Opening Hours

[marquess]

Reading the Post this morning there was a small section on page 8, which stated that Thai Rak Thai propose to ammend the existing licensing laws, so as to make bars close at 10pm. This is going to be part of the manifesto for the next election.

Has anyone heard anything more about this insane idea?

[Dung Beetle]

Yup, I saw a blurb about this. I have also read elsewhere that the TRT was planning to institute this beginning in 04'.

I am a little unclear of how far along this proposal is, but it does sound like they intend to seriously try it.

I can't even begin to imagine how the Thai's could allow their government to institute a draconian restriction like this, but not much would surprise me anymore. It is going to be real interesting to see if the government intends for these restrictions to cover tourist areas. I just can't imagine the shock many visitors to the Kingdom will have when they find they can't go to a bar and get a beer after 10PM.

Anyone know more about this? When is it slated to take effect? Is it for real, or just a bunch of talk?

DB

[the gentleman]

There goes the tourist trade - the only people that make money from stupid laws like that is 711 as everyone sits there after the bars are shut (in Patong anyway) - I wonder if Thaxing has a share in that as well!

[marquess]

Under Toxin, things will only get worst.

There would be little point in having a bar or entertainment industry if things closed at 10pm. Previously I had thought that England had the most archaic and absurd licensing laws, but I might have to rethink that one. I suspect the Thai people will be told that it is their best interests.

[sbk]

Here is the text from the Bangkok Post:

Early closing bid is no joke

A comedian hoping to run under the Thai Rak Thai banner in the next general election has objected to a government plan to bring forward by four hours the closing of night-time entertainment venues.

Pramual Chooklom, or Jeng Dokjik, said he would ask the party leadership to scrap a proposal under which bars, pubs and clubs would close at 10pm, instead of the current 2am.

Mr Pramual said he would discuss the matter with party executives later this month, during a Thai Rak Thai conference in Pattaya.

It sounds like the plan is already in the works to me. Ought to do wonders for the tourism industry in Thailand. I can see the new slogan now, "Come to Thailand, Get a good night's sleep"

[Butterfly]

That's why they are working on those new zoning laws

All bars will be closed at 10:00pm but the special zoning will let bar closes at 2:00am or even 4:00am

Alothough, this is a way to get more tax from the bars thanks to the zoning

I always come to Thailand for the food anyway

[Guest IT Manager]

PhD he may be but at what cost. Criminology has not equipped him for the real world.

[eric1000]

Reading the Post this morning there was a small section on page 8, which stated that Thai Rak Thai propose to ammend the existing licensing laws, so as to make bars close at 10pm. This is going to be part of the manifesto for the next election.

Has anyone heard anything more about this insane idea?

oh well you will have to be tucked up in the sack with a freelancer of your choice eh?

but is it any big deal ? have you been to the bar areas lately? who would be bothered if patpong bars closed at 10 , only the katoeys and mug tourists .

and the nana bars are not too hot these days either .

cowboy still retains some joi de vivre like the patpong of old pre market days.

oh well sex tourists will have to go elsewhere which is what thais seem to want .

they are looking for upmarket tourists these days

hey but arent most bars expat owned ?

[george]

Study ordered into earlier closing times for bars, pubs, clubs

Proposal to close bars at 22.00

BANGKOK: Interior Minister Wan Muhamad Nor Matha has ordered his deputy to look into bringing the closing time for nightspots forward to midnight, instead of 2am.

He said too many people under 20 were going to the bars, where they spend money recklessly and lose their virginity.

His deputy Pracha Maleenont, who oversees the government's social order crusade, would work with the Provincial Administration Department in studying whether to advance the closing time to midnight or 1am.

The move follows a Thai Rak Thai party proposal to bring closing time forward by four hours to 10pm.

Mr Wan Nor told a teleconference meeting with all provincial governors that a young girl told Prime Minister Thaksin Shinwatra that last year, when she was only 14, she had been able to get into nightspots after paying the doorman 100 baht, and was still doing so.

Mr Wan Nor also wanted district chiefs and local administrative bodies to take serious action to stop the sale of pornographic comic books and to prevent drugstores and other shops from selling addictive medicines and substances such as solvents.

The prime minister had also instructed Bangkok district chiefs to clean up areas under the Memorial bridge, around Sanam Luang and the Interior Ministry headquarters. Mr Thaksin had been told children lose their virginity in these areas.

Sutthichai Thassanasarit, interior deputy permanent secretary, said district chiefs were already working hard in these areas, but it was beyond their responsibilities to prevent people from having sex. However, he agreed with a proposed ban on flea markets around the Memorial bridge, which brought about disorder to the area.

Mr Pracha said the Provincial Administration Department and Chiang Rai authorities were investigating a village headman accused of housing illegal immigrants and luring Lao women into the sex trade in Chiang Saen.

