OBJECTIVES: To assess the effectiveness of social marketing interventions in reducing alcohol consumption among construction workers (CWs) and other residents in a community in Bangkok, and to identify the  opportunity to expose to, ability to understand, and motivation to follow the suggestions provided through the interventions among the study populations. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted and 417 samples (52% were CWs) were interviewed in February 2010. Two interventions for reducing alcohol consumption, namely the television- and radio-based “stop drinking during Buddhist-lent period” campaign and the introduction of a law imposing restriction on alcohol-selling time, i.e. during 11.00-14.00 and 17.00-24.00, were addressed.   RESULTS: Respondents were not different for their ability to access to public media. Although both groups had the same level of exposure to and understanding on the information distributed through the stop drinking campaign, a smaller fraction of CWs stopped drinking during the last Buddhist-lent period than its counterpart. Those who stopped drinking argued they were motivated to do so as the campaign fit well with their religious beliefs.   In contrast to the stop-drinking campaign, the information on the legal-based restriction of alcohol selling time was not obtained by most of the CWs as they rarely visited large convenience stores, where such information was publicized. Instead, they usually bought alcohol at groceries in the community where law enforcement was inadequate and beverages were sold all the time. Therefore, the effectiveness of the legal-based intervention was higher when introducing among other residents than the CWs owing to several elements.   CONCLUSIONS: This study illustrates the limitations of social marketing campaigns and highlights the importance of social, cultural, and economic factors as determinants of the intervention’s effectiveness. Accessibility and understanding of information disseminated through social marketing campaigns are crucial. Social marketing interventions need to be introduced with other measures, i.e. effective law enforcement.