Why are the clubs closing at 2am?

[Benmart]

The world does not revolve around me. The law of the land is something I respect and live with. If I can't comply, I move on.

[tribalfusion001]

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Don't know, don't care, ruined my night, sod the law!!!

that's what you get when you try to wait around till things close and get a deal...

I was in glow bar in soi 23 with my wife, just dancing and drinking, walked down cowboy when we got kicked out of glow bar and cowboy was closed too! It's hardly encouraging people to come to Thailand when you close everything at 2am...

You won't get any sympathy from the cardigan and slippers brigade on here. After all, you can't bust a move when your gout's playing up

Cowboy is always closed by 2am as were/are majority of the bars anyway around sukhumvit..except the street bars which then pop up.If you know the area you could have gone up to Thonglor for the thai clubs or RCA for the serious night club dance scene instead of being a <deleted> drama queen on here!!

Maybe if you knew your clubs, then you would know that Glow Bar is better than rca or thong lor clubs, plus country road and corner bar did shut at 4am, not 2am in cowboy!

[smotherb]

Don't know, don't care, ruined my night, sod the law!!!

Aren't you, at least a little bit, embarrassed by that statement?

[Benmart]

Not to sound selfish but I like the 2am closing.

I am usually drunk by 1:30, but stay around because it's open.

2am perfect for me , get drunk and home early enough to wake up for work.

Though can see how it would not be so good for tourists who are use to opening times being till early mornings

Another poster glorifying being drunk. Unless your work starts the next night, you should get sacked.

What's wrong with being drunk sometimes?

Freedom is wonderful until it encroaches on the freedom of others. Nothing better than being waken up by a drunken party next door or an alcohol fueled fight in the street outside my window.

Responsible drunkenness is often lost in the blur of intoxication. Personal experience.

[tribalfusion001]

Don't know, don't care, ruined my night, sod the law!!!

Aren't you, at least a little bit, embarrassed by that statement?

No! Next question?

[Baerboxer]

Another poster glorifying being drunk. Unless your work starts the next night, you should get sacked.

What's wrong with being drunk sometimes?

Plenty, nothing against social drinking, but drunkiness has cost too many lives all over the world, accidents, health etc etc.

You would hate most of towns and cities in the UK then, full of drunks every Friday and Saturday night, people throwing up everywhere, fights, women flashing their boobs and muff, it's not pretty!

I agree it's not pretty and Thursday night is usually about the same. Just shows how well some laws are enforced in the UK - even with wall to wall cctv.

Nothing wrong with being drunk as long as you are not a danger to others or yourself. Pissed in public increases danger and risks.

[brewsterbudgen]

Time for you to leave Thailand which finally looks like it is being given a much needed spring clean and go off to Cambodia where the "laws" are a little more lax than BKK.

Does Thailand really need the Soi Cowboy/Nana Plaza crowd? I don't think so.

What's this got to do with Nana Plaza or Soi Cowboy? All the bars there close at the required time and (generally) stick to the law.

[soalbundy]

Don't know, don't care, ruined my night, sod the law!!!

By the sound of your whinging post you probably ought to be in bed at that time. What do you do all day,sleep?

[ggt]

If you think the current conditions of nightlife in Thailand are restrictive...try living in a Muslim country...you will be lucky to find any life outside married life...

[soalbundy]

Not to sound selfish but I like the 2am closing.

I am usually drunk by 1:30, but stay around because it's open.

2am perfect for me , get drunk and home early enough to wake up for work.

Though can see how it would not be so good for tourists who are use to opening times being till early mornings

Another poster glorifying being drunk. Unless your work starts the next night, you should get sacked.

What's wrong with being drunk sometimes?

The operative word is 'sometimes' he writes 'usualy' and he supposedly works,obviously a highly skilled academic, a surgeon perhaps.

[NoshowJones]

I could be wrong here Baerboxer, but is it possible to be drunk and guarantee you will not be a danger to yourself as well as others?

[Jimi007]

OMG, the club you like to hang out at closed at the time that is spelled out in the law…. Geez, time to get over it.

[myluckythai]

What a load of sh.... by op. Some clubs have Always closed at 2. Others stay open longer. That's the LAW!. go to another club and stop crying

Edited July 6, 2014 by myluckythai

[KevinB]

Out last week on the Internet there are the results of the Travel and Leisure Survey of Best Tourist Cities - Bangkok which was #1 in 2013 is no longer in the top 10 this year. So 2am close with exciting football showing and thousands of punters looking for a place with a crowd to watch the World Cup are going to be moving on to another neighbouring City for the semis - and the FINALS. Just another example of how complex things are and how some folk just don't get what makes up an exciting modern City in Asia. The average 20 year old normally stays up until the dawn on a Sunday - normal practice - no place open after 2am = dead city - no fun = lets hit Siam Reap (which made it to #2 in Asia and #4 in the world this year).

