4am closing: Will put Thai tourism "down the drain", says Dr Mohamed

[webfact]

4am closing: Will put Thai tourism "down the drain", says Dr Mohamed 

 

Picture: Manager online

 

A Thai advocate for alcohol control has told the country's tourism minister to think again about extending pub opening hours to 4 am in some tourist areas. 

 

He has said that the government should focus more on safety than encouraging more drinking.

 

Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn has proposed such measures in tourism places like Pattaya, Phuket, Chiang Mai and Koh Samui. He claimed that the tourism economy would be stimulated by as much as 25%.

 

But Dr Mohamed Fahmy Tale who proposes measures to tackle alcohol problems disagrees. 

 

In a comment piece in Manager he said that he was "shaking his head" when he read the proposals that in his view would "set Thailand tourism back and put it in the klong" (down the drain).

 

He said that tourists don't decide where to visit based on alcohol availability. 

 

He said that Thailand already has the moniker of the "Capital of Sex Tourist (sic)" and there are far better ways to move forward and counter this perception than extending opening hours. 

 

He said that Thailand has more than enough culture and environmental wonders like sea and mountains to take tourism in a new and more favorable direction. The government should promote that.

 

He said that his surveys showed that safety is a tourist's number one priority and the government should focus on improving that.

 

He urged a rethink saying that the minister's claims about closing times in Italy were broad brush remarks. Italy has a great deal of difference from one city to the next, he said and could not be compared to Thailand. 

 

Source: Manager Online

 

 

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[Cadbury]

Tourism Minister Phiphat wont be impressed with this party pooper. After all he is heading off on a junket to Europe and will be working hard through to the wee hours doing necessary "research" into late closing.

[sammieuk1]

For Brits arriving this high/low season finding out that your pound buys you 38% less beer these days will be enough for you to have many early nights me thinks????

[toofarnorth]

....................safety is a tourists number one priority and the government should focus on improving that.

 

Not too sure whether more drunks will be on the roads or more drunken brawls will appear after 4 am . Not that it bothers me as I go to bed at around midnight.

[PatOngo]

4am closing: Will put Thai tourism "down the drain", says Dr Mohamed 

There is a solution.

Well-behaved prisoners brought out to clean sewers

[TooBigToFit]

It seems like there should be some sort of compromise. Some areas or some specific businesses should be able to open all day. Not all. For some people coming here they are on a different time clock. Americans and Canadians are 12 hours difference on the East coast. As for the Italy trip, whoever came up with that is an idiot or corrupt. 

 

[piewarmer]

Chiang Mai closing bars at midnight HAS put party people off coming, I know quite a few who used to come but stopped for that reason alone.

 

 

[mercman24]

if i am not in bed by midnight i am going home

[GarryP]

"He said that tourists don't decide where to visit based on alcohol availability."

 

Actually, I don't think that is true. While alcohol availability may not be at the top of the list of many tourists, it is still on their list. Just look at those wonderful cultural tourists from the Middle East weaving down upper Sukhumvit at 2 a.m., each with a kind hearted young lady making sure they get back to their hotel room safely.  

[smedly]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

He has said that the government should focus more on safety than encouraging more drinking.

(going by the surname)

 

says a man who's religion "bars" him from drinking alcohol  

[mtls2005]

I feel bad for the employees who will be required to work extra hours. Yes, I assume they'll be paid for the extra time, but still could be long shift.

 

32 minutes ago, TooBigToFit said:

It seems like there should be some sort of compromise. Some areas or some specific businesses should be able to open all day.

Agreed. Although implementation would be the challenge.

 

It seems like the subset of tourists who want to party later could be addressed with a few, limited concentrated "zones"?

[bluesofa]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

He said that tourists don't decide where to visit based on alcohol availability. 

Well those from Iraq or Afghanistan might not, but both the sex tourists probably do. After their obligatory temple visit, they'll be preying elsewhere in the evenings.

[Beggar]

4 minutes ago, GarryP said:

While alcohol availability may not be at the top of the list of many tourists, it is still on the list. 

There are tourist destinations in Asia where you get the booze much cheaper than in Thailand. If Thailand really wants to get such tourists they need to reduce the taxes on booze. This might bring more than increasing the opening times.

[RichardColeman]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

But Dr Mohamed Fahmy Tale

I Guess his data is backed up by Dr. Rumplestiltskin

[soalbundy]

50 minutes ago, sammieuk1 said:

For Brits arriving this high/low season finding out that your pound buys you 38% less beer these days will be enough for you to have many early nights me thinks????

