PREM-R Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 The King's Birthday, December 5th (father's day) and the Queen's Birthday, August 12th (mother's day) have always been national holidays (since before I was alive) and no alcohol is served or sold since I've been here... I am not quite sure about this, wasn't the law changed a few years ago to allow alcohol to be purchased on "Royal Birthdays"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 yes good idea, save up all year to go on holiday, then sit in your room with a beer, great stuff In that case Phuket tourism is doomed if there is nothing else to do on the island than drink beer while on holiday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petercallen Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 Well KB very few genuine tourist are interested in places like Bangla Road except to take a look The majority are not sex tourists They can always get a drink in there tourist hotels,Believe it or not Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevenl Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 The King's Birthday, December 5th (father's day) and the Queen's Birthday, August 12th (mother's day) have always been national holidays (since before I was alive) and no alcohol is served or sold since I've been here... I am not quite sure about this, wasn't the law changed a few years ago to allow alcohol to be purchased on "Royal Birthdays"? Yes, alcohol sales are allowed on Royal Birthdays, but the bars are requested to not sell alcohol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenBravo Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 Well KB very few genuine tourist are interested in places like Bangla Road except to take a look The majority are not sex tourists They can always get a drink in there tourist hotels,Believe it or not Bangla road is a tiny percentage of the places that serve alcohol. Why should a person that can't vote have to abstain from alcohol? The law is anachronistic and should be changed, or, an exception made for tourist areas. Just common sense really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevenl Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 Well KB very few genuine tourist are interested in places like Bangla Road except to take a look The majority are not sex tourists They can always get a drink in there tourist hotels,Believe it or not Bangla road is a tiny percentage of the places that serve alcohol. Why should a person that can't vote have to abstain from alcohol? The law is anachronistic and should be changed, or, an exception made for tourist areas. Just common sense really. Yes, agree with that. Also why would a sex tourist not be a genuine tourist? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petercallen Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 Well KB very few genuine tourist are interested in places like Bangla Road except to take a look The majority are not sex tourists They can always get a drink in there tourist hotels,Believe it or not Bangla road is a tiny percentage of the places that serve alcohol. Why should a person that can't vote have to abstain from alcohol? The law is anachronistic and should be changed, or, an exception made for tourist areas. Just common sense really. Wrong the law is the law same in Australia all bars are closed on Christmas day and good Friday The availability of alcohol here does not effect genuine tourist or the majority of expats Why should the Thai govt change the law for people like you who are always complaining about it You can always return to England if you are not happy, and you talk about other people whinging Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petercallen Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 (edited) Well KB very few genuine tourist are interested in places like Bangla Road except to take a look The majority are not sex tourists They can always get a drink in there tourist hotels,Believe it or not Bangla road is a tiny percentage of the places that serve alcohol. Why should a person that can't vote have to abstain from alcohol? The law is anachronistic and should be changed, or, an exception made for tourist areas. Just common sense really. Yes, agree with that. Also why would a sex tourist not be a genuine tourist? Do you believe sex tourists are here to see and enjoy all Thailand has to offer tourists I do not they are here for one reason and one reason only Edited August 9, 2012 by LivinginKata off topic remark removed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevenl Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 Well KB very few genuine tourist are interested in places like Bangla Road except to take a look The majority are not sex tourists They can always get a drink in there tourist hotels,Believe it or not Bangla road is a tiny percentage of the places that serve alcohol. Why should a person that can't vote have to abstain from alcohol? The law is anachronistic and should be changed, or, an exception made for tourist areas. Just common sense really. Yes, agree with that. Also why would a sex tourist not be a genuine tourist? Do you believe sex tourists are here to see and enjoy all Thailand has to offer tourists I do not they are here for one reason and one reason only Were you a sex tourist when you originally came here, i certainly was not This is not about me but about tourists. No, sex tourists are not here to see all Thailand has to offer, just a limited part of it. Is there anything wrong with that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenBravo Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 Well KB very few genuine tourist are interested in places like Bangla Road except to take a look The majority