Tourism minister wants to extend pub closing hours

By The Nation

 

Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn

 

Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn has proposed that bars and pubs in some tourist destinations be allowed to stay open until 4am to attract foreign tourists to spend more.

 

Phiphat said he would discuss his ideas to stimulate nightlife tourism with Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha and other ministers. 

 

The closing time for pubs and bars is 2am.

 

Phiphat said he believed that if closing is extended to 4 am, tourists will spend 25 per cent more on eating and drinking.

 

He added however that the proposal did not apply to all areas but would cover such popular tourist spots as the Silom nightlife zone in Bangkok, Patong in Phuket, Ao Nang in Krabi and Koh Samui in Surat Thani. 

 

Meanwhile, Witchayayut Boonchit, deputy secretary general of the National Economic and Social Development Board, said the number of Chinese tourists dropped by 8 per cent in the second quarter, following on from the 1.7 per cent fall in arrivals in the first quarter.

 

He said Chinese tourists were apparently worried by the depreciation of the yuan so were visiting Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao and South Korea instead of travelling to Thailand.

 

He said 19.76 million foreign tourists visited Thailand during the first half (January to June) this year, which was an increase of 1.48 per cent over the previous year. They generated revenue of Bt1.02 trillion for the country.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30375022

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2019-08-20

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"He added however that the proposal did not apply to all areas but would cover such popular tourist spots as the Silom nightlife zone in Bangkok, Patong in Phuket, Ao Nang in Krabi and Koh Samui in Surat Thani. "

 

Well then, superfluous this extension, me says! 

The RTP Bar and Club Owners Association must be feeling the pinch and applying a bit of pressure.

"if closing is extended to 4 am, tourists will spend 25 per cent more on eating and drinking"

And probably increase drunk driving accidents/deaths by a similar amount, as there is near zero enforcement of drunk driving laws in the wee hours. 

desperate times call for desperate measures from the minister of sports. we all know that alcohol improves sports performance. maybe engage brain before mouth next time.

Perhaps they could bring Chiang Mai into the fold and stop enforcing midnight closing. Extend it out til 2am to be in line with the rest of Thailand. 

headline's not quite right. I think he wants to extend the opening hours!

27 minutes ago, webfact said:

Phiphat said he believed that if closing is extended to 4 am, tourists will spend 25 per cent more on eating and drinking.

Allow tourists to smoke will add a few more%. 

How about ending the idiotic and pointless no buying booze times? As it is I cannot get a glass of wine in the local pizza restaurant in the afternoon, must baffle some tourists who bought the lie that Thailand is 'laid back' In some places 7/11 does not even stock drinks as too near a School, but it's illegal to sell to kids anyway. People who live near pubs don't want them open until 4am, they go from one extreme to the other.

Best  news  i ever seen for LONG TIME 

13 minutes ago, Captain_Bob said:

"if closing is extended to 4 am, tourists will spend 25 per cent more on eating and drinking"

And probably increase drunk driving accidents/deaths by a similar amount, as there is near zero enforcement of drunk driving laws in the wee hours. 

Classic. Just another example of the perpetual farang whiners "damned if they do and damned if they don't" response.

 

"They're killing tourism with their alcohol bans!!!"

 

Then...

 

"They're going to kill more people with less alcohol restrictions!!!"

 

Make your bloody minds up willya?!

13 minutes ago, SammyT said:

Perhaps they could bring Chiang Mai into the fold and stop enforcing midnight closing. Extend it out til 2am to be in line with the rest of Thailand. 

Midnight in Udon Thani except for the one police-owned local dance hall which respects the national 2 AM curfew.

 

I don't ramwong either.

9 minutes ago, Orton Rd said:

How about ending the idiotic and pointless no buying booze times?

Yes. Even in an out of the way place like Tha Ton I was amused by the queue of 5 foreigners standing at the cool drinks cabinet as the clock hit 5pm all waiting to get a cold beer on a hot afternoon. Probably one of Thailands most stupid rules as when the kids are in school you cant get a drink but after they finish everything opens up.

9 minutes ago, Lungstib said:

Yes. Even in an out of the way place like Tha Ton I was amused by the queue of 5 foreigners standing at the cool drinks cabinet as the clock hit 5pm all waiting to get a cold beer on a hot afternoon. Probably one of Thailands most stupid rules as when the kids are in school you cant get a drink but after they finish everything opens up.

How many times do we have to explain to the know-it-all foreigners that the 134:00 - 17:00 alcohol sales ban is to stop the kids carrying on drinking after lunch and taking the whole afternoon off school.

 

Here's a clue: you can buy cold beer anytime between 11:00 and 14:00. Just need to get your lazy ass outta bed earlier be more motivated.

