Early Closing Hours Will Cut Flesh Trade – Gov

[george]

Early hours will cut flesh trade – Gov

Photo: Phuket Gazette

PHUKET CITY: Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura has revealed a long-suspected but until now unstated reason for the new rules mandating 1 am closure of entertainment venues – the need to reduce prostitution.

The Governor was responding to threats by entertainment business leaders in Patong to close their doors indefinitely from October 26 to protest recently introduced rules requiring venues in entertainment zones to close at 1 am, and venues elsewhere at midnight.

Gov Udomsak told the Gazette, “[The government] believes that there are many advantages to having a 1 am closing time, such as reducing the problem of drugs. There’s also the issue of human trafficking, which is the cause of too many women coming [from other parts of Thailand] to work in the ‘service industry’.

“If there were no entertainment venues in Patong I don’t think we would have thousands of women coming to work there.

“If we want to solve the problem of human trafficking, then we should [enforce the 1 am closing time] because this may reduce the number of women in the service business.”

The Governor appeared unmoved by the plan by entertainment business owners to close indefinitely in protest at the 1 am rule. “If [they] want to protest by shutting down, what are they going to get from that? It doesn’t matter if entertainment business owners want to protest or close their businesses. That’s up to them.”

Sompetch Moosophon, President of the Patong Entertainment Business Association (PEBA) retorted, “Human trafficking is impossible in Patong. Women coming here from other provinces are adults. They know what they’re doing. They have escaped from bad conditions at home, from poverty and problems that the government has never fixed.

“I don’t understand why the Governor has raised this matter. The statistics of drugs and under-age drinking can be checked with the police – there have been no reports of [these problems] in Patong.

“As for naked shows, why don’t they check if the police in the area are working properly? As long as I have been here, I haven’t see any show like that.

“The association and I will discuss this soon. The Governor should know what is truly happening in [areas under] his control. He must know the truth before he makes a decision. I do not know where he got the information that we are a source of human trafficking.

Night venues threaten indefinite closure

PHUKET CITY: Entertainment venues throughout Phuket are set to close their doors for an indefinite period on October 26 in protest against the government’s new early-closing policy.

Sompetch Moosophon of Patong Entertainment Business Association (PEBA) told the Gazette that PEBA members had decided to take the drastic decision to close their businesses at a meeting on Saturday at The Metropole hotel.

According to the new laws, businesses within entertainment zones must close at 1 am, and businesses outside them at midnight.

Business people in Patong have been particularly vociferous in their pleas to be exempted from the regulations, arguing that the tourists who comprise the bulk of their business hardly venture out before midnight, and that they have each lost hundreds of thousands of baht in revenue since the order was enforced.

“About 50 business people attended the meeting,” said K. Sompetch, “and we decided we had to do something to let the authorities know we are in trouble.

“The Governor should realize that we are also citizens under his control, and that he should pay as much attention to us as he does to other people. We’re in serious difficulties right now; why doesn’t he look at this?”

K. Sompetch said he was loath to take drastic action, but he believed the association members had no choice but to close their establishments.

He said, “This high season, Phuket is going to lose the opportunity to earn more money; this policy will look ridiculous to many tourists in Patong.”

K. Sompetch denied that establishments in Patong had many under-age patrons – one of the government’s reasons for the new early-closing laws – and said that he is confident there are no drugs or sex shows in Patong. If there were, he asked, why didn’t the police simply close down the establishments concerned? “That would be much easier.”

K. Sompetch said the association would ask Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura to extend opening hours to 2 am, or even 3 am or 4 am. The 1 am closing policy was, he said, just an attempt by the government to make it look like it was doing something.

He added, “There were people who wanted a ‘mob’ protest, but I hope we can find a solution through discussion. We’ve passed all our information to the Governor; he has enough of that now. Everything is up to him now.”

-- Phuket Gazette 2004-10-19

[Elysium]

Like with the previous changes in closing times.... The problem will find new places and will not disappear. Instead of controling the existing venues and keeping them in a certain area (think about Nana..) they move the girls onto the street. Previous Sukhumvit was a 'normal' street by night, now it is the worlds biggest open air brothel!