are not sex tourists They can always get a drink in there tourist hotels,Believe it or not Bangla road is a tiny percentage of the places that serve alcohol. Why should a person that can't vote have to abstain from alcohol? The law is anachronistic and should be changed, or, an exception made for tourist areas. Just common sense really. Wrong the law is the law same in Australia all bars are closed on Christmas day and good Friday The availability of alcohol here does not effect genuine tourist or the majority of expats Why should the Thai govt change the law for people like you who are always complaining about it You can always return to England if you are not happy, and you talk about other people whinging Why do you keep mentioning me? I've told you ad nauseum that it doesn't affect me, but, it seems to go in one ear and out the other. I'm going to type slower so that you can understand. This is about tourists. Actually, not just the tourists, but, the Thai business owners that pay extortionate rents, then have to shut up shop and lose valuable income. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmitch Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 There must be a couple of hundred threads on this subject on TV. They all say the same thing. It's no problem for the Thais who will continue drinking in their villages, expats who know about this and if desperate stock up, but it hits the tourists. Not just the heavy drinkers or those that frequent the girlie bars but many, many tourists like to have a drink at a bar in the evening after dinner, to sit down and relax after a hard day on the beach or whatever they do: couples, groups, families, you name it. Others of course like to buy their beer, whisky or vodka at the 7-Eleven and take it back to their hotels. There is not a lot for tourists to do in the evenings in Phuket (and many other beach resorts) so they end up walking the streets and having an early night. I agree with KB above that the damage to small businesses in the current economic client is bad as well. Tourist zones should be excluded from these rules on certain dates; maybe not some of the religious days but certainly elections. It's not difficult to say that Thais may not be served, though if the last Karon election is anything to go by, so few voters are actually registered in Phuket that most Thais in theory shouldn't be affected either. I understand why it is done and I have been surprised myself after arranging a weekend in Bangkok with friends to find it's an election weekend. It isn't much fun sitting in a darkened quiet bar, knowing it's the only place "open" in the vicinity. I'm not a heavy drinker but if I had booked my holiday to Patong at the end of August and found that the bars were closed for four days I would probably be looking to move elsewhere. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LivinginKata Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 Weeding out all the off topic/personal insults. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ping Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 Re the changing of alcohol laws, there was a raft of changes proposed, but not all adopted. Another one was the ban on selling alcohol at wats. In the original proposal, apparently, they also intended to lift the age for purchase of alcohol from 18 to 25. (Great for tourism!) An article about it here: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2006/10/19/headlines/headlines_30016583.php I suppose the point is that if you are an expat and would like to have a drink on one of these ban days (and haven't stocked up or made other plans), you'll have no trouble finding it without too much inconvenience. But a tourist fresh off Jetstar or any other airline will generally have no idea. He (or she) will, after asking around, find somewhere but it will usually not be his vision of the entertainment he had spent weeks looking forward to. The point has already been made that Thais who want a drink are not much affected. It stands to reason, then, that those most likely to be the affected to any significant degree are tourists. So why should elections impact upon these people? Some of these same people will be annoyed to the point that they will be going to Bali or other destinations for future holidays, so local business owners miss out as well. I can understand the arguments to the contrary, but the reality is that the current situation seems to be achieve very little other than providing another source of revenue for the BiB to exploit in zealous enforcement. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flightest Posted August 9, 2012 Author Share Posted August 9, 2012 Well KB very few genuine tourist are interested in places like Bangla Road except to take a look The majority are not sex tourists They can always get a drink in there tourist hotels,Believe it or not Bangla road is a tiny percentage of the places that serve alcohol. Why should a person that can't vote have to abstain from alcohol? The law is anachronistic and should be changed, or, an exception made for tourist areas. Just common sense really. Wrong the law is the law same in Australia all bars are closed on Christmas day and good Friday The availability of alcohol here does not effect genuine tourist or the majority of expats Why should the Thai govt change the law for people like you who are always complaining about it You can always return to England if you are not happy, and you talk about other people whinging Why do you keep mentioning me? I've told you ad nauseum that it doesn't affect me, but, it seems to go in one ear and out the other. I'm going to type slower so that you can understand. This is about tourists. Actually, not just the tourists, but, the