Bars open to 4am and free visas for Chinese and Indians proposed to save Thai tourism

[webfact]

Bars open to 4am and free visas for Chinese and Indians proposed to save Thai tourism

 

File photo

 

Thai tourism and sports minister Pipat Ratchakitprakarn told a crisis meeting in Bangkok that he has proposed to the government that bars and entertainment venues stay open to 4 am.

 

That and giving free visas to Chinese and Indians is the embattled minister's response to the COVID-19 virus crisis that has devastated tourism in Thailand.

 

He asked for support from the private sector for his ideas as he delivered a speech at the Amari Watergate hotel yesterday.

 

He said the 4 am opening would only apply to certain zones and surveys would need to be carried out.

 

Thaivisa notes that the minister's plans are nothing new.

 

His 4 am opening idea was given a lukewarm reception last year and free visas for Chinese and Indians is already in place, though not permanently.

 

If anything his speech showed that he is bereft of ideas and resigned to Thai tourism as having gone down the pan, at least in the first half of 2020.

 

He admitted that 50% less tourists will come in the first six months of the year.

 

Source: TNN

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2020-02-14

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[Thaiwrath]

5 minutes ago, webfact said:

If anything his speech showed that he is bereft of ideas

An essential requirement for any minister in this government, it appears !

[ThreeEyedRaven]

6 minutes ago, webfact said:

He admitted that 50% less tourists will come in the first six months of the year.

 

Well at least the lies and fabrication department within TAT of tourist numbers can take a breather.

[RotBenz8888]

8 minutes ago, webfact said:

Bars open to 4am

Only for Chinese or indians?

[Boomer6969]

I like the association of Chinese and Indians in the context of this epidemic. They want make Thailand a "The hub" of the coronavirus spread. Think a minute: 40 Million tourists a year of which a significant share comes from China mixing in a country governed by obnoxiously incompetent bunch. What an amazing potential; it is time for all foreign embassies to declare Thailand to be a "no go" zone. 

[Beggar]

We had this already. And why until 4? If so then better no closing times at all. And I repeat myself - advertise the tourist places as what they are. Pattaya is for sure one of the biggest red light districts in the world with sex offered even in shop malls and on the beach road and in addition at endless sex bars spread all over the place. And I am afraid that extended opening times of the red light districts are not helpful to attract more family tourists. 

[ChipButty]

It's only the farang tourist who want to carry on drinking till late, Hey Somchai they are long gone never to return I think,

How about dropping the stupid laws where you cannot buy until 11am - 2pm then 5pm 

[geriatrickid]

They don't learn do they? It's like a  kid who keeps sticking his hand on the   hot stove element.

Here is a perfect opportunity to  win back the profitable non Indian/Chinese demographic and they blow it. They are losing the lucrative Russians  and don't even realize it. The Russians who come are Russia's educated and family types. they don't want to put themselves at risk.  Even the wealthier Gulf state tourists are concerned. Look at the   aircraft loads, and it is a good indication of the lack of confidence the world has in Thailand's  "managers".

For an authoritarian country, no one seems to be in charge.

[smedly]

2 minutes ago, Boomer6969 said:

it is time for all foreign embassies to declare Thailand to be a "no go" zone. 

why ?

 

according to Thai authorities there were only 34 infections and most of (if not all) those have been treated and released from hospital so the number of infections in Thailand is almost zero - no new infections have been reported 

[JAG]

From my painstaking and thorough investigation (purely in the spirit of understanding the nature of the business you understand) the Chinese hardly drink to any extent, and the Indians are hardly the most free spending of barhounds!

 

I will return to the matter after further research.

[Vacuum]

8 minutes ago, Beggar said:

not helpful to attract more family tourists

Any tourist is a good tourist nowadays...

[Liverpudlian]

I see in my crystal ball that some time in the future mist & haze that smiles will return to the sturn faces of welcoming immigration staff when we walk in for our extensions etc etc, OH YES SIR !

[tinca tinca]

and just how many Indians does one see drinking in any bar ???

[tinca tinca]

19 minutes ago, ChipButty said:

It's only the farang tourist who want to carry on drinking till late, Hey Somchai they are long gone never to return I think,

How about dropping the stupid laws where you cannot buy until 11am - 2pm then 5pm 

agree and why  are the WAREHOUSES/OUTLETS allowed to sell alcohol at anytime of the day.....I know of at least eight in Jomtien that sell anytime of the day !!

[KhunKenAP]

The 4 am closing is a waste of everyone's time. If low tourist numbers, who is going to be in bars at 3 am, except Thai's who go the illegal late closing bars already?

 

I do agree with getting rid of the stupid no buy alcohol rule as stated above. Was stupid when it came out and still is. 

[BobbyL]

Cannot understand the logic behind extending hours in some bars until 4am. There are already numerous places in Bangkok open until then or even later, and having people spending a few hundred THB on another beer or so isn't exactly going to stimulate the economy. 

