So many bars will be history. Most bars cannot survive on expat trade alone and tourists won't be back this year. In the weeks before bars closed in mid March when tourists were leaving in heir droves, bar trade dried up. When bars reopen there will be a spike in trade and then it will all dry up again. The excitement of being able to reopen will very soon be replaced by the realisation that there simply aren't enough customers around to support all those bars.

21 minutes ago, mstevens said:

The excitement of being able to reopen will very soon be replaced by the realisation that there simply aren't enough customers around to support all those bars.

Eventually what's left of the existing business owners will either walk away or diversify.  Not sure what they can diversify to but it's that or nothing.  

20 hours ago, webfact said:

hailand is set to discuss opening its nightlife entertainment industry again at a meeting on Friday.

Time to let them open, with no domestic infections for so long they have n ow no excuse to keep the state of emergency active.

Pubs/bars/beer gardens or the larger entertainment establishments will have to fight for the few domestic customers that are all there are. many won't turn enough profit to meet running costs and will ultimately close.

“Gen Nathaphon said he understood the hardship and difficulties being faced by the industry but they had to understand that this had to be handled carefully with advice from the professionals.”

 

Dr. Fauci?

I agree with the Gen. sometime in July would be good i think the 1st. of July.

20 hours ago, smedly said:

oh ?

Up country with the possible exception of Chaing Mai, that would certainly be the case, but Pattaya and parts of Bangkok, without the tourists, the bar scene would be very little.

The government has a cabal of anti alcohol supporters who are driving this whole thing. They would be happy for at least 90% of bars to go bust. It is all part of a drive to take Thailand tourism up-market which will decimate the smaller independent lodging, bar, entertainment, recreation industries that rely on volume. Of course the high end hotels that are owned and operated by buddies of those in power will gradually return to normal but they employ relatively few.

 

However the rulers must also consider the hundreds of thousands who are and who will remain jobless because of this. These people are voters and they will use their votes to attack the junta party, rightly so because they are protecting the minority at the expense of the majority. So all the "sincere" nation building messages that the PM has uttered recently will be clearly seen as a smokescreen that he thinks he can use to fool ordinary people.

2 minutes ago, brommers said:

However the rulers must also consider the hundreds of thousands who are and who will remain jobless because of this. These people are voters and they will use their votes to attack the junta party, rightly so because they are protecting the minority at the expense of the majority. So all the "sincere" nation building messages that the PM has uttered recently will be clearly seen as a smokescreen that he thinks he can use to fool ordinary people.

junta members laughs noise intensify 

Thai nightlife is going to be completely different in the future: initially non existent, it will then reappear in a much smaller and far less vibrant format.  I don't see any go-go bars reopening, or wet massage parlors being able to continue as before. Thais are an inventive lot, and if Joe Dollar and Micky Pound, ever do return then their needs will be at least partially met in side street operations, or out of town.  Under the convenient but now largely irrelevant excuse of covid19 containment, the ultra traditional leadership has been able to quickly enact a plan that has been long fermenting.  The destruction of the traditional bar scene could actually spark a return to the 'wild east' days of yesteryear,  much to the chagrin of some, and the delight of others.  However that delight will not be experienced at Nana, for example, which will surely now be swallowed up by developers, to make way for office developments or the like.  And the same goes for their peers in other districts of Bangkok, Pattaya, etc.

14 hours ago, wordchild said:

Why on earth should they? They are commercial enterprises, its not their job to underwrite all of Thailand’s social obligations.

Indeed. However...

 

https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1160149-prayut-appeals-to-the-20-richest-thais-for-help/

Do you think if they only cater for 5 star guest,they will use the bars and other places outside the hotels.they want the backpackers and the  cheap charlies back who will use these places and spend they money there