Thai business owners that pay extortionate rents, then have to shut up shop and lose valuable income. totally agree Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starkey_rich Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 Well KB very few genuine tourist are interested in places like Bangla Road except to take a look The majority are not sex tourists They can always get a drink in there tourist hotels,Believe it or not Bangla road is a tiny percentage of the places that serve alcohol. Why should a person that can't vote have to abstain from alcohol? The law is anachronistic and should be changed, or, an exception made for tourist areas. Just common sense really. Yes, agree with that. Also why would a sex tourist not be a genuine tourist? Do you believe sex tourists are here to see and enjoy all Thailand has to offer tourists I do not they are here for one reason and one reason only Yes they are here to spend money and enjoy themselves and probably spend a lot more money than your average tourist. i think you are in the wrong place if you dislike the sex tourist so much. Friends of mine own non girlie bars and they are struggling already without these stupid laws. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petercallen Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 Sex tourists book the cheapest accommodation the can and spend all of there available money in bars I do not dislike sex tourists but i know what they are Normal tourists who are the majority book into tourist hotels and do not spend all there money in bars but on tours entertainment etc and spend a lot more money As far as i am concerned farangs who own girlie bars are just pimps and if they did the same thing in Australia such as charging bar fines, would be charged and convicted of being a pimp The people i know who have bought a bar here regret it, the books have been cooked to make the bars look profitable when they are not usually by farangs who want to sell up and return to there home country The only really successful bar i know of here is the Aussie bar,He set up his new bar straight after the tsunami when there were no tourists and has been expanding it ever since with no bar ladies just paid staff 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelepulse Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 >>The only really successful bar i know of here is the Aussie bar,He set up his new bar straight after the tsunami when there were no tourists and has been expanding it ever since with no bar ladies just paid staff I think Nikitas is doing OK . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starkey_rich Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 Sex tourists book the cheapest accommodation the can and spend all of there available money in bars I do not dislike sex tourists but i know what they are Normal tourists who are the majority book into tourist hotels and do not spend all there money in bars but on tours entertainment etc and spend a lot more money As far as i am concerned farangs who own girlie bars are just pimps and if they did the same thing in Australia such as charging bar fines, would be charged and convicted of being a pimp The people i know who have bought a bar here regret it, the books have been cooked to make the bars look profitable when they are not usually by farangs who want to sell up and return to there home country The only really successful bar i know of here is the Aussie bar,He set up his new bar straight after the tsunami when there were no tourists and has been expanding it ever since with no bar ladies just paid staff Quite a generalization there. I know quite a few guy's who stay in 5 star resorts and still go to bars. I would not know anything about the Aussie bar I avoid theme bars and Patong like the plague. Most the tourists I have seen lately are here on either all inclusive holidays(spend very little here) or cheap charlie Aussies who do stay in the cheapest of cheap accommodation and drink Chang or Tiger daft Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NamKangMan Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 (edited) Sex tourists book the cheapest accommodation the can and spend all of there available money in bars I do not dislike sex tourists but i know what they are Normal tourists who are the majority book into tourist hotels and do not spend all there money in bars but on tours entertainment etc and spend a lot more money As far as i am concerned farangs who own girlie bars are just pimps and if they did the same thing in Australia such as charging bar fines, would be charged and convicted of being a pimp The people i know who have bought a bar here regret it, the books have been cooked to make the bars look profitable when they are not usually by farangs who want to sell up and return to there home country The only really successful bar i know of here is the Aussie bar,He set up his new bar straight after the tsunami when there were no tourists and has been expanding it ever since with no bar ladies just paid staff "Sex tourists book the cheapest accommodation they can and spend all of there available money in bars" "Normal tourists who are the majority book into tourist hotels" Next time you are passing by a resort or "tourist hotel" call in and have a look around the pool side and the restaurant. You will see older farangs with attractive young Thai "girlfriends" swimming in the pool together or eating in the restaurant together. What do you think is going on???????? She's a "10 day girlfirend" plucked from a bar. It's very common, even in the nice resorts. Also, prostitution is now legal in most States of Australia. Brothels are registered and the industry is legal. No, pimps, only profits. Also, RSL