Debate simmers over proposed 4am bar closings

[hotchilli]

14 hours ago, grego49 said:

The golden goose flew away a long time ago,these bs ideas are never going to bring it back.

Correct, just grabbing at straws for a few drunks to stay out later & buy more.

But in reality people drink to a budget, I know many people who would just go out later than normal to stay to closing time, while tourists especially with families will go home so they can sleep before touring the next day... 

[wavodavo]

When I went to Phuket for the first time in 1990 the bars closed when the last drinker had enough.I remember that the sun was getting up many times as we staggered back to our room to go to bed.I didnt see too many problems in the bars in those days!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[essox essox]

so by allowing bars to stay open until 4 am and serve booze WILL BRING IN MANY MORE quality tourists.....which quality tourists is this guy aiming at??

Edited August 22, 2019 by essox essox
after thought

[PerkinsCuthbert]

Bring back till-dawn opening hours at Thermae, you know it makes sense for Thonglor precinct.

[Bangkok Barry]

3 hours ago, jaiyen said:

Does any other country have such a thing, where bars are open till 4 ? 

 

Most of Europe. Sometimes until 6am. Which is when some places in Pattaya, for example, close. Some places are forced to close at 2 while others operate, even on Walking Street and not secretly down some dark alley, until the monks are out doing their rounds and meeting the revellers as they emerge into the dawn.

[Bangkok Barry]

1 hour ago, outsider said:

 

Really? Tourists choose not to come to Thailand because clubs, pubs and bars close earlier than 4 am?

 

 

Some, probably. If you can party in your home town until 6am why fly for hours to somewhere you can't?

[Bangkok Barry]

When they allowed pubs in England to close at whatever time they wanted, most kept to the normal 11pm closing. Some extended until midnight.

 

Anyway, what business is it of government to dictate when a business should open and close? Market forces should be the only thing that dictates that.

[newnative]

Bad idea.  But, I'd like to see the day time restrictions on buying alcohol lifted.

[Ketyo]

Good idea. If the government thinks it has the right to tell holidaymakers what time to go to bed, and to stop people from making money people will go elsewhere if they can.

[GalaxyMan]

3 hours ago, jaiyen said:

Most of the people who are still in a bar at 2 are already drunk and the few that stay till 4 will create problems.  Can't see this idea lasting long. Does any other country have such a thing, where bars are open till 4 ?  Doubt it as they have drunk driving laws that are taken notice of, not like in Thailand.

Bars only have to close for 1 hour a day in Palm Beach County, Florida in the USSA. They usually do it between 5-6am.

[Thaifriends]

What a subject to debate again.????

 

More thrilling debate would be the US Presidential election ????

[Golden Triangle]

19 hours ago, webfact said:

He probably sees how our country can become competitive in proposing 4am closings for just international tourist destinations, not the whole country,” Preechawut said, noting that supporting businesses such as taxi drivers would also benefit.

Maybe while they are looking at it they may want to consider scrapping the big Buddha days in tourist destinations where bars have to close for anything from 24 to 48 hrs, totally screwed up idea that is. Just my humble opinion.

[atyclb]

3 hours ago, jaiyen said:

Most of the people who are still in a bar at 2 are already drunk and the few that stay till 4 will create problems.  Can't see this idea lasting long. Does any other country have such a thing, where bars are open till 4 ?  Doubt it as they have drunk driving laws that are taken notice of, not like in Thailand.

 

 

am told in Belgium it us up the bar to decide what time to close

[Thaifriends]

55 minutes ago, essox essox said:

so by allowing bars to stay open until 4 am and serve booze WILL BRING IN MANY MORE quality tourists.....which quality tourists is this guy aiming at??

Bagpackers ????????????

[GalaxyMan]

2 hours ago, topt said:

A lot of respondants seem to miss the point that it is not just about drinking to excess in the allotted time but also being able to enjoy the evening without necessarily being restricted to having to finish by 2am or 12.00 in some places.

 

As pointed out a lot of clubs in Pattaya stay open illegally beyond that now anyway.

 

 

And since most tourists are here for only a week or two, their body clocks are off by at least 6 hours if they're Europeans, more if they're North Americans. 4am here is only 10pm in London.

[atyclb]

30 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

When they allowed pubs in England to close at whatever time they wanted, most kept to the normal 11pm closing. Some extended until midnight.

 

Anyway, what business is it of government to dictate when a business should open and close? Market forces should be the only thing that dictates that.

 

police corruption is a "market force"

[Bangkok Barry]

41 minutes ago, newnative said:

Bad idea.  But, I'd like to see the day time restrictions on buying alcohol lifted.

 

Introduced by Thaksin's morality minister, who also wanted to close the bars at 10pm. The UK used to have the same 2-5pm restriction which was introduced in WW2 to prevent munitions workers returning to work drunk in the afternoon, and which was rescinded decades ago. So in that respect Thaksin - who once also complained about having signs written in English at the international airport - turned Thailand's clock back about 60 years. And there it has remained.

[ThomasThBKK]

1 hour ago, Bangkok Barry said:

 

Most of Europe. Sometimes until 6am. Which is when some places in Pattaya, for example, close. Some places are forced to close at 2 while others operate, even on Walking Street and not secretly down some dark alley, until the monks are out doing their rounds and meeting the revellers as they emerge into the dawn.

 

We have no such limitation at all in germany, you can go party thursday and come back monday. Well, that's why young people but also middle aged, go to Berlin, Ibiza, Mykonos, goa and co. 

