Debate simmers over proposed 4am bar closings

[wcoast]

Personally I pity the staff. Go-go bar blaring music is intolerable for even an hour or two, and the poor staff must listen to it for 8hours, day in and day out. Also the staff must clean and close up after 4am, and that could take an extra hour or 2. And the girls who must drink and encourage customers to buy them drinks are doing damage to their bodies.

[Jimdandy]

23 hours ago, webfact said:

the government has been advised to first study the possible negative ramifications carefully

You mean to say not one agency has done an Environmental Impact study or anything remotely close to that to determine how adding two additional hours of mirth with drugs and alcohol will affect things like staffing at hospitals? etc, etc, but then again this is Thailand...

[Pdavies99]

8 hours ago, jaiyen said:

Most of the people who are still in a bar at 2 are already drunk and the few that stay till 4 will create problems.  Can't see this idea lasting long. Does any other country have such a thing, where bars are open till 4 ?  Doubt it as they have drunk driving laws that are taken notice of, not like in Thailand.

Quite agree, If I am inclined to drink then I will be easily "full" by 2am, this is just blatantly taking advantage of tourists who don't know when to stop!  Sorry but i think its shameful of Thailand.....probably why it will go ahead...Thailand does not care, certainly not about tourists!

[bbbbooboo]

Hmmm.... an empty bar at 4am is still an empty bar. Maybe they can increase prices to cover costs (in the empty bar)

[SS1]

Never understood the point of forced closure times for bars and nightclubs. Ok, I get it for places that are open air and cause noise.. but what about indoor nightclubs or those underground? The venues should be able to stay open as long as they want / have customers. That's how it was where I grew up and never had any trouble. 

In contrast in my home country, where all bars must close at 4am, it causes a mess! Everyone out at the same time queuing, fighting and causing havoc. 

[emptypockets]

12 hours ago, Geoffggi said:

At least someone is thinking correctly, noise pollution is a big problem here in Thailand and is a problem for visitors that are unfortunate enough to reside close to either bar complexes or where there are occasional open air concerts which are generally way too loud. As correctly noted above, it will also bring an increase with crime and of particular concern is narcotics, which do lead to other crimes like robbery to finance peoples habits also conflicts between various nationalities are to be expected as Pattaya is a melting pot of races and not everyone see things the same way...!!! Therefore I must cast my vote with the 02:00hrs closing is late enough.

It may have escaped your notice.....nobody is asking you, let alone asking for you to vote.

[emptypockets]

12 hours ago, TKDfella said:

 

One point I didn't see in the news this morning is that 4 a.m. is quite close to the time to those who rise early to open morning markets etc. I wonder if there might be some impact here too perhaps a chance of accidents? I don't live near any bars or pubs and I don't frequent these places either (TT) so I have no idea what happens there. What I did read in the BKP was that the minister said it would help the economy so I thought 'there it is again, all about money, not about people'.

Seven years ago I left a club in Walking Street and walked down the road, plenty of shops opening then. Stopped at a street bar for a beer before heading back to the condo on a motorbike taxi.  This was at 7am. It was happening back then without ill effect, why should it be any different now?

My personal view is to go to back to the effectively 24 trading for the bars and bars.

People have enough and go home at their own pace. No pressure from their friends to stay a little bit longer until the club shuts. Don't underestimate the power of peer pressure.

All a fixed closing time does is ensure a great number of very possibly drunk people spilling out onto the street at the same time. A recipe for trouble.

[emptypockets]

12 hours ago, asiamaster said:

Bring back the midnight curfew! ????

Bring back prohibition!!

That worked so well in the USA. Stopped all the antisocial behaviour and violence associated with alcohol didn't it?

[emptypockets]

10 hours ago, GalaxyMan said:

Bars only have to close for 1 hour a day in Palm Beach County, Florida in the USSA. They usually do it between 5-6am.

Similarly they used to do here years ago. Had to close at say 2am but could open at 2:01 am

[apophyss]

If you start you night at 8PM, you have enough time for a long party,

but if you wait 11PM before go out, of course not...

 

 

[RoadWarrior371]

19 minutes ago, apophyss said:

If you start you night at 8PM, you have enough time for a long party,

but if you wait 11PM before go out, of course not...

 

 

Cannot has good boom boom at 8PM.  Good lady not wake up yet. 

[Pablosbmb]

This might sound stupid but not as stupid as the idiots who are keeping the baht unjustly high.

 

LOWER THE BAHT! 

[TKDfella]

11 hours ago, emptypockets said:

Seven years ago I left a club in Walking Street and walked down the road, plenty of shops opening then. Stopped at a street bar for a beer before heading back to the condo on a motorbike taxi.  This was at 7am. It was happening back then without ill effect, why should it be any different now?

