14 hours ago, Gold Star said:

The most important thing to be opened in order to restore the local economy are 'Legs'.

 

Everything else will benefit due to the trickle down effect.

Mouthful of Goddam Coffee has just sprayed everywhere  ????

If you are not going to go the whole hog and open the lot, don't bother at all. The idea was it was to be a near normal experiment. This sandbox is neither one nor the other pleasing and satisfying nobody.

 

People do not go on holiday to be told what they can and can't do and where they can and can't go.

 

That's not a holiday, it's an open prison environment.

If same business plan as before, but with the sign changed from "Bar" to "Restaurant", it seems like to can have the dessert as takeaway. Reminds me of a restaurant in Bangkok with numerous pretty waitress, if you liked one - or more - of them, then she could be "takeaway" as dessert...????

Excellent news. I have no problem with absolute defiance of a toxic and extremely corrupt government, when the shutdowns are highly selective, and favor their cronies, and punish the common Thai. Defiance is what is needed at this time. Civil disobedience can be a very good thing, at times. 

1 hour ago, Scouse123 said:

If you are not going to go the whole hog and open the lot, don't bother at all. The idea was it was to be a near normal experiment. This sandbox is neither one nor the other pleasing and satisfying nobody.

 

People do not go on holiday to be told what they can and can't do and where they can and can't go.

 

That's not a holiday, it's an open prison environment.

Agree with the first part of you assessment, but don't agree with you telling others what to do and not do.

3 hours ago, ChipButty said:

Not cheap setting up a kitchen, with all the bits and pieces you need 

Yes indeed, but for starters how about a gas cylinder, a gas ring, one wok, a stir-fry ladle and some plastic plates??

What choice do these bars and even the true restaurant owners have?  They have been effectively had their businesses shut down indefinitely.  They can not pay their bills without being open for customers and even restaurants are crippled since the only place they really make any appreciable amount of money is on alcohol sales.  

What this government does not seem to realize is the trickle down impact of this.  Business owners who close can't pay any loans outstanding.  That hurts the banks.  The employees who work for them can't pay their bills.  They can't pay for their housing, food, clothing, and any loans they have outstanding.  The lack of purchasing power hurts all of the other businesses such as hardware stores, department stores, building trades, beauty shops, etc as people without money can not buy from them.  

Finally, you would think that the government would be smart enough but that is a stretch to realize that sales generate VAT and without sales that the money to the government will go down dramatically as well. 

 

10 hours ago, nausea said:

I think the primary target was/is high end ASQ hotels. Interestingly, I hear that cheaper boutique/guesthouse style hotels have recently been deleted from the ASQ database. I'm sure the fact some were enjoying 100% occupancy rates is totally unrelated.

Entire Plague Island Kitty Litter debacle was set up to prevent HiSos loosing i'll gained profits from a humanitarian disaster!

22 minutes ago, Burma Bill said:

Yes indeed, but for starters how about a gas cylinder, a gas ring, one wok, a stir-fry ladle and some plastic plates??

 

Or a couple of microwaves and air fryers with loads of TV style diners in the freezer. Bar staff just heat up.

17 minutes ago, Longwood50 said:

sales generate VAT and without sales that the money to the government will go down

Yes indeed, also billions of baht in alcohol excise duty.

17 hours ago, Gold Star said:

Everything else will benefit due to the trickle down effect.

They will wet themselves in excitement?

Fantastic!   Moving from the nice quiet beach we've been at for our first week in the Scambox to walking distance from Bangla tomorrow.  This looks like a hell of a lot more fun than sitting behind closed metal roll-up doors where I normally live in Thailand to have a beer!

 

To be noted, the quiet beach we're at now has establishments where alcohol is available, right in the open, and I've seen police drive by, no questions, no one's afraid.  I suspect even the local BiB are getting tired of this total BS.  It has been a really, really nice experience.  Pool villa at less than 1/3 what it used to cost pre-covid!   Have the resort to ourselves. 

 

These are all outdoor places, literally almost zero risk of contracting COVID with the nice Southwest Monsoon rains, wind and humid air.   Insanity that we can't drink this way truly legally.

