Gov Gets Tough On Bars, Violence And Encroachment

[george]

Gov gets tough on bars, violence and encroachment

PHUKET CITY: -- Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit has ordered police to continue their crackdown on bars in Patong opening after hours, saying that there were no exceptions in the law for “tourist provinces”.

At the Phuket Provincial Security Committee’s monthly meeting at the Thavorn Grand Plaza Hotel on Tuesday, Phuket Provincial Police Commander Maj Gen Decha Budnampeth asked the Governor to clarify the province’s stance on the crackdown.

“I would like to know what provincial policy on the issue is because I’m sure that if we wanted to we could put a stop to all the entertainment venues that are breaking the law, but I’m worried that it could destroy the atmosphere in Patong.

“If I don’t take action, then police from Bangkok will come here and make arrests, and I will be the first one to be blamed,” Gen Decha said.

“Some entertainment venues don’t even have entertainment licenses, they have only licenses to sell alcohol off site. There are also venues that close at 1 am when the police are around then open again at 4 am or 5 am when police aren’t around. In fact we know who the owners of most of the places are but they continue to open illegally,” he added.

Gov Niran replied, “We have to enforce the law. If we do not we ourselves may get in trouble. There is no clause in the law saying that entertainment venues can open longer because we are a tourism province, so we have to follow the law as it is.

“If we have to arrest people, then we must arrest them. We should also introduce new measures to deal with repeat offenders such as permanently shutting bars that break the rules a certain number of times.”

The Governor also raised concern at the high level of violent crime on the island and urged police to bring perpetrators to justice.

Gen Decha told the Governor that he had recently gone to inspect developments by helicopter and had found many luxury properties, especially around Laem Son and Leam Sing, that have built steps down to the sea that are possibly illegal.

Gov Niran said that next time he would go up in the helicopter with him and if he found that any department or organization was not doing its job then action would be taken.

--Phuket Gazette 2007-03-02

[khall64au]

One sentence devoted to "violence". two to "stair encroachment" and a whole story rambling about bar hours... that's priority in the usual sense!

[britmaveric]

Yes - entertainment venues are lifeblood to resort areas. One has to wonder when the powers that be, will get it through their thick skulls.

[lazeeboy]

Yes - entertainment venues are lifeblood to resort areas. One has to wonder when the powers that be, will get it through their thick skulls.

thailand has to be one of the only places in the world where people come and cant get a drink after 1am legaley they will stop coming like they have almost in samui

[happy_viking]

surely that is why tourists like Patong etc because they can have a totally different concept of having a drink in the middle of the night . Unlike the 12.45 close as we have here in the Channel Islands. I thought they were begging tourists to come back to Thailand after the Tsunami?

[bri1guy]

When will thry realize that in those tourist areas theywould make more money if they would change laws back to opening bars till 6am and it would help the whole country out!! What is the theory in closing? If they let one city stay open all hours like say Pattaya then eveyone would know where they could go. 24/7

[tiresias]

When will thry realize that in those tourist areas theywould make more money if they would change laws back to opening bars till 6am and it would help the whole country out!! What is the theory in closing? If they let one city stay open all hours like say Pattaya then eveyone would know where they could go. 24/7

hey everybody! sober up and smell the coffee!

[Virgil]

I've said it before and I'll say it again:

Muslim fundamentalists will keep chipping away at the freedom of the Thai people until, one day, your avarage Thai will awake to the 5:00am call to prayer.

When will the Thai people stand up for themselves?

Virgil, Out!

[ronw]

I've said it before and I'll say it again:

Muslim fundamentalists will keep chipping away at the freedom of the Thai people until, one day, your avarage Thai will awake to the 5:00am call to prayer.

When will the Thai people stand up for themselves?

Virgil, Out!

Can you please explain just how you made the leap ,from what the police are saying, to Muslim fundamentalism?

Do you know if the police chiefs are Muslim?

On what evidence do you base your remarks?

[joefromdc]

I've said it before and I'll say it again:

Muslim fundamentalists will keep chipping away at the freedom of the Thai people until, one day, your avarage Thai will awake to the 5:00am call to prayer.

Wait a minute, you're blaming the Muslim's for this? I thought blaming Thaksin for everything was the order of the day?

