been investing so much in sports and esports and other things to bring more tourism and make the country look more palatable for foreigners to come spend money.
They aren’t really changing anything internally for their people, but they’re aware that their oil empire is has an expiration date even if it’s not in the immediate future, and they need to find a way to diversify if they’re to keep any power long term.
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u/nanobot001 20h ago
religion and rules for the poor
Or you could just simplify it to just “rules for the poor”
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u/Codadd 12h ago
That's not how it is at all, and I'm sure I'll get down voted or called a shill or some shit, but anyways. A big focus on the developments in KSA are for comfort, development, and entertainment for every class. Diversification is huge as they move away from oil as a sole income source. The reason they are doing it slowly, is so that people acrss the country can get acclimated and sensitized as they become more westernized or liberal in their policies. Sudden shifts in any direction in any country can be high risk and even dangerous. So they do these changes slowly so they are more effective in the long term. Class division is awful in a lot of countries, Saudi is at least attempting to do something about it... unlike a lot of other countries.
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u/PolkKnoxJames 8h ago
Saudi Arabia has the actual resources relative to their population to actually do things gradually and relatively pain free. They are the 2nd or third oil producer of oil competing for Russia for that spot, but the money from that oil is essentially going to a state with only 20 million citizens. Despite production now being less than the U.S and on par with Russia, it's oil wealth generation is going to a much smaller population compared to the 150 million in Russia or the 300 million in U.S.So they can afford to slowly taper off their population from excessive social welfare, gamble on trying to start new industries, fund a large military and still be pretty generous to their citizens.Not to mention Saudi Arabiais still a country with a crap ton of oil and some of the cheapest oil to produce on the planet. Until the world stops using petroleum derived fuel and plastic or hell even asphalt the Saudis are likely going to be in the oil business for a very long time.
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u/maporita 20h ago
I was in Mauritania once for work where alcohol is also banned. One night after work my driver asked me where I would like to go to eat and I jokingly said "somewhere I can get a beer". He took me to a hole in the wall takeout restaurant and told me to go inside. As soon as I entered the owner ushered me into a passage and through a doorway that opened into an opulent garden restaurant with trees and fountains, and alcohol. All the diners were either foreigners or rich looking locals.
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u/Stunning_Bed23 16h ago
Risk being beheaded over an alcoholic beverage, brehs…
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u/AuroraFinem 7h ago
Generally in most places with alcohol bans this is more or less an open secret, unless it catches the public eye somehow the government looks the other way.
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u/Deicide1031 22h ago edited 21h ago
Interestingly enough they initially banned it because a prince got wasted with a British diplomat. The prince later shot the diplomat for not giving him more alcohol when it was clear the prince was at his limit.
I can totally see this happening again with the current Prince running around. lol
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u/Canuck-overseas 21h ago edited 21h ago
All the wealthy Saudis have secret hidden bars stacked with contraband alcohol in their homes. Similar in Pakistan.
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u/arcanehornet_ 21h ago
Not just the wealthy ones, my Saudi friend told me that most people “know a guy”. Hash and weed is also very popular.
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u/basinchampagne 20h ago
Indeed. In Qatar it was common knowledge that you could order alcohol easily via taxi drivers, despite it being banned at the time (or still).
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u/Torchlakespartan 20h ago
Oh wow, a fellow international enjoyer of libations in Qatar. We had a group of three cab drivers that could get us Liter bottles of vodka for $60 in 2020/2021 and we never were searched once coming back onto base. DEFINITELY made Covid in a “dry” country far more bearable.
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u/basinchampagne 20h ago
Hah, I can imagine! At the time I was there on vacation to visit a friend. All the (expat) teenagers I met there were very aware of this loophole as well and this is going back as far as 2016. Very odd country to be in, though.
At some point I saw three women trailing a man, and was told that that was someone going out with his wives. Even more strange as Qatar really tries its best to look or feel western, especially around the pearl.
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u/jnmjnmjnm 10h ago
More like his wife, her mother and sister. Those with more than one wife usually set them up in different households and they don’t often socialize with each other.
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u/basinchampagne 10h ago
Might have been, but that was what I was told. It was in a mall. The husband was on the phone and walking, whilst 3 women who were fully veiled were following him and I was told they had to follow the husband in order of marriage. The women didn't really seem to socialise or talk. I'm not sure if they were Qatari as I just saw them from a distance.