 

There's absolutely no clubbing in Thailand, it's one of the most boring countries in the world on that area. Go to that hippy city called chiang mai and then go to bed at midnight because everything is closed... Hilarious ???? glad i don't care much anymore, but has a reason we fly to ibiza or greece each year... There are absolutely no problems with these opening hours in germany, why would it? We have a real police that cares about noise complaints. 

 

Germany, land of the free i guess ???? 

[toofarnorth]

For my Satang's worth . Most of my life was spent in England , midday drink then back to work. In the evening , after dinner to the pub for drinkies with mates , you knew how long till closing time and fitted in how much to drink.

Going on holiday before and after getting married meant the same opening and closing time , fit in the drinking. In 1974 I worked in a hotel in Woolacombe , same rules applied. Open at 5 close at 11 pm.   Never ever heard ' Why can't we drink for longer ? '.  If I went out over here now for drinks I would be happy with midnight closing , possibly because that is what I am used to.  Sitting indoors and waiting for 10 pm to start boozing makes no sense to me.

If a person needs a drink at 4 am what time do they move .  We are designed to live in the light and sleep in the dark , why oh why turn this around ?

[Dr Rodrigues Pereira]

Places like Portugal, Spain, France, Germany let bars open till 4 am , some with special licences till 6 am. And I don't see any particular violence coming out of these closing hours. Of course , the police patrol these places effectively, not from a "busines" orientend type of view ...

[MartiniMan]

Its very simple you allow the landlords to apply for a longer opening hours permit - it has some stipulations

Permit not to be given near residential area resort or hotel it must be zoned so they can be loud etc and not annoy customers, residents or business people too hung over to be bothered that night

No drink driving strictly enforced - taxi rank (provides loads of employment) and police presence to enforce that part very important otherwise will be a blood bath

Give tax credits to landlords that provide a acoustically treated premises that doesnt let the sound system leak so they can book bigger names and promote the local economy - put it on the world stage and bring quality tourism

Hold a nightclub competition where the best 3 clubs get their next years permits for free - they are judged on cleanliness, quality of selection and foods, quality of the building and originality they bring to the area - make it a game so owners can have some fun with healthy competition

The permits should cost enough to be serious business owners only and then all the others have to close at 12 for example and all the drinkers can pile into the bigger clubs that open all night and provide a higher quality service

If they do it inside a specifically zoned hotel for this style of customers it can also work as they can just sleep upstairs in the hotel and not even have to leave the area it can be fully contained and go on 24/7 - just let it be the human body can only take so much just have 24 hour drinking you will see eventually they have had enough and satisfied plus you will make huge revenue and not disturb the five star luxury resorts etc plus they can dip their toe when they want as its just a non stop party

Edited August 22, 2019 by MartiniMan

[paulbrow]

That's a great idea! Close the bars when working people are getting on the road to go work. Should help to correct that small shortfall in road deaths and get it back up #1 in the world!

[Mac98]

4 hours ago, malibukid said:

alcohol and cheap sex does not make quality tourist.  time to clean Dodge up.  

I went to Spain and hit an empty club at 10 p.m. I was told the band didn't get started until after midnight and the fun ran until dawn. I believe Vegas, New Orleans, Ibiza, Cancun, Rio, and so on are open late or 24/7. Pattaya and Phuket are competing against them, not Salt Lake City. 

[Just1Voice]

4 hours ago, BobBKK said:

Chiang Mai is 12pm closing?  why the discrepancy?  

Maybe the Lanna Thai in Chiang Mai have more sense than the Siam Thai down south. 

[khunPer]

22 hours ago, webfact said:

He (Patong Development Foundation president Preechawut Keesin) estimated Phuket tourism income would increase by 10-20 per cent, while Patong – especially the one-square-kilometre Soi Bang La area – would “turn into gold”.

Perhaps wishful thinking...
–and what happened to all the "quality tourists"...

 

Wouldn't the baht exchange rate rather be what could make a change – Europen countries are down up to 25 percent in currency exchange rate value, and so seem the number of European tourists to be, and probably also tourists coming from some other countries – I don't believe that missing tourists due to bad exchange rates will come back just because they get another two hours to spend "gold" in the nightlife...????

[manta]

Cheaper beer might help..

[LivinginKata]

9 minutes ago, manta said:

Cheaper beer might help..

 

Cheaper Baht help a lot more ....

[Anythingleft?]

So, they are actually staying open until 4am as they pay bribes currently to allow them to do so
Where would the extra revenue come from then and the additional custom?
Is it just the bribes that they want to remove?...


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[natway09]

The jury is still out on the idea but I see it as going in the right direction as a person who has operated bars in 6 countries of the world including Thailand (still).

Amsterdam comes to mind as open 24 hours & water sort of finds its own level.

Casinos around the world do stay open 24/7 although the one I managed I did suggest closing from 5 am until 8 am for 2 reasons

1. Get rid of the smellies who needed to go eat & shower

2. Gives the cleaning staff a fair go 

Senior management did not agree.

As to the argument in Thailand that social consequences will worsen with longer hours

I disagree,,,, the accident rates on the roads cost hundreds of billions to the community but 

no one seems to care.

As I said water finds its own level & I doubt if socializing for an extra 2 hours will have much negative affect. The few drunks will have their fill even if you have no opening hours.

Incidently I am not sure that 7/11 shoud even be licensed to sell alcohol anytime

[sambum]

"likely bringing an income boost of perhaps 20 per cent while curbing police bribery."

 

First of all the tourists have to be there to spend the money, or as in the case of Koh Samui, are they expecting the locals to flood the bars?

 

And secondly, some body is actually admitting that police bribery exists!