[NoshowJones]

Soulbundy, no one is going to be fit for any sort of work after about five hours if he staggers home drunk the previous night.

[smotherb]

I could be wrong here Baerboxer, but is it possible to be drunk and guarantee you will not be a danger to yourself as well as others?

Possum, you may be the exception, but do you really believe most people, even when sober, could guarantee that they will not be a danger to themselves as well as others?

[nikthekiwi]

I think I might cry someone a river...

[GAZZPA]

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Don't know, don't care, ruined my night, sod the law!!!

that's what you get when you try to wait around till things close and get a deal...

I was in glow bar in soi 23 with my wife, just dancing and drinking, walked down cowboy when we got kicked out of glow bar and cowboy was closed too! It's hardly encouraging people to come to Thailand when you close everything at 2am...

You won't get any sympathy from the cardigan and slippers brigade on here. After all, you can't bust a move when your gout's playing up

"bust a move"! Are you sure you're not the one with gout.

[Frank James]

Well, this thread sure did generate a lot of controversy, and widely differing shades of opinion. That is all to the good, I think.

It's been many years since I enjoyed staying out in the wee wee hours, but I remember liking it a lot...back then.

[Cypress Hill]

Cowboy is always closed by 2am as were/are majority of the bars anyway around sukhumvit..except the street bars which then pop up.If you know the area you could have gone up to Thonglor for the thai clubs or RCA for the serious night club dance scene instead of being a <deleted> drama queen on here!!

100% WRONG. I live on soi 23 and up until recently, the gogo bars regularly opened until 3am while the Penny Black & Corner bars opened till well past 5am every night.

Levels, Oskar, Insanity, Q Bar etc went until 3am.

RCA shuts dead on 2am

Thonglor shuts at 2am but after hours joints like WIP 168 and Safe House usually go until 6am.

Get your facts straight before piping up, eh?

Typical BS response form the more self-righteous hypocrites who never have and never WILL break a law.

I wonder how many of them have bribed a Thai police officer after being breathalysed or greased a palm to make an immigration issue disappear.

Oh dear. A typical response from someone who thinks laws don't apply to anyone has self important as themselves. Considers it macho.

All there to be broken. So you won't be complaining when someone robs you or breaks into your property because they decided to break a law they didn't like; or maybe smashes into your vehicle whilst pissed or high.

What a breathtakingly stupid comment.

Let me see if I understand what you're saying here - people steal or drink drive because they don't like the law that says it's illegal, right?

Dunno who's worse; you or the 3 eejits who liked your post

BTW if the junta decides to enforce the law that says prostitution is illegal and arrests your freshly-barfined companion for the night before she can accommodate you, I take it YOU won't be complaining either, right?

[NoshowJones]

I could be wrong here Baerboxer, but is it possible to be drunk and guarantee you will not be a danger to yourself as well as others?

Possum, you may be the exception, but do you really believe most people, even when sober, could guarantee that they will not be a danger to themselves as well as others?

If they are sober, they will be in a far better position to make sure they are not a danger to themselves as well as others, but nothing can be guaranteed.

[Docno]

What you have to remember is that military regimes, be they of leftist or rightist bent, tend to be morally/sexually conservative (on the surface at least). After all, sex, booze, and 'letting loose' run counter to the strict military values of discipline and order. A classic example: one of the first things the Pathet Lao did when they took over Ventianne was to round up the prostitutes and send them to an island in the Mekong for 're-education'. We obviously won't see things turn that extreme here, but stricter laws and stricter enforcement of existing laws should not come as a big surprise....

[OMGImInPattaya]

What does the law say about closing hours?

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But doesn't this action class with the General's Happiness policy? Maybe we have a rogue colonel here? Edited July 6, 2014 by OMGImInPattaya

[Kasset Tak]

The law states closing time to 12-1am but there is a possibility to get permission to stay open until 2-3am depending on the local authority and if it's a bar or nightclub. In some cities in Thailand you would only find the hotel bars open after midnight!

Then that the closing hours have been "more flexible" in the past was a part of the big problem of corruption!