Ive got a good idea, you can only buy ciggies at the same time as booze

Who really needs to drink between  2 am and 4 am ? Midnight and one for the road is ok if the road is walked but even in the '60s when I was a teen I needed home after midnight ,is there anyone on TV who would like a beer at 4am ?

1 hour ago, madmitch said:

headline's not quite right. I think he wants to extend the opening hours!

Exactly what I thought , I was expecting to read ' All closing at midnight '. Maybe he was <deleted>.

1 hour ago, SmartyMarty said:

desperate times call for desperate measures from the minister of sports. we all know that alcohol improves sports performance. maybe engage brain before mouth next time.

Not sure about that. Walking back from the bar after a good few always seems a lot faster than when sober. Sometimes when I was younger it was so fast I couldn't remember it.

????

1 hour ago, SammyT said:

Perhaps they could bring Chiang Mai into the fold and stop enforcing midnight closing. Extend it out til 2am to be in line with the rest of Thailand. 

Yes ,I found this extremely irritating while travelling in chaing mai.. all the best spots close insanely early, then they huddle everyone into dangerously overcrowded "after parties"  in sure none of the vendors would mind if Zoe in yellow was allowed to stay open a while later.

12 minutes ago, toofarnorth said:

Who really needs to drink between  2 am and 4 am ? Midnight and one for the road is ok if the road is walked but even in the '60s when I was a teen I needed home after midnight ,is there anyone on TV who would like a beer at 4am ?

I think the topic is about tourists, the ones that come to LOS to smoke, <deleted> and get plastered as often as possible.......????

It might be better for tourists if they did not encounter the alcohol free "Monk Days" about which they knew nothing when booking their holiday.

16 minutes ago, toofarnorth said:

Who really needs to drink between  2 am and 4 am ? Midnight and one for the road is ok if the road is walked but even in the '60s when I was a teen I needed home after midnight ,is there anyone on TV who would like a beer at 4am ?

 

YES! 

 

 

Interior minister cool to idea of extending pub hours

By The Nation

 

Anupong Paochinda

 

Interior Minister General Anupong Paochinda today (August 20) reacted cautiously to a proposal made yesterday by the tourism minister to extend pub closing hours to 4am, saying the issue needs a comprehensive study.

 

Anupong said the proposal needs to be considered from the view of its potential impacts on the society, culture and youths apart from the economic impacts.

 

Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn cited the intent to encourage tourists to spend more when he proposed that bars and pubs in some tourist destinations be allowed to remain open until 4am. The current closing time is 2am.

 

Anupong said he had not yet submitted a proposal for the Cabinet’s deliberation. He said he would wait for the issue to be clarified before making further comments.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30375030

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2019-08-20

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47 minutes ago, webfact said:

Interior minister cool to idea of extending pub hours

By The Nation

 

Anupong Paochinda

 

Interior Minister General Anupong Paochinda today (August 20) reacted cautiously to a proposal made yesterday by the tourism minister to extend pub closing hours to 4am, saying the issue needs a comprehensive study.

 

Anupong said the proposal needs to be considered from the view of its potential impacts on the society, culture and youths apart from the economic impacts.

 

Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn cited the intent to encourage tourists to spend more when he proposed that bars and pubs in some tourist destinations be allowed to remain open until 4am. The current closing time is 2am.

 

Anupong said he had not yet submitted a proposal for the Cabinet’s deliberation. He said he would wait for the issue to be clarified before making further comments.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30375030

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2019-08-20

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of course a general would be against this.. those dinosaurs only think about culture. Nothing wrong with longer opening hours its happening secretly in many places anyway. Only ones losing out are the cops and army who are bribed to let pubs open longer.

3 hours ago, webfact said:

He said Chinese tourists were apparently worried by the depreciation of the yuan so were visiting Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao and South Korea instead of travelling to Thailand.

I somehow doubt that many Chinese tourists are visiting Hong Kong just now!

1 hour ago, transam said:

I think the topic is about tourists, the ones that come to LOS to smoke, <deleted> and get plastered as often as possible.......????

I resemble that comment.

3 minutes ago, JAG said:

I somehow doubt that many Chinese tourists are visiting Hong Kong just now!

Getting cheaper by the day. ????

Some posters in the forums will still have us believe foreign tourism accounts for only 10% of Thai GDP.  

 

Tourism is almost the ONLY thing they are crying about!

 

It's probably closer to 30% of Thai GDP.

1 hour ago, nong38 said:

It might be better for tourists if they did not encounter the alcohol free "Monk Days" about which they knew nothing when booking their holiday.

Or cannot buy alcohol during the restricted hours -- which is rather childish and silly. Like living in North Korea.

12 minutes ago, overherebc said:

I resemble that comment.

and for those still drinking Chang at 4 am ' The drunker I stand here the longer I get '.