[retiredusn]

When will thry realize that in those tourist areas theywould make more money if they would change laws back to opening bars till 6am and it would help the whole country out!! What is the theory in closing? If they let one city stay open all hours like say Pattaya then eveyone would know where they could go. 24/7

hey everybody! sober up and smell the coffee!

I agree wake up! In my 60 years I have run tourist locations all over the world and 2am is more than enough time to party after that trouble begins weather it be the merry makers themself's or the local thugs. Let Thailand try to protect those that want protecting.....................

[mogoso]

I've said it before and I'll say it again:

Muslim fundamentalists will keep chipping away at the freedom of the Thai people until, one day, your avarage Thai will awake to the 5:00am call to prayer.

When will the Thai people stand up for themselves?

Virgil, Out!

Here Here, what you said

[britmaveric]

No worries its all BS - prob want to raise the tea dosh.

[Scott]

The problem is that they pass (decree?) laws that are then not enforced--except sometimes they are, then sometimes they aren't, then we'll let you break it a little, but not a lot, but it's a special holiday so you can break it a lot. Oh, it's a Buddhist holiday, so you can't break it at all.

God, this has got to be confusing for everyone, including the police. Nonetheless, it's a great way to get bribes. Bar owners surely aren't exactly clear either.

Once everyone is on the same page with a law, then people can take action to make sure the law works well. They can go through channels to get it changed.

Oh, and by the way, there isn't a need for a law on absolutely everything.

[gentman]

The law has to be enforced. Unless they amend it. Relaxation on enforcement is one thing that it has been all this while. But if thing goes wrong eg. "fire razed illegal disco many casulties" someones have to take responsible.

[Kaojai]

Yes - entertainment venues are lifeblood to resort areas. One has to wonder when the powers that be, will get it through their thick skulls.

thailand has to be one of the only places in the world where people come and cant get a drink after 1am legaley (sic) they will stop coming like they have almost in samui

Every few weeks the resident gurus predict that the tourists will stop coming and that the economy is in dire straits.

Apparently the tourists never seem to subscribe to these views. Coups, tsunamis, bombs...and the tourists keep coming in record numbers.

The baht continues to strengthen. Analysts appearing on Bloomberg continue to suggest that Thailand offers great investment opportunities. Major corporations contemplate opening billion dollar industrial operations.

I can easily see why some of Thai Visa message board's most vocal commentators want alcohol available 24 hours a day...and it has nothing to do with helping the tourism industry.

Watch Pattaya People Channel on TV for a few days. The continuing parade of drunken farang misfits getting into brawls, jumping from condo & hotel balconies or being mugged because of their drunken state of vulnerability is just amazing. Who needs that? If all the tourists who absolutely need to drink between 1:00 am and 6:00 am never came to Thailand, it would be no loss.

[CSS]

Drunk men partying at 3am are far, far from the life-blood of Thailand.

[khunmarc]

I've said it before and I'll say it again:

Muslim fundamentalists will keep chipping away at the freedom of the Thai people until, one day, your avarage Thai will awake to the 5:00am call to prayer.

When will the Thai people stand up for themselves?

Virgil, Out!

Can you please explain just how you made the leap ,from what the police are saying, to Muslim fundamentalism?

Do you know if the police chiefs are Muslim?

On what evidence do you base your remarks?

virgil you out of your mind or you really dont have a clue about thailand LOL

they only problem for the local phuket police is if the big boys from BKK come they gonna have to split their take!!!!!1

[Jaonghais]

472 viewers on this topic at the moment!!

What are they interested in?

The stairs leading to the beach!

The amount of voilent crimes!

The bar opening hours

Up 2 you to decided

[soandso]

Why stop with the enforcement of these laws?

Get rid of the venues promoting prostituition and limit the number of bars.

You will get high spending and high quality tourists in return who prefer a decent drink at a nice bar to rubbing with overweight and drunk farang (male & female).

You will get people who like to sleep at night and not to be kept up by noise.

These low life tourists and expats who are attracted by low quality "entertainment" should not be welcome in Thailand.

Once they are gone this will be a much better place again.

And please spare me comments on the economic nessecity. One high quality couple looking for a quiet place, nice restaurants and boutiques will spend more than 10 charter tourists.

I hope the Phuket authorities realize what it takes to be No. 1 in Asia in the future. If you want quality you can't have quantity.

[mikethevigoman]

seems to me its another message for the farang," weve had your money now sod off !" and steps down

to the beach , how awful ,lock em up !