To leave the bars open and control the girls and guests there would not expose others who do not want to see this. In my opinion a better solution.

[igotworms]

If they really wanted the supposed "flesh trade" eliminated, would this be the most effective method of doing so? I think not. A cowardly gesture by an ineffective and absent-minded government.

[britmaveric]

more free lancers in the streets- made things worse.

[eljeque]

You are mistaken: Pattaya is the world's largest outdoor brothel, not Sukhumvit.

I do like what the Phuket Entertainment Head had to say about prostitution, that the girls in the bars and gogogs therewere not trafficked, and had in fact come on their own, to escape the economic situation in their home province which the government has failed to improve.

I hope he speaks to the foreign press as well.

[Doi Thong]

They will not close it early in Phuket, especially towards the high season, my opinion: governor trying to make some money for his generous reconsideration. You will see it.

[sublime]

their reasoning just gets better and better fpr the early closing times... they think people only take drugs until 1am and only shag until midnight or what...

[sublime]

early closing times just pushes everyone to the streets... this has been seen already... it does not fix the actual problems that they are focusing on... what is next to fix the problem of all the people in the street... a curfu...

[RDN]

What is needed is more "Education, education, education" and less "Corruption, corruption, corruption."

[medicinebox]

Once again they only seem to focus on those 'Pesky' falangs.

No action against the real 'traffiking' in the Thai's brothel's.

Maybe it's because the Thais don't walk around holding hand's with hookers, giving LOS a bad reputation. And maybe us falangs do, and are being smacked on the wrists for it?

As most of you know, the real reason's will never be put forth straight on the table...

[TominBangkok]

Im so happy to see the Bar Owners taking action that will hopefully get the message across to the Goverment. Maybe the same method of protest would work in other parts of the country - Patpong for example. I wonder how much business Phuket is willing to loose? Should be interesting.

[benlee53]

well if they are on the street theres no bar fine.

[samiotis]

Where is that gonna solve - what problem? kick everyone on the street and then what? prostitution is not gonna stop at 01.00 am neither does drug consumation. What it will do is slow down tourism and this i can tell you is very bad for economics. we can see it here in greece everyday. what we want from tourists then? should they just visit the country and leave their money outside the window and go home again? did'nt work here and it want work in thailand.

[dragonmasterzip]

I find it fascinating how the Puritian ethic has spread across the world. Pleasure and feeling good are bad, apparently.

If one wants to look at a failed drug problem, one only needs to look at the US during the 1920's and Amsterdam today. For Prostitution look at the State of Nevada.

The US governement statistics show between the enactment of the Hartley-Taft Act the percentage of opiate users in the US has been constant.

When you look at the lawlessness and the true establishment of organized crime in America's Prohibition Period, you can see people are not going to listen to the government telling them what to do when it comes to pleasure.

When you push people outside the Legal System, you get people who operate in VERY unethical ways. Looking at drug companies in general, you can see they are always trying to push the envelop of etchical behavior, mostly because in the US, the government is a semi criminal organization and an actively criminal organization the closer to the top you get.

One rarely hears of the Budwiser truck shooting at the Coors truck as they ride down the streets today. You never hear of someone drinking contaminated Ballentine Scotch. Reason? these companies are regulated and operate inside the legal system.

A friend of mine who was a doctor in the emergency ward at Bellvue Hosptial in NYC told me more than 90% of all drug deaths were either related to contamination ( bad cut) or accidental overdose. You never hear of drug companies putting battery acid in their morphine. Hence no bad cuts in the "legal drugs".

Accidental overdose happens because if you are a user and your dealer is a low level man who sells you product which has been "stepped on" ie cut many times, you are used to shooting say 2% heroin. Suddenly your dealer gets caught and thrown in jail and the new dealer you find is out there selling 5% heroin, but you don't know this due to inadequte labelling ! ;-)

Suddenly, you have 2.5 times your normal dose and you die.

The arguement drugs are bad for you is silly. So is alcohol, Macdonald's, too much sugar and living in a big city. More people die behind the wheel of cars than die from alcohol ( the number one killer drug by far). Are we ready to outlaw cars? or even alcohol, for that matter?