[BestB]

Bars are open way past 4 am already and being open and having patrons is not one of the same . Chinese are prohibited from leaving China so offering they free visa is like offering ice to Eskimo . As for indians , well at least ladyboys will have someone to rob.

 

other than that, once again great thinking and marketing strategy by the big heads 

[4MyEgo]

 

37 minutes ago, webfact said:

Bars open to 4am and free visas for Chinese and Indians proposed to save Thai tourism

That's the best laugh I had in a while.

[BestB]

8 minutes ago, tinca tinca said:

and just how many Indians does one see drinking in any bar ???

Usually 8, just all 8 drinking the same bottle of beer????

[spiekerjozef]

It's obvious he earned his place in this government if you come with a proposal like that...

[CockneyGit]

So while most of the world is stopping Chinese visitors, Thailand is putting in an Express Lane !!

Shocking leadership! (but we all know why!) 

[madmitch]

27 minutes ago, ChipButty said:

It's only the farang tourist who want to carry on drinking till late, Hey Somchai they are long gone never to return I think,

How about dropping the stupid laws where you cannot buy until 11am - 2pm then 5pm 

I read on Twitter (Richard Barrow I think) that they were proposing to relax the law regarding afternoon alcohol sales...................in hotels!

 

I don't think I've ever stayed in a hotel that has ever imposed the afternoon sales ban, in fact other than stores, it mainly appears to be restaurants in shopping malls that do this.

 

It's a stupid, annoying law that was introduced as a knee-jerk following reports of student buying booze on the way home from school. It should be repealed but under a puritanical Government there's little chance.

[Misterwhisper]

Ah, the obnoxious stench of utter desperation is getting stronger I see.

 

Yes, letting bars stay open 2 hours longer is really going to turn the entire situation around in an instant... especially in a self-declared "family vacation destination". It is well known that parents and their young offspring just looove hanging out in bars until the early morning hours and, due to the ensuing hangover the next morning, can then thankfully skip a visit to the nearest tourist attraction and avoid paying the grossly inflated entrance fee.

[RubbaJohnny]

38 minutes ago, RotBenz8888 said:

Only for Chinese or indians?

A special soi could even be reserved for cowboys

[Beggar]

2 minutes ago, RubbaJohnny said:

A special soi could even be reserved for cowboys

They will rename it of course to Soi Indians and Chinese. 

 

[CNXexpat]

33 minutes ago, Beggar said:

Pattaya is for sure one of the biggest red light districts in the world with sex offered even in shop malls and on the beach road and in addition at endless sex bars spread all over the place. And I am afraid that extended opening times of the red light districts are not helpful to attract more family tourists. 

Pattaya is not Thailand. In Chiang Mai bars have to close at midnight, so an extended opening time is not a bad idea. And every owner decides if it´s worth to open longer or not. Nobody says that they have to open till 4am. Also every large city in the world (New York, Paris, London, Berlin...) allows bars and clubs to open till late and they are family destination. 

[RubbaJohnny]

Reports of longer opening hoors were due to a typo in the Personchester Evening Pist

[xylophone]

31 minutes ago, ChipButty said:

It's only the farang tourist who want to carry on drinking till late, Hey Somchai they are long gone never to return I think,

Yes, I have to agree with that comment, and even in the days before any financial global crisis hit, there would be only a few hardened drinkers staying at the bars after about 2 AM, at least here in Patong in the nightlife scene.

 

I know this for a fact because I was often helping out a friend of mine who owned a bar and who was in a wheelchair, and he needed me to wheel him around the place (toilets etc) so I was out many nights a week with him at his bar, and come about 2 AM, the whole soi had almost cleared out of drinkers, with just a few hardened ones getting even more p!ssed.

 

He liked to go to a little bar around the corner which had some live music, so we would "retire" to that bar at 2 AM or thereabouts, and although it had a few drinkers in it, at least half of them of them were patrons from other bars which had closed for the night.

 

I came into contact with quite a few bar owners and there was a general consensus of opinion that 2 AM was about the right time to close, but if someone wanted to stay later, then they should be allowed to....

 

Extending the opening hours until 4 AM is not going to bring any more new tourists to the place, just keep the occasional drunk at the bar!

[rkidlad]

I think allowing the sale of alcohol from 2-5pm in hotels is a very bad idea. The whole idea of this rule is to stop high-school kids from drinking at this time. Everyone knows high-school kids can't physically drink before 2pm or after 5pm; it's impossible. But they can magically drink at a time when they're supposed to be in school anyway. Only the ban stops this from happening. 

 

If you allow alcohol to be sold in hotels from 2-5, you'll just have 5 star hotels full of drunken teenagers. Stop with this madness! 

[Thechook]

56 minutes ago, ThreeEyedRaven said:

Well at least the lies and fabrication department within TAT of tourist numbers can take a breather.

Nah tourist number will still break records