Their overworked livers will thank them

[soalbundy]

43 minutes ago, TooBigToFit said:

It seems like there should be some sort of compromise. Some areas or some specific businesses should be able to open all day. Not all. For some people coming here they are on a different time clock. Americans and Canadians are 12 hours difference on the East coast. As for the Italy trip, whoever came up with that is an idiot or corrupt. 

 

errrm, the latter

[DannyCarlton]

20 minutes ago, soalbundy said:

As for the Italy trip, whoever came up with that is an idiot or corrupt. 

Or an Islamic fundamentalist. Guess that, in the interests of national security, they should be keeping an eye on Mohamed, rather than farangs at 4am in Pattaya.

[bristolgeoff]

the dr probadly can not go out,unless he gets permission.if he goes to those areas his wife will have his guts for garters.i had a friend in bkk who was allowed to go to one bar in soi 15 before they  removed them. the bar owner was a friend of the wife and would tell her if anything went down.it will improve tourist coming and thais will be better in more  money all round for them.it has got to be a good thing.and don,t forget the bar owner has the option to open or close if the customers are there. just like days gone by when that was the case.

 

[nickstav]

There are after-hours clubs already tucked away in all of the cities mentioned. Additionally, you can buy alcohol after bar closings in convenience stores, which results in a lot of street drinking. I would imagine monitoring bars would be easier.

[fishtank]

1 hour ago, piewarmer said:

Chiang Mai closing bars at midnight HAS put party people off coming, I know quite a few who used to come but stopped for that reason alone.

 

 

Good grief. If they cannot pour enough alcohol down their necks by midnight they must have a problem.

[madmen]

1 minute ago, fishtank said:

Good grief. If they cannot pour enough alcohol down their necks by midnight they must have a problem.

At midnight the party has just started. Did you never party/ night clubbing when you were younger?

[Beggar]

2 minutes ago, madmen said:

At midnight the party has just started. Did you never party/ night clubbing when you were younger?

The typical tourists here are not teenagers anymore. They go to Mallorca and such locations anyway. BUT Thailand has the full moon parties for them. So why do we need longer opening times - for older alcoholics? 

[madmen]

4 minutes ago, Beggar said:

The typical tourists here are not teenagers anymore. They go to Mallorca and such locations anyway. BUT Thailand has the full moon parties for them. So why do we need longer opening times - for older alcoholics? 

Who mentioined teenagers? Night clubbers world wide are in the 20 to 40 year age bracket. Just take a look at pattaya..not many 18 year olds. We are talking nightly partying and not the occasional moon parties that dont have a closing time anyway

[Beggar]

1 minute ago, madmen said:

Who mentioined teenagers? Night clubbers world wide are in the 20 to 40 year age bracket. Just take a look at pattaya..not many 18 year olds. We are talking nightly partying and not the occasional moon parties that dont have a closing time anyway

Only if there is a military exercise like Cobra Gold I see many of so young people here in Pattaya. Yes there are some. But mostly they go to the discos and not so much to open air bars. At least this is my impression. 

[Peterbkk99]

"4am closing: Will put Thai tourism down the drain",

I agree. Should be 6am

[Vacuum]

4 minutes ago, Peterbkk99 said:

"4am closing: Will put Thai tourism down the drain",

I agree. Should be 6am

Why is that? The topic is about tourists and they don't work whilst staying here, so they've ample time to to get intoxicated if they start early. Temple visitors excluded.

[ThomasThBKK]

19 minutes ago, Vacuum said:

Why is that? The topic is about tourists and they don't work whilst staying here, so they've ample time to to get intoxicated if they start early. Temple visitors excluded.

Because waking up early and being told to go to bed at midnight is what people love to do on their holidays right...

 

 

But don't worry, these tourists will just go to Berlin, Ibiza, Mykonos, Bercelona and co: http://www.6amgroup.com/berlin-nightlife-clubbing-tourism-1-58-billion-dollars

 

 

 

[toenail]

I think most bartenders, waitresses, & other staff would not like to see the hours extended. 2:00 am makes sense. The ones that want to stay open until 4..,or 5 am have to pay extra for a license. In my younger days  (18 yr ago) there were dance clubs with DJ’s that you could go to after 2am. I think these were partly owned by the mafia and the police were paid off to allow them to stay open. These selected few locations in Thailand’s tourist cities made sense to me since it kept the partiers in a few locations for the police to keep an eye on instead of all the bars staying open until the wee hours

[holy cow cm]

I would bet Dr Mohamed Fahmy Tale does not drink due to religious practices so should not have a say in this matter. He should be the last one to comment.

[barryofthailand]

Ha Ha Bars on walking street in Pattaya stays open until 4am now and the Beer Bars stay open all night