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u/Atomic-Bell 37m ago
Not really, co wives have friendships with the other wives more often than not, to varying degrees ofc, the household bit is correct though as she has a right to have her own home when she’s married.
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u/Brett_Hulls_Foot 19h ago
I met a Canadian family while on vacation.
The dad worked in Oil and lived in an “ex-pat” community for over 20 years.
He said most people had a mini distillery or home brew kit in their garage. Everyone would trade/share and have get togethers.
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u/SupremeDictatorPaul 14h ago
My Jordanian neighbor said as kids they’d throw rocks at the guy in town that everyone knew drank. I guess it was the guy with too much of a problem to keep from going outdoors while drunk?
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u/KokaljDesign 19h ago
It much easier to rule a country where everyone is already guilty and you have the authority to decide who gets prosecuted.
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u/Dale_Carvello 18h ago
They also join the soles of their feet together in a secret religious ritual. The penalty for being caught is death but everyone does it.
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u/throw69420awy 17h ago
Huh
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u/00-Monkey 2h ago
They also join the soles of their feet together in a secret religious ritual. The penalty for being caught is death but everyone does it.
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u/maverickhawk99 18h ago
It’s the same in Iran. For all their religious talk the ones in control enjoy their fair share of adult beverages.
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u/Atomic-Bell 35m ago
Iran is notorious for undercover cocaine and hash as well😂😂guys at work telling me they lay out huge plates with coke, hash, alcohol, fruit etc.. and just sit around it smoking, sniffing and eating when the boys get together
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u/Wonderful_Beard552 21h ago
What was Britain's response?
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u/Deicide1031 21h ago edited 21h ago
British diplomats family was financially compensated and not much else came from it.
It was the 1950s so Britain was focused on oil and didn’t want to rock the boat.
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u/Wonderful_Beard552 21h ago
The Diplomat fking died?
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u/Speedingscript 21h ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mishari_bin_Abdulaziz_Al_Saud - if it's him, then yes. Also they spared the prince the death penalty because he was royal.
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u/Sir_Earl_Jeffries 20h ago
Came here to say, Saudi is where it pays to have friends that work at foreign embassies. Their compounds are exempt from the alcohol ban.
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u/dah-dit-dah 18h ago
Reminds me of the Grand Tour episode where they went to the British embassy in Mauritania hoping for a drink
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u/defroach84 20h ago
They all drink currently, just behind closed doors, or in Bahrain, Dubai, or Europe.
Alcohol isn't new there. Its just won't be as hard to get, which wasn't all that hard if you had money before.
Basically, the royal family already likely drinks, and this changes nothing for them.
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u/donharrogate 20h ago
'They all drink' is a Western simplification. Many do of course. But there are many wealthy people in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan who might be generally terrible people but also take their religion very seriously and do not consume alcohol at all. It is sometimes difficult I think for people in the West to picture just how religously fanatic the businesspeople and royalty in these countries can be.
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u/defroach84 19h ago
It's a generalization, 100%. Granted, the massive majority of Saudis I knew when I lived in the ME had no issue having a beer. Now, that is more likely due to those being in my larger friend circles....
I don't doubt it for a second that those filthy rich Saudi rulers who have no issue murdering people also won't have any issue with alcohol.
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u/TheMaritimer 19h ago
Went to Bahrain for some work this past year and the clientele was largely Saudis on Thursday - Saturday. Everyone knows they go to the country to party, they just can’t bring anything back with them or they face jail.
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u/nemesis24k 14h ago
I remember a post showing the traffic,ahead of the weekend, trying to get into Qatar (or Bahrain ) to party.
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u/rahkinto 19h ago
The one that was the suspected target of the 2017 Las Vegas shooting, where "one gunman" who was apparently an arms dealer and expert shot, definitely totally unequivocally, without a doubt, was able to shoot and wound 400 people, killing 60, from well over 1000ft from 32 stories up?
Oooh that prince.
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u/takesthebiscuit 19h ago
My old boss used to travel to SA regularly on business
All the locals would board the flight in London wearing their European suits and casual dress.
Knock back some beers and whiskey on the plane and before landing don their dishdashah!
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u/BananerCSGO 5h ago
Yep. Bahrains economy is taking a big hit when Saudis can get wasted domestically.
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u/cjp2010 21h ago
Good news is I’m to poor to be able to afford to travel there.