Clubs, and some sporting clubs are open on Christmas Day and usually provide a Christmas roast lunch, and some company, for members of the community who have no family. In relation to bars closing on election day in Patong, the majority of individuals here are foreigners (tourist/expats/foreign labour) or minimum wage Thai staff and/or prostitutes, mainly from Issan. The foreigners can't vote and the Thai's from Issan are not registered here to vote, so, it's really quite ridiculous. Edited August 9, 2012 by NamKangMan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petercallen Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 >>The only really successful bar i know of here is the Aussie bar,He set up his new bar straight after the tsunami when there were no tourists and has been expanding it ever since with no bar ladies just paid staff I think Nikitas is doing OK . Probably is it must be the view, definitely has nothing like the turnover and profits of the Aussie bar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petercallen Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 Sex tourists book the cheapest accommodation the can and spend all of there available money in bars I do not dislike sex tourists but i know what they are Normal tourists who are the majority book into tourist hotels and do not spend all there money in bars but on tours entertainment etc and spend a lot more money As far as i am concerned farangs who own girlie bars are just pimps and if they did the same thing in Australia such as charging bar fines, would be charged and convicted of being a pimp The people i know who have bought a bar here regret it, the books have been cooked to make the bars look profitable when they are not usually by farangs who want to sell up and return to there home country The only really successful bar i know of here is the Aussie bar,He set up his new bar straight after the tsunami when there were no tourists and has been expanding it ever since with no bar ladies just paid staff "Sex tourists book the cheapest accommodation they can and spend all of there available money in bars" "Normal tourists who are the majority book into tourist hotels" Next time you are passing by a resort or "tourist hotel" call in and have a look around the pool side and the restaurant. You will see older farangs with attractive young Thai "girlfriends" swimming in the pool together or eating in the restaurant together. What do you think is going on???????? She's a "10 day girlfirend" plucked from a bar. It's very common, even in the nice resorts. Also, prostitution is now legal in most States of Australia. Brothels are registered and the industry is legal. No, pimps, only profits. Also, RSL Clubs, and some sporting clubs are open on Christmas Day and usually provide a Christmas roast lunch, and some company, for members of the community who have no family. In relation to bars closing on election day in Patong, the majority of individuals here are foreigners (tourist/expats/foreign labour) or minimum wage Thai staff and/or prostitutes, mainly from Issan. The foreigners can't vote and the Thai's from Issan are not registered here to vote, so, it's really quite ridiculous. Prostitution has been legal in Australia for a very long time, pimping is illegal there but not in Thailand RSL and other clubs are members only and invited guests they are not public bars, big difference Long time since i have stopped in a hotel here, last time there were very few bar ladies swimming in the pool quite regularly none, You mention older farangs how old are you I do not get involved it Thai politics and the reason they do things i am only a guest in this country not a citizen like 99% of farangs who post on this forum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hansgruber Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 >>The only really successful bar i know of here is the Aussie bar,He set up his new bar straight after the tsunami when there were no tourists and has been expanding it ever since with no bar ladies just paid staffI think Nikitas is doing OK . Pity about the food. Ever since they cut rimlay out of the food, they went downhill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petercallen Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 >>The only really successful bar i know of here is the Aussie bar,He set up his new bar straight after the tsunami when there were no tourists and has been expanding it ever since with no bar ladies just paid staffI think Nikitas is doing OK . Pity about the food. Ever since they cut rimlay out of the food, they went downhill. Pity you cannot own land freehold in Thailand the bar/ restaurant next door is a golden opportunity for someone willing to invest, personally i would never invest in a business unless i could own the land it sits on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F1fanatic Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 >>The only really successful bar i know of here is the Aussie bar,He set up his new bar straight after the tsunami when there were no tourists and has been expanding it ever since with no bar ladies just paid staffI think Nikitas is doing OK . Pity about the food. Ever since they cut rimlay out of the food, they went downhill. Pity you cannot own land freehold in Thailand the bar/ restaurant next door is a golden opportunity for someone willing to invest, personally i would never invest in a business unless i could own the land it sits on Nikita's has the perfect spot (on Rawai beach front). Right on the beach, so enjoys the sea breeze and view. I suspect that Nikita's will buy up any available adjoining land - they'd be stupid not to. Why allow a neighbour to compete for their market? Getting back to the topic - I too feel sorry for the tourists as I doubt it crossed their mind to check for days on which it was illegal for bars to sell alcohol. But, they can have their meal at the hotel and buy beers/wine there. They may not be happy about this, preferring to 'get out and about', but it will only be a couple of days from their holiday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenBravo Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 Nikita's has the perfect spot (on Rawai beach front). Right on the beach, so enjoys the sea breeze and view. I suspect that Nikita's will buy up any available adjoining land - they'd be stupid not to. Why allow a neighbour to compete for their market? Getting back to the topic - I too feel sorry for the tourists as I doubt it crossed their mind to check for days on which it was illegal for bars to sell alcohol. But, they can have their meal at the hotel and buy beers/wine there. They may not be happy about this, preferring to 'get out and about', but it will only be a couple of days from their holiday. Nikitas do not own the land. The land is owned by the family that own the Pearl Hotel. The daughter of that family and Niki went to school together and are good mates. The land is not for sale. If either Nikitas, or Rimlay decide to shut down, the Pearl Hotel will take back the land and not lease it out again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hansgruber Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 (edited) >>The only really successful bar i know of here is the Aussie bar,He set up his new bar straight after the tsunami when there were no tourists and has been expanding it ever since with no bar ladies just paid staffI think Nikitas is doing OK . Pity about the food. Ever since they cut rimlay out of the food, they went downhill. Pity you cannot own land freehold in Thailand the bar/ restaurant next door is a golden opportunity for someone willing to invest, personally i would never invest in a business unless i could own the land it sits on Nikita's has the perfect spot (on Rawai beach front). Right on the beach, so enjoys the sea breeze and view. I suspect that Nikita's will buy up any available adjoining land - they'd be stupid not to. Why allow a neighbour to compete for their market? Getting back to the topic - I too feel sorry for the tourists as I doubt it crossed their mind to check for days on which it was illegal for bars to sell alcohol. But, they can have their meal at the hotel and buy beers/wine there. They may not be happy about this, preferring to 'get out and about', but it will only be a couple of days from their holiday. Just so you know. Rimlay has a much better setting and would kill nakitas with the right people running it. Rimlay only got more business when nakitas cut their food off. People missed their green curry with soft pumpkin chunks inside. Mmmmmmm. Rimlay: Edited August 9, 2012 by hansgruber Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petercallen Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 >>The only really successful bar i know of here is the Aussie bar,He set up his new bar straight after the tsunami when there were no tourists and has been expanding it ever since with no bar ladies just paid staffI think Nikitas is doing OK . Pity about the food. Ever since they cut rimlay out of the food, they went downhill. Pity you cannot own land freehold in Thailand the bar/ restaurant next door is a golden opportunity for someone willing to invest, personally i would never invest in a business unless i could own the land it sits on Nikita's has the perfect spot (on Rawai beach front). Right on the beach, so enjoys the sea breeze and view. I suspect that Nikita's will buy up any available adjoining land - they'd be stupid not to. Why allow a neighbour to compete for their market? Getting back to the topic - I too feel sorry for the tourists as I doubt it crossed their mind to check for days on which it was illegal for bars to sell alcohol. But, they can have their meal at the hotel and buy beers/wine there. They may not be happy about this, preferring to 'get out and about', but it will only be a couple of days from their holiday. It does not stop them getting out and about unless they cannot do it without drinking alcohol Plenty to see and do for a first time tourist here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chainsaw Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 >>The only really successful bar i know of here is the Aussie bar,He set up his new bar straight after the tsunami when there were no tourists and has been expanding it ever since with no bar ladies just paid staff I think Nikitas is doing OK . Same at the Freebird. I'm sure there are quite a few bars that are ticking over nicely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdmtdm Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 >>The only really successful bar i know of here is the Aussie bar,He set up his new bar straight after the tsunami when there were no tourists and has been expanding it ever since with no bar ladies just paid staff I think Nikitas is doing OK . Same at the Freebird. I'm sure there are quite a few bars that are ticking over nicely. dont think u can put freebird and nikitas in the same categ....unless you are plugging freebird because you are attempting to entertain down there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flightest Posted August 9, 2012 Author Share Posted August 9, 2012 so as to avoid booking a holiday when these elections take place, how long beforehand do they announce the dates,as it seems that they only announce the dates just before the election Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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