Drugs causing crime? Again, alcohol is a drug and you rarely see real crime other than the overserved acting overly stupid.

Travel to Holland and you will find a very well ordered society which has found it is cheaper to actually give away drugs to a certain group (opiate users) than it is to have police, courts, jails, prisons, probation officers et al.

By legalizing every drug, we stand the chance of having drug companies working out some of the problems with addiction and bad side effects. Of course there will always be the cheap, not so good drugs, just like there is Glenfiddich Scotch and there is the Brand X rotgut stuff.

Will some people die? Yes. People die in cars, falling down stairs and in bathrooms as well. Are we running out of people?

By making drugs legal, we stand a better chance of people Not Dying, than we have under our current situation.

On to selling pussy> Nevada has a law to allow women to work in legal brothels which are regulated, taxed and require medical check up. This same system exists in Holland. Both have lower rates of any STD's than places where sex is illegal and not regulated.

By legalizing both, you will bring all those people within the legal system and stand a much better chance of stopping drug wars, harmful drugs and women being exploited and people contracting STDs.

Of course this would lower property crime, which would take away the great FEAR which drives insurance income, police bribes, political bribes and extra high taxes.

Given how sensible it would be to do this, you can be sure it will never get done.

Zip

[krangol]

[The Governor appeared unmoved by the plan by entertainment business owners to close indefinitely in protest at the 1 am rule. “If [they] want to protest by shutting down, what are they going to get from that? It doesn’t matter if entertainment business owners want to protest or close their businesses. That’s up to them.”

]

It doesn't matter? indeed, i wonder if all the tourists who paid good money to visit Phuket will think it matters. Thailands policies are now becoming the standing joke around the world. Every report about Thailand on BBC world now seems to feature the heavy handed police tactics or some Thai politician/governer trying to explain, in crap English, the thinking behind the new drinking laws!

[juan_castenada]

JUST IN CASE ANY GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS MONITOR THIS SITE:

FINE, DO WHAT YOU WANT, I WILL TAKE MY TOURIST DOLLARS SOMEWHERE ELSE

[gintonic_nolime]

Is there a government website were all us "prospective" tourists to Thailand can make our feelings on theis matter known? Possibly a deluge of people saying they are going somewhere else for their holiday would have an effect......

[bollox]

I totally fail to comprehend the stupidity of this government whose ministers (as I've always heard) were mere losers, staying at home and w.anking all night round when they were young due to the fact that they were never allowed to go out at night i.e. they lost their virginity on their wedding night.

It's ironic when they're trying to elevate Bangkok to challenge the likes of Singapore and Hong Kong as Asia's number one tourist city when Bangkok bars are now at a disadvantage by having to shut out tourists as early as 1 or 2 a.m. wherereas Singapore and Hong Kong (as far as I know) give night tourists the whole night to mess about, thereby spending fortunes on their economies.

If they really want to cut flesh trade, I suggest stopping the influx of those bloody bald, pot bellied, hopeless farangs who apparently are regular buyers. But to be honest, they should modernise the economy and gradually industrialise the country as to improve the standard of living so that a lot women can at last get themselves out of prosititution.

Thanksin is boasting the phenomenal economic growth but he doesn't know it has been achieved at the expense of the working class whose real disposable income has actually been shrinking But who cares since all his friends & ministers are now even more loaded then ever. Thanksinomics is a failure !

[thatguy]

G

tnx for the music

but to answer several topics,

a state in the US attempeted to legislate the value of pi (3.14159......)

to exactly 3.000

makes it easier for the kids.

bird flu : a month

bgirls : when ?

etc,etc

such silliness.

xtg

[Axel]

What is the problem? I love these early closings.

LoS is paradise., I spend 4 days and nights in Singapore. To be honest than I am tired biiig time. So in Thailand, I can go home early, relax and prepare for next week in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong a bit more (much more) expensive than LoS. But so what, I come back to BKK, go home early, save a lot of money that I spent the following week in Shanghai or Taipei.

I love to come here to sleep and save money that I than can spend for FUN in some nice places.

Well, whenever I am in Bangkok, Khun wife loves me, for coming home early.