PAD director-general Sujarit Patchimnan said 42 entertainment venues were permanently closed, 200 temporarily closed, 19 had their licences suspended and 10 lost their operating licences between Oct 1 and Nov 3.

Muk Sulaiman, secretary to the interior minister, said many entertainment venues closed for breaches of the law were using legal loopholes to reopen.

He proposed the use of the building control law to ensure they closed permanently.

A gay bar next to his house in Soi Pradiphat 19 had reopened only one day after being raided and ordered closed by Mr Pracha.

[Candyflip]

It doesnot effect only tourists but Thais who love to dance till dawn like me!!!

Closing at 2 am is terrible already, I cannot imagine if every bar closes at 10 pm which mean that I have to go out before 7 pm , get something to eat and then I have 2 hours left to dance... Horrible!

[steffi]

Won't places like the The Glass Home, The Brew Pavillion etc be totally up in arms about

such a draconian measure?

What's constitutes a bar anyway? This would shut down most of Ratchda but unfortunately will close small clubs like Grappa (my favourite) and Sugarbean and others that Thais

frequent.

[ando]

Well, I suppose I am just an old fashioned type. But its got me buggered why people these days have to wait till 10 o'clock at night to go out?

There will allways be 24 hours in a day, so if it means hitting the town at 7 o'clock and waking up at 9am instead of noon, whats the big deal? It might be trendy to go out late and come home in the early hours, but I just cant see the sense in it myself. Its not like the authorities are trying to reduce the number of hours available to party. You just end up wasting half of the next day if you wait till 10 or 11 pm to go out. As far as I am aware there is no restriction on opening times for bars in the afternoon (is there?), so it just means we have to set the jet lag clocks a couple of hours forward.

I am sure there will be variations for different types of liquer licences.

Another angle that is worth considering is that a lot of Thais have to go to work the next morning and tourists dont vote.

[Michael_Crowe5]

It all boils down to this: The MEN in government are no longer making the laws....this one comes straight from the wives, mistresss and girlfriends!

[jingjog]

That´s what I fear!

[shaunoro]

Personally i like to go for the early drink from 1700hrs to 2100hrs.

Sometimes i go out later and drink later if collegues arrive it town.

Either way, people should be allowed to go out and party at nightclubs as i know i certainly did when i was younger.

I could get home at 0300hrs and be up for work at 0700hrs. This did involve an early evening nap from 1800hrs to 2000hrs as the Norwiegans do.

At the end of the day. it is basically a control issue with lame excuses about doormen and flea markets.

If people keep turning up late for work after partying, they will get fired a few times and learn the hard way.

It does not have to be imposed on the individual.

I don't go to the "entertainment areas as Cowboy or Nana ect". except when visitors are around.

I prefer an expart bar with minimal tourists.

So bars and restaurants at 0200hrs closing and nightclubs later!!!

[the gentleman]

1/As far as I am aware there is no restriction on opening times for bars in the afternoon (is there?), so it just means we have to set the jet lag clocks a couple of hours forward.

2/Another angle that is worth considering is that a lot of Thais have to go to work the next morning and tourists dont vote.

1/How about the Thais and Farangs who work to 8pm and dont have the flexibility to be able to go out earlier?

2/Also a lot of Thais depend on late night entertainment to make a living and they do vote!

[singa-traz]

Well, I suppose I am just an old fashioned type. But its got me buggered why people these days have to wait till 10 o'clock at night to go out?

...

Another angle that is worth considering is that a lot of Thais have to go to work the next morning and tourists dont vote.

Singapore in the last couple of month have been trying to relax their regulations in this domain, allowing bar to be open all night long (certains areas), or even Bar Top Dancing ...

Funny to see the opposite trend in Bangkok ...

That would be a shame to have to fly to Singapore to "Party" ...

Looks like hard negociation with the Entertainment industry to me ...

[stormstereo]

In Vientiane, Laos they're closing at 11. This started 4-5 months ago or so. The night scene were never big there but having experienced both the 2 am and the 11 pm closing time I must say it is now really, really lame. The official reason as I've heard is security. The bomb attacks have increased but so far no one have been hurt and they're not targeting tourists. The bombs themselves are very small and have as of yet not damaged any property either. This information varies a lot depending on who you talk to in Vientiane. I really don't know the whole truth and I guess that's the way the commy officials like it. I've also heard some reasons towards youth recklessness, drinking, sexlife, you know - the moral yada.

If pubs and discos start closing at 10 in Thailand, zones or not, they'll have some real tourism income problem come 2004.

Best/T

[thaiguy147]

I think whoever said that wives, mistresses and girlfriends were behind all this has hit the nail right on the head. I just can't imagine that the "men" in government could be so foolish as to initiate something so archaic. They must realize the negative impact this would have on tourism. But then again, this isThailand.

