Sisters Mimi and Nikki have battled Thailand's tropical climate, chased off elephants from their vineyards and won over a sceptical public to their award-winning wine. Now they're taking on the "unfair" booze laws critics say benefit the kingdom's billionaire booze monopolies.

Rows of Syrah, Viognier and Chenin Blanc grapes stretch across the 40-acre GranMonte Estate in the foothills of Khao Yai National Park.

The elevated terrain, three hours outside of Bangkok, provides unexpectedly fertile ground for grapes and an escape from city life, complete with a rust-coloured guesthouse that could be pulled straight from a Tuscany tourism advert. 

As they snap selfies in between the vines visitors run into Nikki Lohitnavy, 33, who studied oenology in Australia and now steers the science behind each bottle.

She painstakingly experiments with grape varieties to see how they respond to the climate -- it takes at least six years to see if a decent wine will emerge from the ground.

The plot of land was once a cornfield, but their father Visooth transformed the terrain into trellised vines and as a teenager Nikki joined him in the fields.

Younger sister Mimi was not interested in the viticulture, but today, she heads the label's marketing, calling it her "mission to put Thai wine into the market". 

The kingdom's wine remains an outlier -- grapes grown in warmer temperatures tend to produce tannic wines, something that seasoned drinkers eschew. 

But after more than two decades in business, GranMonte is gaining recognition especially for its progress in tropical viticulture.

"Winemakers around the world want to know what we do here because the climate is changing so they have to adapt to warmer temperatures and higher rainfall in their regions too," Nikki told AFP.

Its proximity to a national park also poses an unusual pest control issue as hungry elephants occasionally trespass through their vineyard, prompting calls from the sisters to rangers for help.

 - Que Syrah Sera -

Despite the gains, the long term future of the GranMonte wines is clouded by the kingdom's heavily restrictive booze laws.

Thailand has a strange relationship with alcohol. A devoutly Buddhist kingdom, it also has the highest alcohol consumption rate in Southeast Asia, according to the WHO.

A web of rules, including high import taxes on alcohol, hefty fines for breaches and a licensing culture where bars require friends at local police stations, can make drinking a complicated business.

Then there's the 2008 Alcoholic Beverage Control Act, a law forbidding the display of booze logos on their products, as well as any advertising that could "directly or indirectly appeal to people to drink". 

It's aimed at controlling consumption, but in effect clips the wings of small producers who do not possess the same reach to customers as established brands.

"I can't show clearly a bottle of my wine, I can't post on social media what the wine tastes like, or how or why it's good," says Mimi, who worries that their website might fall afoul of the law. 

Critics say it has always been unevenly enforced, allowing booze giants to cement their brand recognition, spraying their logos via non-alcoholic drinks like soda water on giant billboards and public transport. 

The market leader - Thai Beverage - makes the ubiquitous Chang lager. The firm is owned by Sirivadhanabhakdi family, the kingdom's third richest family with $10.5 billion in wealth according to Forbes, and their portfolio includes massive downtown Bangkok real estate projects and hotels. 

Together with Boon Rawd Brewery -- which produces Singha and Leo -- the duopoly are unrivalled in reach and capital. 

Neither responded to multiple requests for comment. 

Thailand's booze laws are uncharacteristically responsive to changes in drinking culture.

Online alcohol sales - which surged during the pandemic lockdown - are now in the regulators' crosshairs, potentially closing down another revenue route for small alcohol producers. 

GranMonte lost 30 million baht ($964,000) in three months during the shutdown - and Mimi says their recovery will be further hampered by new rules slated to ban all online booze sales.

- Monopoly players -

But Nipon Chinanonwait, director of the Ministry of Health's Alcohol Control Board, rejects criticism that established giants are given an unfair advantage.

"Both big and small companies face the same procedure," he told AFP, while the ministry insists the laws are there only to prevent underage drinking.  

The sisters have teamed up with dozens of small-scale craft brewers, importers and bars to petition the government to axe the advertising law, and to halt the impending online booze sales ban. 

"People cannot live like this," said brewer Supapong Pruenglampoo, who hid his Sandport Brewing Facebook page from public view in fear of a crackdown.

"In these COVID times, (the fines) are impossible to pay," he told AFP. 