Lets close 11:00 pm, can save more money for the other, more fun but expensive places.

[capt_canada42]

The best hunting is after hours already in Phuket and on the streets and has been for quite a while. People are even selling beer out of styrofoam chests for late night people.

Don't worry your selves as the Thai people are some of the worlds best adaptors, and are experts at getting around the government rules.

As the old saying goes when in Thailand do as the Thai's do.

[daveh]

It seems they want to make Thailand a family tourist destination, which isn't a bad cause. Would you invite your mother to stay at a hotel on Sukhumvit? Some would, but I suspect many would not. The same is true for Pattaya and Patong.

The problem is the government is drastically underestimating the contribution of the sex trade to the economy. They are looking for a quick fix. Today we cater to horny single men, tomorrow (literally) they want to cater to families. But the transition will not be that seamless and easy. It could take years, if not decades, to transform Thailand's tourism. They shouldn't attack the hot spots like Phuket, Pattaya, and Sukhumvit first. They should be the last to go, if ever. The should "crack down" on places where the flesh trade is not so prevalent, Krabi, Phi Phi, Lanta, ... first, to provide a place where a family would like to go.

IMHO, by acting the way they are, they will do much more harm than good. The economy will worsen, causing MORE women into prostitution, not less. The only difference is they will be on the streets and not in the relative safety of layd bars and a go gos.

[capt_canada42]

Pardon me many people stay in Patong and like it you know its not a dive but a small city.

I have had many frieneds come and visit Phuket and they stayed in Patong and liked in and these people were leaders of Singapore

[a1falang]

Have there been any statistics kept or studies conducted about the nature of Thai prostitution in general? I have heard that if you average it out across the nation, about 98% of the typical prostitute's clientele is Thai, not falang kee-nok or other foreigners. Is there any truth in this?

[britmaveric]

Said politicians are actually client(s) so I think it more has to do with plans for said property where bars exist. (ALL ABOUT DOSH for their pockets)

[Foggy Bottom]

I still maintain the government cannot see anything outside its borders and forgets about time differences - take a west Euro arriving here - their body clock is 5-7 hours behind Thailand, so 1am is to them 8pm or 6pm and time to go party.

Americans have got it even worse - they're either 10 hours ahead or 12 hours behind, so midnight is either midday or 10am - not exactly the time to go to bed is it?

Until the government takes account of this, we'll continue to see stupidly thought through policies. The ENTIRE reason Thailand became popular (after the Vietnam War R&R centres closed) was because it allowed a 24 hour culture in a pleasing and hospitable environment.

Too much concrete is removing the pleasure from that environment and now the government, having already enforced midnight - 2am closing in most places, wants to remove the primary pleasure for many tourists. In so doing they are destroying their own culture - as early as 1421AD, the Chinese fleets of exploration reported on Ayutthayan nobility as being "most pleased when our sailors slept with the Siamese wives they offered to us".

They've made a name for themselves over 6 centuries, how on earth can they expect to remove it overnight? Simple - they have an egotistical, xenophobic, racist, persecuting, and megalomaniacal foreigner running the country - he's not Siamese or even Tai for God's sake - he's Chinese immigrant and trying to turn Thailand into another Chinese province. Now the high court judge has spilled the beans about the Asset Hiding decision 4 years ago, let's hope the people of Thailand wake up to him ..... but memories are too short here to hold one's breath.

Som Nam Na - elect a despotic dictator and suffer the consequences.

[cojones]

they want to keep more girls back home on the farms planting rice , there is a shortage of "manpower" down on the farm these days

[markt]

Maybe it's because the Thais don't walk around holding hand's with hookers, giving LOS a bad reputation. And maybe us falangs do, and are being smacked on the wrists for it?

Very true MB.

[swishtz]

It is happening, notices have been served, no one will open, this is not a joke, its a well organised protest

Keep an eye on

http://www.rockhardphuket.com/whatnew.html

Some "leaks" cough cough will appear there

[ToeCutter]

if these rules are in effect, the only bars *legally* open after hours will be paying for the privilege and therefore will be tipping officials. If officials are involved, as well as a slice of the pie, surely that will exact a greater element of control over the bar scene?