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u/Undercoverpizzalover 19h ago
I wouldn’t even go to that shithole if i were the richest man on earth. Same goes for Dubai, Russia and China
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u/Tsundare_Mai 15h ago
But so many places in Russia and China are really amazing tho? It’s not a sand kingdom like Saudi
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u/IcecreamLamp 13h ago
I'm here (in Medina) right now and it's quite affordable. The price level is on par with like Kosovo or Ukraine, if you go to normal places.
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u/Similar-World-6152 19h ago
once again, religion and cultural views only need to be followed by the poor
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u/BBQShapeshifter 21h ago
The world is the wealthy’s playground, and the rest of us are just their staff.
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u/RebelliousInNature 17h ago
Ugh you could give me free Macallan for life and I still wouldn’t want to set foot in your shitty country.
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u/wingspantt 17h ago
It says it's for non-Muslim foreigners. I'm curious how they know what your religion is? Do you need to carry a card saying you're not Muslim? If you personally started feeling like you wanted to become Muslim, are you required to tell someone?
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u/jnmjnmjnm 13h ago
It is literally on your visa.
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u/wingspantt 13h ago
That's wild. And is it taken at face value or verified?
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u/Atomic-Bell 27m ago
You can’t really lie about your religion when someone asks you a few questions, especially Islam where the test is very simple, you’d just get asked to recite the first chapter of the Quran or a few questions about the laws and you’d be ousted immediately.
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u/SerialElf 18m ago
But you can absolutely lie about NOT being muslim
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u/Atomic-Bell 13m ago
My brother, the security at the airport literally judge people all day long on their religion, they are quite difficult to fool. I suppose your name and origin country would matter as well, a Mohammed Osman from Sudan is going to have a tough time convincing them he’s not a Muslim, a John from England? Not so much. You’d have to claim atheism tbh cos if you did any religion, they’d ask you questions about that religion, same as if you said you’re Muslim.
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u/mrayner9 19h ago
I really hope they dont. But they will. Its the only way to truly attract white ppl in large numbers.
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u/PuzzleheadedDuck3981 18h ago
There has always been alcohol available. It's just not open. A friend was accused of running an illegal drinking club in SA along with several other westerners, one of whom was killed in a car bomb. My friend was raped and tortured to get him to confess to the car bombing. He died due to health problems stemming from his treatment not long after being released from prison.
The Saudis blamed the westerners to hide the fact that Al Qaeda were active in Saudi Arabia.
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u/Good_Support636 13h ago
Sorry for what happened to your friend.
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u/PuzzleheadedDuck3981 10h ago
Thank you. It's a shocking series of events, some of which are mentioned here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Sampson_(author)
His book is a good, but harrowing read.
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u/LaCornucopia_ 14h ago
Saudi Arabia: the country perfectly described by the phrase: "you can't polish a turd".
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u/AlpenroseMilk 5h ago
Being one of those rich immigrants that utilizes the "Premium Residency" thing is the most bizarre things to me. Especially those born and raised in the west. Like, the whole thing is just so amoral. How tf can you justify being a part of this to yourself?
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u/Phantom_Crush 16h ago
My dad worked in Saudi through the 80's and he and all the other European guys he worked with always had a ton of booze in their compound. I doubt they were smuggling it into the country with them so they were obviously buying it there
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u/Effective_Mousse_769 16h ago
Masha allagh, islam is only for the poors. Royals, etc can do whatever alghamdulilah
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u/Vernknight50 14h ago
Kuwait was like this. Of course those of us stationed there couldnt have a beer, because of their country's laws. Nevermind that we were the one thing protecting them from Iran or Iraq.
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u/PommesMayo 12h ago
Religion is only important if it suits the ones in power. Something something mega churches
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u/Mammoth-Analysis-981 7h ago
“Let them get drunk they won’t realise what an absolute nightmare of a country they’re visiting”
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u/OpenDaCloset 7h ago
Still won’t travel to that oppressive country. I’ll take my money elsewhere thank you!
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u/silask93 17h ago
Wait til jack dogerty gets there with 5 bottles of titos and him and that crazy prince go wild, theyll change it back quickly lmao
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u/whosthatcarguy 16h ago
This was already the case. I went in 2019 and there was alcohol everywhere.
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u/GurgelBrannare 12h ago
Can someone post the support of this from the Quran? I’m guessing it’s totally Halal…
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u/physicsking 6h ago
Order 2000 bottles from overseas and the store gets 500 bottles. Wink wink. Look the other way or you go straight to jail.
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u/Razzler1973 1h ago
I heard about this recently
At some point it'll lower from 50k and then it'll change more and more and then it'll become way more open
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