1 hour ago, stevenl said:

Agree with the first part of you assessment, but don't agree with you telling others what to do and not do.

I don't understand your response at all. Where have I written that?

 

I am not telling people what to do, I am outlining why the Sandbox isn't going to work.

18 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Bars along Patong’s famed Bangla Rd have re-opened as restaurants

Don't they just need a tiny electric grill outside where the girls take turns pretending to cook?

7 hours ago, HappyExpat57 said:

Is it cost effective to upgrade from a bar license to a restaurant license? 

Not in my baan ... amen ... crack a tube! lol ????

1 hour ago, Burma Bill said:

Yes indeed, also billions of baht in alcohol excise duty.

Future Tax revenue by the millions

1 hour ago, Longwood50 said:

What choice do these bars and even the true restaurant owners have?  They have been effectively had their businesses shut down indefinitely.  They can not pay their bills without being open for customers and even restaurants are crippled since the only place they really make any appreciable amount of money is on alcohol sales.  

What this government does not seem to realize is the trickle down impact of this.  Business owners who close can't pay any loans outstanding.  That hurts the banks.  The employees who work for them can't pay their bills.  They can't pay for their housing, food, clothing, and any loans they have outstanding.  The lack of purchasing power hurts all of the other businesses such as hardware stores, department stores, building trades, beauty shops, etc as people without money can not buy from them.  

Finally, you would think that the government would be smart enough but that is a stretch to realize that sales generate VAT and without sales that the money to the government will go down dramatically as well. 

 

This Government is not interested in small businesses. Their concern is purely with larger businesses, many of whom are Government "sponsors"!

22 minutes ago, madmitch said:

This Government is not interested in small businesses. Their concern is purely with larger businesses, many of whom are Government "sponsors"!

I think that is true.  However you still would think they would recognize that without revenue coming into the government from sales that this would also curtail their power.   I don't think the situation is much different in the USA where large retailers were allowed to open while small shops were shuttered.  

 

2 hours ago, Scouse123 said:

I don't understand your response at all. Where have I written that?

 

I am not telling people what to do, I am outlining why the Sandbox isn't going to work.

Sorry, I imagined a ',' after 'people', which would change the meaning completely. My bad.

13 hours ago, HappyExpat57 said:

Is it cost effective to upgrade from a bar license to a restaurant license? 

Someone here, told me that it only costs about 500 bahts getting a food handling permit and that's all what they need.

I don't know if that's true.

10 hours ago, ChipButty said:

Not cheap setting up a kitchen, with all the bits and pieces you need 

What most bars did was setting a domestic barbecue next to the door and pretending that they are cooking skewers. 

When I drove down Bangla just before 6 pm (when they close the street to vehicles), I counted 15 "restaurants" open. Just a handful of customers in each place but plenty of paper cups on the tables. Most didn't seem to even be pretending to serve food. 

Bangkok has been the same all along for 5 that I know of.

The BIB have to pay their HP.

I am not "brave enough" to open

13 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Excellent news. I have no problem with absolute defiance of a toxic and extremely corrupt government, when the shutdowns are highly selective, and favor their cronies, and punish the common Thai. Defiance is what is needed at this time. Civil disobedience can be a very good thing, at times. 

It would be good if this disobedience could spread across the country as soon as possible, but is it actually disobedience, or connected people opening because they know they can get away with it.  The problem is that those bars not already owned by the police, local politicians or other miscellaneous connected persons, will be crucified.  The law is imposed by the corrupt, for the benefit of the corrupt, everyone else suffers.

16 hours ago, ChipButty said:

Not cheap setting up a kitchen, with all the bits and pieces you need 

There's something called Stewart sandwiches in the States, Premade sandwiches and a small warming ove. The rule there is you have to offer food in a bar. Wonder if that would qualify in LoS

Ring the bell - Burgers all round? ???? 

19 hours ago, ChipButty said:

Not cheap setting up a kitchen, with all the bits and pieces you need 

Take a walk down the street to the nearest 7-Eleven, grab a handful of 30 baht heat-and-eat sandwiches and stick them in the bar's beer cooler. That along with a cheap microwave and problem solved!