Anutin: crackdown on illegality extends to the nightlife sector; no more graft or pay-to-play

[webfact]

Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul hailed last weekend’s raid on a notorious nightclub in Pathum Thani as an example of his ministry’s crackdown on illegality, which now extends into the nightlife industry. Anutin has called on the public to tip off authorities concerning other locations as he vowed that the days of pay-to-play corruption for illegal operators were over.

A Get Tough policy on nightlife operators is coming as the Minister of Tourism and Sports is pushing for 4 am closing hours for tourism hotspots with public opinion evenly divided and a small minority who want to see all nightlife in Thailand shut.

Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has announced that the national crackdown being driven by his ministry is being extended into illegal activity within the nightlife sector following an early morning raid last Sunday, which shuttered a notorious venue in Pathum Thani, which saw its operators arrested and 137 out of 297 people detained testing positive for illegal narcotics. The Minister of the Interior in the present cabinet said the buying influence or protection era was over. The move comes as the public is evenly split over a revived government proposal to allow an 4 am closing time for nightlife operators in tourist hotspots currently being proposed by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports.

 

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, the Minister of Interior in the new government, welcomed a raid early on Sunday morning which shuttered an illegal entertainment venue in Pathum Thani province near Bangkok.

 

by James Morris and Son Nguyen

 

Full story: Thai Examiner.com 2023-10-25

 

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[Ralf001]

About time, go hard K.Anutin and show no mercy.

[ukrules]

I think we all know this is not going to happen, and if it does it will require daily enforcement or it will fail.

 

In the past I drank in a late night bar and one cop came around telling them to close, now this was late and this cop was so full of himself that when they dimmed the lights in each of the little Soi 22 bars and turned the music off he was satisfied and went on his way - presumably he went home early or back to the station after this.

 

As soon as he went the lights came on and the music started up again and he never once came back to check that people weren't simply ignoring him - which they all were 🤣

[KCPhuket]

No poor person is above the law.

However...

[chilli42]

When I see these kinds of things being advanced by the same old mischief makers it makes me think of how demoralizing it must be for Thai’s.  It’s like deja vu once again. No matter what they do to bring change they are served up the same steaming plate of … They really deserve better than this.

[daveAustin]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, the Minister of Interior in the new government

Eh?

[sammieuk1]

Cracked up crackdown by a crackpot 🤔

[terryofcrete]

He was the Health Minister who told the press he had a huge order placed for covid vaccine with Moderna ..I think ...and when they contacted Moderna they said no order was placed by the Thai Government . Then he promoted legalising cannabis as he had investments with growers and look at any street now in cities now awash with sellers with little enforced regulation or age verification..

Now he is gonna take care of illegal nightlife .... must think he's missing out on some "benefits" .

[2baht]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

the days of pay-to-play corruption for illegal operators were over.

   

.......and the people where shocked! 😲

[Ben Zioner]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

which shuttered a notorious venue in Pathum Thani, which saw its operators arrested and 137 out of 297 people detained testing positive for illegal narcotics.

Mind  boggling, literally. Shut them down permanently and send the drug offenders into 6 month reeducation.

Edited October 24, 2023 by Ben Zioner

[quake]

 

How dare you young people enjoy yourselves.

( what a laugh)

 

Control freaks of Thailand government. ( nothing new )

Change the opening hours laws to 24/7 and problem will go away.

Also for the old sods on AN, drug taking does not have a time of day.

 

Ps Try not to dribble over the keyboard today, old grumpy farts.  

 

 

Edited October 24, 2023 by quake

[spidermike007]

They have been wanting to get rid of the nightlife for years now. Covid was a great reset for them to punish the nightlife and knock out thousands of bars and clubs. 

 

Whether or not the tourism sabotage was deliberate is questionable, but a question worth asking. A bit of a neocon type agenda? Destroy the industry, reduce it to rubble, get rid of the nightlife and the industry, and rebuilt it from scratch, in the image of great purity of the "noble ones". Quite a diabolical possibility. 

 

 

[save the frogs]

20 minutes ago, quake said:

 

How dare you young people enjoy yourselves.

( what a laugh)

 

Control freaks of Thailand government. ( nothing new )

Change the opening hours laws to 24/7 and problem will go away.

Also for the old sods on AN, drug taking does not have a time of day.

 

Ps Try not to dribble over the keyboard today, old grumpy farts.  

 

 

9 pm to 4 am gives you 7 consecutive hours to party. how much more do you need?

 

why do you need to stay up all night? are you a vampire? 

 

[rwill]

How about extending the crackdown on illegality to the government...

[jacko45k]

1 hour ago, ukrules said:

As soon as he went the lights came on and the music started up again and he never once came back to check that people weren't simply ignoring him - which they all were

No,  they complied fully..... 