My personal view is to go to back to the effectively 24 trading for the bars and bars.

People have enough and go home at their own pace. No pressure from their friends to stay a little bit longer until the club shuts. Don't underestimate the power of peer pressure.

All a fixed closing time does is ensure a great number of very possibly drunk people spilling out onto the street at the same time. A recipe for trouble.

Okay, are you saying hat ordinary shops are in the same category as bars & pubs? Do people stand around in the shops drinking alcohol or maybe even intoxicated? I assume the shops sell essentials along with those selling clothing and gifts. Bars are for entertainment are they not? Of course, you may see bars and the like as essential to happiness and well being and therfore cannot live without it. Your choice but it isn't mine.

[thaibeachlovers]

On ‎8‎/‎21‎/‎2019 at 8:03 PM, webfact said:

However, former Tourism Council of Thailand president Ittirit Kinglake urged Phiphat to study the idea thoroughly to ensure there will be no negative social, cultural or environmental impacts.

What a load of BS. They used to open all night back in the good old days before puritanical Purachai ( may he <deleted > in <deleted > for eternity ) tried to destroy the farang bar scene.

The country didn't fall apart and everyone was happier than they are now, except the wowsers.

[thaibeachlovers]

19 hours ago, wcoast said:

Personally I pity the staff. Go-go bar blaring music is intolerable for even an hour or two, and the poor staff must listen to it for 8hours, day in and day out. Also the staff must clean and close up after 4am, and that could take an extra hour or 2. And the girls who must drink and encourage customers to buy them drinks are doing damage to their bodies.

It didn't seem to bother them when it was all night opening ( some closed earlier than dawn ) for many bars/ gogos. Mind you, they used to play proper music in those days- not the garbage the DJs play now.

[thaibeachlovers]

2 hours ago, TKDfella said:

Okay, are you saying hat ordinary shops are in the same category as bars & pubs? Do people stand around in the shops drinking alcohol or maybe even intoxicated? I assume the shops sell essentials along with those selling clothing and gifts. Bars are for entertainment are they not? Of course, you may see bars and the like as essential to happiness and well being and therfore cannot live without it. Your choice but it isn't mine.

Hmmmm. I wasn't aware that anyone was forced to go into a bar.

[thaibeachlovers]

14 hours ago, emptypockets said:

Seven years ago I left a club in Walking Street and walked down the road, plenty of shops opening then. Stopped at a street bar for a beer before heading back to the condo on a motorbike taxi.  This was at 7am. It was happening back then without ill effect, why should it be any different now?

My personal view is to go to back to the effectively 24 trading for the bars and bars.

People have enough and go home at their own pace. No pressure from their friends to stay a little bit longer until the club shuts. Don't underestimate the power of peer pressure.

All a fixed closing time does is ensure a great number of very possibly drunk people spilling out onto the street at the same time. A recipe for trouble.

Good old Pattaya! Gogos till Marine disco opened. That closed about dawn so on to another disco that was behind the Lucky Star bar beer complex. Eventually went home sometime in the morning because I was tired, but the disco still going. That was in the days before LOS lost it's mind, back when Thais still smiled and Pattaya was sanuk.

[elgenon]

Anyone who wants to be in a bar at 4 am please raise your hand. I thought so.

[HLover]

Just now, elgenon said:

Anyone who wants to be in a bar at 4 am please raise your hand. I thought so.

On second thought please don't ask them to raise their hands as deodorant at that time of the evening is a rarity. 

Pheeeww!

[DLock]

On 8/22/2019 at 8:50 AM, BobBKK said:

Chiang Mai is 12pm closing?  why the discrepancy?  

 

The prostitutes are tool old and can't stay awake any later.

[Shalom]

On 8/22/2019 at 1:36 AM, jaiyen said:

Most of the people who are still in a bar at 2 are already drunk and the few that stay till 4 will create problems.  Can't see this idea lasting long. Does any other country have such a thing, where bars are open till 4 ?  Doubt it as they have drunk driving laws that are taken notice of, not like in Thailand.

Yes in Europe.

[Beggar]

I think many people would not care much about extended opening times if there would be no noise. They wouldn't even realize the longer opening times. But the reality is that many bars are open air and produce a lot of noise. And so I think many people will get disturbed because nobody seems to care about the noise pollution or even think about this problem. People who don't want to party every night until 4 am seem not to be very welcome here. And I idiot even bought a condo here. I have loud bar noise in my condo despite special windows now already and this every day going on for years. When I bought my condo this area was very quiet. And now the government wants to "improve" my situation by extending the opening hours...