[kurtgruen]

Yes - entertainment venues are lifeblood to resort areas. One has to wonder when the powers that be, will get it through their thick skulls.

thailand has to be one of the only places in the world where people come and cant get a drink after 1am legaley (sic) they will stop coming like they have almost in samui

Every few weeks the resident gurus predict that the tourists will stop coming and that the economy is in dire straits.

Apparently the tourists never seem to subscribe to these views. Coups, tsunamis, bombs...and the tourists keep coming in record numbers.

The baht continues to strengthen. Analysts appearing on Bloomberg continue to suggest that Thailand offers great investment opportunities. Major corporations contemplate opening billion dollar industrial operations.

I can easily see why some of Thai Visa message board's most vocal commentators want alcohol available 24 hours a day...and it has nothing to do with helping the tourism industry.

Watch Pattaya People Channel on TV for a few days. The continuing parade of drunken farang misfits getting into brawls, jumping from condo & hotel balconies or being mugged because of their drunken state of vulnerability is just amazing. Who needs that? If all the tourists who absolutely need to drink between 1:00 am and 6:00 am never came to Thailand, it would be no loss.

I totally agree with you, Kao Jai.

I think they should have a place for Slobbering drunks, but lets not let it be Thailand, please. Pick a place in your own country guys and leave us in peace. I'm sure Thai people are getting tired of being the dumping point of American and European misfits (just to name a couple). We have enough Thai drunks here to carry the breweries and distilleries. We don't need foreigners to come over here and act like idiots. There are enough idiots here already.

I know people (mostly young people) need a place to let of steam, but let them do it in their own country. Don't pollute beautiful Thailand with your attitudes and behaviors.

We have Raves and such in Canada, where people can party their faces off, stay up for days at a time and do all kinds of other stuff, which is great, for people who want to do it. They are usually held in remote areas, which has practically no negative impact on the community.

Maybe they should create a "party zone" in Thailand, but please let it be away from where local people live, who mostly work 12-14 hours per day and need their rest.

I see it up here in Chiang Dao already, when some idiot opens an outdoor bar or Karaoke place and nobody in the neighborhood gets a good night sleep anymore. My neighbors get up at 5am to go work in the fields (mostly farmers around here) and work until sunset. They don't need crap like that.

When you stay up all night and party every night in a neighborhood where people live and sleep, you are asking for problems, because people will complain and when they finally had enough of local corruption keeping the doors open, they will go above their heads and bring in someone from Bangkok to close them down.

The wheels of justice might grind slower here in Thailand, but eventually one will get crushed by them.

[Jockey]

I've said it before and I'll say it again:

Muslim fundamentalists will keep chipping away at the freedom of the Thai people until, one day, your avarage Thai will awake to the 5:00am call to prayer.

When will the Thai people stand up for themselves?

Virgil, Out!

Here Here, what you said

Yes - and I suppose we should ask the yanks to get over here pronto to save Thailand from these militant insurgents in the Thai police force not allowing us to drink alcohol after 1am. Maybe about 30,000 marines would do the trick. They would certainly be in favour of drinking through the night. Dodging a few suicide bombers would be part of the fun. We westerners know what's best for you Thailand, we want to drink ourselves silly and abuse your women. That's normal behavior.

[navajo]

Gov gets tough on bars, violence and encroachment

PHUKET CITY: -- Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit has ordered police to continue their crackdown on bars in Patong opening after hours, saying that there were no exceptions in the law for “tourist provinces”.

At the Phuket Provincial Security Committee’s monthly meeting at the Thavorn Grand Plaza Hotel on Tuesday, Phuket Provincial Police Commander Maj Gen Decha Budnampeth asked the Governor to clarify the province’s stance on the crackdown.

“I would like to know what provincial policy on the issue is because I’m sure that if we wanted to we could put a stop to all the entertainment venues that are breaking the law, but I’m worried that it could destroy the atmosphere in Patong.

“If I don’t take action, then police from Bangkok will come here and make arrests, and I will be the first one to be blamed,” Gen Decha said.

“Some entertainment venues don’t even have entertainment licenses, they have only licenses to sell alcohol off site. There are also venues that close at 1 am when the police are around then open again at 4 am or 5 am when police aren’t around. In fact we know who the owners of most of the places are but they continue to open illegally,” he added.

