Patong bars to fight 2 am closing


PATONG: Bar, discotheque and pub owners will be given a 90-day grace period before police begin to strictly enforce a 2 am closing time at all nightlife venues on the island, authorities have announced.


Starting at 2 am on February 27, police presence was unexpectedly heavy on Soi Bangla and along nearby roads that make up the heart of Phuket’s nightlife entertainment industry.


Their presence sparked fears of a crackdown on bars and pubs, many of which have in recent months been staying open well past the mandatory closing time of 2 am that applies to most venues in the area.


Fearing possible arrests and fines, owners were quick to close shop.


On February 28 and 29, also starting at 2 am, Kathu District Chief Khantee Silapa accompanied Kathu Police Superintendent Col Grissak Songmoonnak and other high-ranking officers from Kathu Police on more inspection tours in Patong.


Again, bar owners were quick to close and there were no reports of arrests, but the show of force by authorities sent a clear signal to venue owners that failure to observe the mandatory closing time of 2 am will no longer be accepted.


Nightlife venue owners will be given 90 days, from February 28, before police will begin arresting bar owners who fail to comply, Col Grissak told the Gazette a few days later.


The new initiative follows an order by newly-installed Interior Minister Chalerm Yoobumrung.


Noting that pubs and nightclubs were used by youths as a place to experiment with and trade in narcotics, he said better compliance with existing closing times would be a key part of his campaign against drug abuse.


Minister Chalerm threatened to punish police officers, district chiefs and other officials who failed to strictly enforce anti-drug measures at entertainment venues, Phuket Governor Niran Kalyanamit said at the monthly meeting of provincial government officers, which he chaired at Phuket Provincial Hall on the morning of February 27.


Current closing times were put in place in early 2004 under the controversial “Social Order” campaign launched by Pol Capt Purachai Piemsomboon, Interior Minister during the first Thaksin administration.


The order by K. Purachai, who initially pushed for a closing time of midnight to keep minors out of nightclubs, resulted in non-violent protests by hundreds of nightlife workers in Patong, where the previous closing time had been 4 am closing.


In the end, special “nightlife zones” were established where venues with a special license could remain open until 2 am, while those outside the zone were required to close at 1 am.


However, the strict enforcement of closing times slackened considerably while the country was under post-coup martial law and remained slack after the National Legislative Assembly was appointed as the interim government.


While there were reports of some unlicensed beer bars being closed down in Kathu after Minister Chalerm’s order, Kathu District Chief Khantee denied that either officials or police had been distributing yellow warning cards to venues found in violation, as reported by one Thai language newspaper.


“Now we are forcing all bars to send their guests home at 2 am, but we are not charging them. We also found some venues employing girls under 18 and closed them down,” Chief Khantee told the Gazette.


The 2 am closing time would cost local businesses money, but both the laws and goals of the anti-drug campaign need to be respected, he said.


“I believe that if nightlife venues close up at 2 am, tourists will begin their night out on the town earlier. This is also a good opportunity to let tourists know about the anti-drug campaign,” he said.


Sompetch Moosophon, President of the Patong Entertainment Business Association (PEBA), said he plans to meet Chief Khantee soon and push for Patong to be exempted from the 2 am closing time, which he sees as incongruous with the needs of most visiting tourists.


“In my opinion, the 2 am closing time is not appropriate because many tourists who visit Patong like to stay out drinking and partying all night long…This is the special appeal of Soi Bangla as far as tourists are concerned,” he said.


A review of crime statistics for the area proves that this has not resulted in an excess of fighting or other violent crime, he maintained.


The PEBA has already begun distributing an English-language questionnaire to visiting tourists to see how they feel about enforcement of the 2 am closing time. The results will be presented to both Chief Khantee and Gov Niran, he said.


“We would like to report the exact situation in Patong to the government and have them recognize our special situation by allowing us to stay open later than nightlife venues in other provinces,” he said.


A closing time of 3 am, extended to 4 am or 5 am during the high season, would be appropriate, he said.


K. Sompetch, Managing Director of Dclub Disco on Soi Crocodile, said PEBA cooperated with a request by former Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura three or four years ago seeking to limit the number of nightlife venues in Patong and restrict them from areas nearby schools, temples and residential areas.


Phuket Gazette

Just another piss-take on farangs. I notice that the cops are not forcing the on-time closing of bars in Nakhon Nowhere.

I think they will here quite soon.

i agree ,

Probably. When your primary goal as a government official is to take piss out of farangs, Pattaya is a too target-rich area to pass up.

Do bars have a closing time in the US or are they all allowed to stay open 24 hours????

Depends on the state; in some states it is legal to stay open 24 hours. And, the last time I looked, Thailand was not the US.

Also, if you have a look around, you will notice that the mandatory closing days and times are pretty much ignored in areas outside the tourist zones. There the bars close when the customers go home, whatever time that happens to be. This is true even in the areas east of 3rd Rd. in Pattaya.

I have it on good authority that letters etc are on the way sometime soon.

Strangely enough Bruce this is Thailand and they have the right to make what laws they wish, and at the end of the day no one is forcing you to live here, so basically you have 4 choices,
1) leave,
2) stay and accept the laws,
3) stay and continue to moan and bitch endlessly about the laws,
4) stay and obtain Thai citizenship, run for for office and make the laws as you see fit and knowing how much this option will appeal to you, this link will explain how to go about obtaining Thai citizenship, good luck.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=121353

However i predict you will choose option 3.

2am closing..........
on phuket.it is a small place.its easy to police.now pattaya is huge,how would they police it if the law was put in place?

Pattaya aint huge. New York City is huge.

It will be easy enough to enforce as all they will do is flood one area at a time and have spot checks and the grasses shopping bars in elsewhere.

Pattaya is bigger than Phuket?????

IMHO, everyone should be snuggled up in bed with an overnight rental by 2am. Don't get me wrong, I'm a night shift worker, so late nights are just my days, it's just I prefer to start early, finish early, and get my rocks off early, especially seeing as all my rentals find me so disgusting that they leave by 1000.

But, at the end of the day, in a place such as Thailand, which attracts people on holiday out for a good time, all closing the bars early will achieve will be like the old days in England-last orders at 2200 for a 2230 finish, that'll be 5 pints each please landlord. Binge drinking, a sudden rush of grog to the head=people acting like twats, a bit like Thai legislators.

Just MHO

DS

you tell me.you seem to know everything.

I wish i did but unfortunately i don't, area wise Phuket is a lot bigger than Pattaya the 2 aren't even comparable, however i have no idea of the number of bars on Phuket and how spread out they are all over the Island, thus how easy or hard it would be to police.

i suppose i should have put patong in my origanl post.as it is the main resort on phuket. thats the area i meant whe i was talking about policing the bars.

Yup, no problem, they can make as many laws to punish farangs as they want and I won't care and will probably stay here, even if just to frustrate and spite them. I am not moaning, simply pointing out when laws are specifically enacted to take piss out of farangs while having no effect on Thais. As a Thai citizen yourself you have the right to take umbrage though. I guess when you post news articles casting Thailand in a bad light it is because you have forgotten to take your meds and the "bad" buriramboy takes over for a while. We'll try to understand this, let's call it, "dichotomy" in what you would like to see posted.

I've replied to this in the gambling thread. Amazing how you still to twist everything though, a great polotician you would make, hence the link i provided for you on how to obtain Thai citizenship so you can run for office.

Why should I bother with all that pesky reading when I can just ask you?

Will Marine 2 still be able to open at 4am?.... Hope so, as it's already closed at 2am...