[monkeycountry]

In 9 months things might be very different. The coup government is changing the way things are done. Here in Pattaya, bars and discos are being raided and closed down every night, some for days (one bar sign said closed for renovations. Ha!) , for being open after 2 am, including iBar, Insomnia, Flex, Lucifer and others. For the first time in 10 years, I've been witness twice to drug arrests in the middle of a soi by plainclothes and uniformed cops. For the first time I or others can remember, Soi Buakhao was blockaded by police and Thai Navy soldiers and everyone, Thai and farang, were stopped, questioned, and some arrested. For the first time I've ridden into a huge police/military inspection stop on a small subsoi. I was waved through but no Thais were waved through. For the first time, I'm seeing cops on active duty on nighttime streets in Pattaya, not just out collecting for the boss.

If you think things will just go back to "normal" after the recent heavy enforcement activity, you'd better keep your eyes open from now on. Please don't read this as "I love the military" statement. Open your bloody eyes. Remember what Gen Prayuth said recently about changing Thailand's sordid image around the world. Most of you won't want to believe the coming chagnes but I think he was serious and it seems as though he will be around for a long time.

The military made it quite clear that one of their priorities was to crack down on drug use. They are just doing what they said, by focusing on after hours clubs where drugs are routinely taken.

It's just controlling people, no freedom, no choice, no vote, nothing, now cannot even party into the small hours!

The closing times have been around a lot longer than the current Junta that is enforcing them.

Interestingly enough this takes us back to the first Shin (TRT) government in 2001 when Purachai became Interior Mininster.

A TRT parliamentary group met to review the night life industry and recommended that all places of entertainment should close at 10.00 pm (yes, seriously I'm not making this up). Months of discussion followed before the current legislation came into force after the intervention of Dear Leader himself.

There was much talk for a while of midnight closing, but Dear Leader pointed out that as many people had invested in the entertainment industry in good faith, closing at 1.00 am would be more appropriate. Thus for a period it became so. In Pattaya that lasted for about 3 weeks. Fortunately practice soon then reverted back to the previous situation; ie the 2.00 am closing, which I believe was a measure from the 60s designed to save electricity. From the frequency with which they are raided, in Pattaya at least, I guess that discos and clubs are also covered by the same hours. Certainly Ministry of Sound, which invested millions to establish itself in Bangkok, ended up pulling the plug.

Among the long term effects of all this was the prohibition of alcohol sales in supermarkets, 7/11s etc, between 2 - 5 and after midnight, and the end of that great institution, the old Thermae coffee bar which used to re-open from midnight to 6.00am as a beer bar. Also the growth of the beer booths along Sukhumvit, when it was realised that the penalties for unlicensed alchohol sales were much milder than those for breaking the terms of a licence and a lot of thirsty farangs were on the streets after 2.00.

The moral of all this is that the current 2.00 am closing in Bangkok, or 3.00 am+ in Pattaya, is a result of local toleration and this can change at any time. The actual law itself, dating from TRT days is actually stricter. Purachai, (whatever happened to him?) went on record at the time as saying he could not see why anyone would want to be out on the streets after 11.00.

I may well be wrong, but as I recall everything was open pretty much all night back in the 90s, and the closing time rules came sometime after that? Or maybe they were just not enforced?

[moe666]

somewhere some bar was open until later

[drand11]

What does the law say about closing hours?

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All of BKK..legally, closes at 2am..but many pay off the police to remain open til 4-5am.

Its all just window dressing, things will go back to normal. If anything, enjoy the night earlier..save some cash.

The sexiest of ladies show up at 12:30 am...you still have time.

[MickGC]

The General is open to personal requests. The OP should send him an email stating he is not happy that he has to finish partying and go home at 2am rather than his regular sunrise hour. I'm sure he'll change the laws of the land and inform all the police etc. to accommodate your good self being able to stay out a couple of extra hours getting pissed and dancing. Good luck with that. You do realise a military coup has recently taken place in Thailand ?

[tribalfusion001]

The General is open to personal requests. The OP should send him an email stating he is not happy that he has to finish partying and go home at 2am rather than his regular sunrise hour. I'm sure he'll change the laws of the land and inform all the police etc. to accommodate your good self being able to stay out a couple of extra hours getting pissed and dancing. Good luck with that. You do realise a military coup has recently taken place in Thailand ?

I do realize there was a coup d'etat, I was here! And I will send him an email, when I'm back in England on Thursday 555

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[Kasset Tak]

The General is open to personal requests. The OP should send him an email stating he is not happy that he has to finish partying and go home at 2am rather than his regular sunrise hour. I'm sure he'll change the laws of the land and inform all the police etc. to accommodate your good self being able to stay out a couple of extra hours getting pissed and dancing. Good luck with that. You do realise a military coup has recently taken place in Thailand ?

I do realize there was a coup d'etat, I was here! And I will send him an email, when I'm back in England on Thursday 555

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Maybe you should stay in England then as the bars/nightclubs can get a 24hour licker license there and here they can only stay open until 2am legally...