Gov Niran replied, “We have to enforce the law. If we do not we ourselves may get in trouble. There is no clause in the law saying that entertainment venues can open longer because we are a tourism province, so we have to follow the law as it is.

“If we have to arrest people, then we must arrest them. We should also introduce new measures to deal with repeat offenders such as permanently shutting bars that break the rules a certain number of times.”

The Governor also raised concern at the high level of violent crime on the island and urged police to bring perpetrators to justice.

Gen Decha told the Governor that he had recently gone to inspect developments by helicopter and had found many luxury properties, especially around Laem Son and Leam Sing, that have built steps down to the sea that are possibly illegal.

Gov Niran said that next time he would go up in the helicopter with him and if he found that any department or organization was not doing its job then action would be taken.

--Phuket Gazette 2007-03-02

WOW: Extortion, murder of tourists, fraud, corruption, police pay-offs...now isn't that part of the charm of thailand. Why crack down on all these good things?

[Jaonghais]

Quote "I think they should have a place for Slobbering drunks, but lets not let it be Thailand, please. Pick a place in your own country guys and leave us in peace".End Quote

This is OK in every other country, but not in Thailand.

[Mobi]

If similar senrtiments were expressed, and subsequently enforced in Pattaya, I suspect it would have an even more devastaing effect on business.

Lets face it, Walking Street doesn't start to really get going until after midnight.

A 1 or 2 a. m. closing might be the death knell for many a business here, but maybe a new, cleaner, and different Pattaya would emerge from the fall out.

Maybe some of the recent criminal excesses would be curbed, and some of the least desirable tourists may opt to infest and destroy some other country's' place in the sun.

[thaimat]

Every few weeks the resident gurus predict that the tourists will stop coming and that the economy is in dire straits.

Apparently the tourists never seem to subscribe to these views. Coups, tsunamis, bombs...and the tourists keep coming in record numbers.

The baht continues to strengthen. Analysts appearing on Bloomberg continue to suggest that Thailand offers great investment opportunities. Major corporations contemplate opening billion dollar industrial operations.

What planet is the Thailand you live in, on? , " tourists keep coming in record numbers"- are you kidding? Thailand's visitors are coming in record lows. As for Bloomberg advising business investment in Thailand, well, you get what you pay for, especially with financial services. I don't see that attitude in the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times (London) talks about the "deepening gloom" of the Thai economy and Thailand's "economic nationalism", terms that certainly don't suggest buying or investing here. Blind optimism is one thing, basing advice on it to others is quite another!

[steveromagnino]

are you kidding? Thailand's visitors are coming in record lows. As for Bloomberg advising business investment in Thailand, well, you get what you pay for, especially with financial services. I don't see that attitude in the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times (London) talks about the "deepening gloom" of the Thai economy and Thailand's "economic nationalism", terms that certainly don't suggest buying or investing here. Blind optimism is one thing, basing advice on it to others is quite another![/size][/font]

I could do with a bit of edukachun on a Friday.

Please explain your 'record lows' comment, ideally referencing the last 10 years as a solid base line.

You can use quotes from

retail operators

hotel booking websites

airport arrivals

TAT data

actually I don't think any of those support your cause, er....like i said learning something new is always nice on a Friday.

[richard10365]

I think this is only temporary. In 6 months, things will be back to normal. There are more Thai people than tourist in Thailand. There are more Thai people going to bars than there are tourist visiting Thailand. When it comes to bars in Thailand, the tourist don't fuel this train, the Thai people do.

This is more a part of culture than something tourist do. It's almost like asking Americans not to drink during the Super bowl. It's not going to happen.

If they want to change their culture, I don't think they will be successful this way.

[Donnyboy]

In my opinion, part of the equation should also include the fact that many people, married and single do not even attempt to go out at night until late hours due to the daytime heat. Those who reside here would probably overlook this factor because it's a fact of life for us. Tourists who come here for two weeks at a time, especially from a cooler climate may find the daytime heat quite overpowering.

the tourists usually would spend the day hours by the pool getting drunk should they wish to, if it was too hot, 2 am is more than enough time to party to. Thailand wont suffer from enforcement of the 2am closing. I think back when I was here on holiday..... there wasnt a time on the trip I wanted to party all night cause I wanted to experience and see the sights etc during the day, and there was no way I was going to do it with a hang over

I cannot understand tourists that come half way around the world and all they want to do is sit in a English/Irish pub all day-night getting wasted night after night... whats all that about??