But in an unequal kingdom, any efforts to change the monopoly culture are bruising. 

It's "a reflection of how Thailand operates," says Mimi.

"The lawmaking, the enforcement and everything surrounding it is to benefit the small group of people holding most of the wealth in Thailand," she said. 

As Nikki tastes their recent batch of Syrah grapes kept in imported barrels, she says the challenges to start were numerous. Now, they are working to stay on top.

"It's our passion -- we like it so we do it," she says. 

dhc/apj/lto/rbu/to

© Agence France-Presse

Washington, United States | What looks like a rolling picnic cooler stops at the crosswalk, waits for a car to pass and then navigates its way at a leisurely pace down the sidewalk in suburban Washington.

Three blocks away, Jake Williams and his three-year-old daughter Emilia wait for the delivery robot and take out bags with pizza, fresh fruit and a loaf of French bread from the nearby Broad Branch Market.

"We can't go into the shops now," says Williams, among those locked down due to the virus pandemic. "And it's fun for her."

The Starship delivery robots have seen surging demand in dozens of cities around the world, with consumers staying home and virus risks growing for both shoppers and delivery workers.

Starship began working with the Broad Branch in early April, when the corner store was forced to close to shoppers because it was too small to ensure proper social distancing.

Store owner Tracy Stannard said a fleet of up to 10 robots each day, managed by Starship, helps the market meet demands in the neighborhood. The store handles 60 to 70 deliveries daily, half by robot.

"Some people request the robot, they don't even care about the groceries," Stannard said. "It's cute to see them roaming the neighborhood and it makes people happy."

Robot deliveries from Starship and a handful of other companies meet only a tiny fraction of food deliveries, but highlight a need in a time of social distancing and pandemic fears.

The jump in demand comes as consumers see a trip to the grocery store as a perilous adventure, and retail employees are scrambling to keep safe. 

More than 40 grocery store employees in the US have died from the virus, according to a Washington Post tally. And delivery workers around the US have staged protests to press safety demands.

- Expanding demand -

San Francisco-based Starship Technologies, created by two Skype founders, is gearing up to operate in other areas around Washington and recently launched with retailers in Tempe, Arizona, and in cities in Britain and California.

The rolling devices operate autonomously at a speed of around six kilometers (four miles) per hour and can carry about three bags of goods.

"The demand for contactless delivery has expanded exponentially in recent weeks," said Ryan Tuohy, vice president of Starship. 

"Our robots are doing autonomous deliveries in five countries and we're grateful that our robots can make life a little bit easier for everyone."

A handful of other companies also has been stepping up.

Silicon Valley startup Nuro recently began delivering groceries in the Houston area in partnership with grocery giant Kroger with its R2 autonomous robot, which travels on streets at speeds up to 40 kilometers (25 miles) per hour and can transport some 190 kilos (400 pounds).

Nuro is moving to expand its service and has received approval in California to operate on public roads.

"We did not foresee our service helping to keep Americans safe from contagion. But the COVID-19 pandemic has expedited the public need for contactless delivery services," Nuro's David Estrada said in a blog post. 

"Times like these reinforce the need for autonomous delivery services like Nuro, and how they can benefit communities."

Delivery robots from Postmates, a delivery startup, have also been seen on the streets in California. And similar autonomous robots are being tested by Amazon.

- Above the fray? -

Drone delivery is another area where interest is growing due to the pandemic.

Wing, the drone startup created by Google parent Alphabet, has seen a jump in demand in its pilot projects in rural southwestern Virginia -- where it delivers non-prescription medicines and other items from the Walgreens chain -- and in Australia and Finland, a company spokesman said.

"While we recognize that this service will be a small relief during this time, we hope it means one less trip to the store for items our customers may need, and provides an efficient way for local businesses to reach their customers in a time when limiting human-to-human contact is important." Wing CEO James Ryan Burgess said.

Amazon and others have continued testing drone deliveries, but these systems are subject to regulatory barriers which have prevented deployment.

Zipline, a California startup which has been delivering medical supplies by drone in Africa, has indicated it wants offer similar services in the US once it gets regulatory approval.

"Zipline is helping other countries mount their national response efforts to #COVID19," the company said in a tweet. "As an American company in a time of crisis, we want to help our country as well."

rl/bgs

© Agence France-Presse