They just behaved the same way as my Mrs, tell her something Tuesday, doesn't apply to Wednesday, has to be told again!

[Luuk Chaai]

15 minutes ago, save the frogs said:

9 pm to 4 am gives you 7 consecutive hours to party. how much more do you need?

 

why do you need to stay up all night? are you a vampire? 

 

column A ?                           or ........              column B

 

[bob smith]

close the nightlife and the 6 tourists that are still here will be gone..

 

Thailand, the hub of not knowing it’s a*se from it’s elbow!

[Nickcage49]

So you're the police, and you're "cracking down" on illegality? Isn't that your original job description?

[hotchilli]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

The Minister of the Interior in the present cabinet said the buying influence or protection era was over.

We believe you... 

[save the frogs]

22 minutes ago, Luuk Chaai said:

column A ?                           or ........              column B

 

 

you are only going to these parties to get laid, right?

if you can't pick up a girl by 3 am, then you need to just give up and call it a night. 

don't blame the authorities for your lack of game. 

 

and on a serious note, a lot of kids need to take speed to stay up all night. and they probably mix speed with copious amounts of alcohol. do they mix well? drugs is one thing, but mixing drugs that shouldn't be mixed is another thing. 

 

Edited October 24, 2023 by save the frogs

[MrJ2U]

 

4 hours ago, webfact said:

The move comes as the public is evenly split over a revived government proposal to allow an 4 am closing time for nightlife operators in tourist hotspots

 

Opinion polls routinely have Anutin below the 3% approval threshold.

 

He definitely shouldn't even be in the position he's in. 

 

He doesn't bother about opinion polls. 

[AhFarangJa]

4 hours ago, Ralf001 said:

About time, go hard K.Anutin and show no mercy.

I would not be too quick to praise him, He is a well known Xenophobic Racist that hates Foreigners in His Country. God help us if he ever gets the top position.

[MrJ2U]

1 hour ago, save the frogs said:

9 pm to 4 am gives you 7 consecutive hours to party. how much more do you need?

 

why do you need to stay up all night? are you a vampire? 

 

Nice to have the option, especially when your main revenue is from the tourist industry.

 

They definitely don't make much from the conservative sector. 

 

[AhFarangJa]

1 minute ago, MrJ2U said:

 

 

Opinion polls routinely have Anutin below the 3% approval threshold.

 

He definitely shouldn't even be in the position he's in. 

 

He doesn't bother about opinion polls. 

True, but the whole Government does not bother about what the Voters want either.

[thailand49]

The smoke they blow daily I can see why he legalize weed.

outside of this photo op he like all leaders have no power, there is no enforcement once the cameras leave it is business as usual.

Edited October 25, 2023 by thailand49

[jacko45k]

56 minutes ago, save the frogs said:

and on a serious note, a lot of kids need to take speed to stay up all night. and they probably mix speed with copious amounts of alcohol. do they mix well? drugs is one thing, but mixing drugs that shouldn't be mixed is another thing. 

I think there is more to this point than you made of it. 

If these later hours do indeed put pressure on young people to get involved with more drugs, it is indeed a seriously negative direction to take. 

[bamnutsak]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul hailed last weekend’s raid on a notorious nightclub in Pathum Thani as an example of his ministry’s crackdown on illegality,

 

That's one of the highest ratios of positive drug testing that I recall.

 

More of a drug problem than an entertainment or opening hours problem?

 

Interesting that the local police were not involved, in the raid I mean.

 

 

 

137 people test positive for drugs after raid at illegal pub in Pathum Thani

 

Raid at an illegal pub in Pathum Thani province early on Sunday found 137 patrons testing positive for drug abuse.

 

The raid was conducted by officials from the Provincial Administration Department and the Office of Narcotics Control Board.

 

The raid of the MEM Exclusive Club on Hathairat Road in Lam Lukka district was led by department director-general Ansit Samphantharat and Arkas Panyaem, a specialist from the board’s Area 1.

 

https://www.nationthailand.com/thailand/general/40032129

[Polaky]

Clean up your own backyard first, corruption within the force is rife, one small business owner at hua hin market tells me they are being hounded by the cops to pay ongoing "protection fees", lucrative business being in the force.

[klauskunkel]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

The Minister of the Interior in the present cabinet said the buying influence or protection era was over.

Expand a bit on this interesting statement Mister Minister. Did you explain this in detail to the RTP? Are they supposed to protect for free now?

[bamnutsak]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

The Minister of the Interior in the present cabinet said the buying influence or protection era was over.

 

Good catch.

 

 

This implies that in the previous cabinet (of which he was Deputy PM and MoPH) these activities were allowed.

 

Thank goodness all corruption is gone. I feel so much better.