[marquess]

Personally I believe that this measure if implemented, may just be the tip of the iceberg. When you have a gov with an absolute majority; and a "leader", with tight control of the media. Who brooks no critisism and who hads out various influcencial positions to family and friends, who knows what is next?

[Mig15]

The problem appears to be the affect of young Thai – children. Girls of 14 should not be in nightclubs. So why not stop that happening rather than punish everyone ( adults) who want to go out at night. Makes no sense to me.

Personally I don’t like to stay out late anyway but people should have the right to if they are adults. Bars are already feeling the pinch. People come on holiday to have a good time.

The government should get the police to police rather than extort.

[sabaijai]

He said too many people under 20 were going to the bars, where they spend money recklessly and lose their virginity.

Seems so convoluted if that's the purpose. Why not just check IDs more thoroughly? After all, between the close of school and 10pm teenagers can blast through enough alcohol to lose their virginity with a bedpost.

And here we have the new education minister recommending that students be given more time to waste as they're studying too much ...

[fat_bald_farang]

this is another case of throwing the baby out with the bath water. there seems to be a problem with the government always using a sledge hammer to crack a nut or a 38 calibar pistol instead of a democratic court....

what makes me laugh is on one hand the government talk about legalising prostitution and then try to do something like this. taxin is going for the local boy hero, clean up thailand ticket.. but i think too many people will loose money over this hysterical move and protest.

i seem to remember there was another man called pol pot who took up a similar moral crusade in cambodia.

[meadish_sweetball]

The problem appears to be the affect of young Thai – children. Girls of 14 should not be in nightclubs. So why not stop that happening rather than punish everyone ( adults) who want to go out at night. Makes no sense to me.

Why not just check IDs more thoroughly? After all, between the close of school and 10pm teenagers can blast through enough alcohol to lose their virginity with a bedpost.

That's just it! I don't know how they propose to solve the problem of underage drinking by changing the closing time. I realize they don't like seeing 14-year-olds getting plastered in the bars and pubs, but then they should do just that, CHECK IDs.

Before they take care of police corruption by raising the basic salaries, sternly kicking out and banning ALL COPS ON ALL LEVELS who take bribes (A grace period should be implemented, where cops get to come to terms with the reality they are about to face), no laws will be of any use, and will only affect people from the middle class and down - the Cream will still be protected unless someone of equal power or greater wants their head on a plate.

Also, as regards youth having sex, they can have that anytime and anywhere unless they are locked up, and double morals in society certainly won't solve that.

Reality check: Sex education would be a REALLY GOOD IDEA. If Thai children were allowed to mature and take responsibility, they won't go out and be duped into sex as easily. No matter how incredible it seems, some Thai 18-year-old girls still think kissing can make them pregnant. An ex girlfriend of mine, at 27 years old didn't know the first thing about basic genital hygiene - nobody had taught her.

This might be percieved as "na rak" by the middle class, but Victorian sex morals will create immense problems in a modern society - abortions, unwanted children etc. etc.

If Prime Minister Thaksin used the same tactics for ending corruption as he used to get rid of small time drug dealers, we might actually see a change in this society. Just a thought.

[Butterfly]

This is a disaster. I can't believe that they have become that stupid. The Toxin government need to take its head out of its ######.

[Butterfly]

Personally I believe that this measure if implemented, may just be the tip of the iceberg. When you have a gov with an absolute majority; and a "leader", with tight control of the media. Who brooks no critisism and who hads out various influcencial positions to family and friends, who knows what is next?

New visas regulation for farangs ?

[francois]

Also a lot of Thais depend on late night entertainment to make a living and they do vote!

let them do all their stupid things like this one ...

and let the people go vote, you'll see the result...

and might be that this would be a confirmation that it's always possible to find more stupid than self

it's a pity to see a country that we love closing itself like this ...

and yes, what next?

it's a bit of a worry

francois

[zaiko2000]

I think a modified SARS virus must have have gone in the THAI goverment brains!

This is the end of thai tourism! Let's all go to Cambodia or Vietnam

[grimreaper]

I have no problem with them closing the bars at 10-00pm as long as they allow them to re-open at 1-00am. That way the young kids would be bored with a three hour wait and go home.

The party animals can get liquored up, go for a short time and then back to bars for another session.

[Greer]

Adults should have the right to choose.

Certainly it is immoral to allow underage drinking and drug taking, but the closing time of bars is not going to affect that.

It is absolutely ridiculous to associate late closing with teenagers losing their virginity. If that were the case, then in places like the US, UK, Australia etc there would never have been any problem as they had bars that closed at 10pm until relatively recently - but as we all know, teenagers in all those countries still managed to lose it.

This government is making itself look ever more foolish, the further this "moral crusade" progresses - the ideals are not the problem, just the proposed methods for attaining them.

"Thailand" is supposed to mean "Land of The Free" or so I was told years ago when I arrived!

So much for the freedom Thais and others have come to expect in the Land of Smiles.