[Reigntax]

On 8/22/2019 at 10:59 AM, malibukid said:

alcohol and cheap sex does not make quality tourist.  time to clean Dodge up.  

Yes, you need a casino as well!

[Lashay]

On 8/22/2019 at 8:50 AM, BobBKK said:

Chiang Mai is 12pm closing?  why the discrepancy?  

Because that's the actual real law, despite what this minister seems to think (Thai government officials not knowing their own laws, shocking)

 

The real laws:

 

Midnight closing for bars and clubs, except those in designated entertainment zones (Bangla Road, walking street pattaya, RCA BKK, Patpong and Ratchadaphisek Road..some debate over Cowboy and Nana).

 

Places properly licenced in those zones can legally stay open until 1am (though last few years BKK cops have been saying 2am, but there was no actual law change, someone pulled a fast one there, cops in Patong on other hand say 3am for bangla bars...unless a "big boss" in from BKK.).

 

Only other exceptions are Live music venues (1am) and dance halls that don't serve alcohol (2am)..note no exceptions for clubs?

 

Most bar owners have talked to are really not that interested in staying open to 4am, most would be happy with 2-3am, but they are interested in law changing for 2 reasons, tea money pay offs and preventing what happens when a "honest" (more case of him feeling not getting enough of the tea money) cop/gov official is put in charge. Early closures for days/weeks/months.

 

Happened in BKK few years ago, sunk many clubs permanently and for a while word was out internationally that bkk was no longer place to go if you wanted to party. Think still happening in CM.

 

Hell Bangla still closes early multiple times a year when a "big boss" from BKK is in town, if the boss man is a cop its becomes 2am, if government 1am.

 

Clubs of course want 4am, hell they want 24 hours and they are the ones really pushing for this. 1-2am close for some of the bigger ones  can be 6 figures lost in just basic costs, before factoring in the lost profits.

 

As to peoples concerns about noise and such, do people not realise he is only talking about changing entertainment zones opening hours? If you are living near an entertainment zone...well you knew what was up before you moved there.

[Beggar]

25 minutes ago, Lashay said:

As to peoples concerns about noise and such, do people not realise he is only talking about changing entertainment zones opening hours? If you are living near an entertainment zone...well you knew what was up before you moved there.

Firstly this in respect of Pattaya this is not correct. It was introduced when a new police chief came I think about 3 years ago. 4 for Beach Road and Walking Street and 2 for the other areas. It might be that the law was not changed. But this was the official rule here in Pattaya. 

 

In respect of moving to an entertainment area and complaining afterwards - new bars are built at least here in Pattaya everywhere. The bars move to you. And they can open wherever they want and obviously make noise as much as they want. Only 1 bar is enough to annoy hundreds of people staying in the neighborhood. And this noise problem needs to be solved. Imagine you buy a condo for millions and cannot use it. Imagine you are a hotel owner and cannot use many rooms because they are too noisy for customers. This is a lot of money that is lost just because some open air bars can and do what they want. 

 

In respect of tea money. If the bar owner wants to bend the law and pays tea money the right approach would be to find these bars (mostly easy to spot) and take care of this problem... If he obeys the laws he will not have to pay anything. 

[WeekendRaider]

I don't understand Thai.  but I'm a farlang.  and of course I drink everyday.  beer, wine and whisky.  but almost never after 5 PM, yes 5 PM as in the afternoon.  I want to avoid sleep apnea and stomach reflux and other stuff.  i.e. inflammations while you sleep and don't properly digest what I consider normal fare, including especially beer and wine.  and by the way..... "alcohol" in English means the stuff in small blue bottles.  not beer, etc.  

 

4 AM? 

 

isn't that when motorcycle ladies load up?  but "tourists" that "need" to drink.  at 4AM???   that is crazy!   

[Fex Bluse]

On 8/21/2019 at 5:29 PM, Oziex1 said:

Is this really a cure for low tourist number, I think not.

It is an abandonment of the old push for quality tourists, not that I believe late night partying is the choice of undesirables.

Agree. And Thailand was never going to transform into a destination for 'quality tourists' as they like to call them. 

 

Thailand is not a 'quality destination'. There is almost nothing high quality about the country or the tourist experience. 

 

People from richer countries come to Thailand to experience low quality, cheap, semi controlled chaos. People from almost any western country or decent Asian country know what real, actual quality is. They know they won't find it in Thailand. 

 

The Thais need to acknowledge what their country is and what it is not. But can they?..

[Sealbash]

Incidently I am not sure that 7/11 shoud even be licensed to sell alcohol anytime

Why not let market forces decide (water find its own level)?


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[Ron jeremy]

22 hours ago, Beggar said:

I think many people would not care much about extended opening times if there would be no noise. They wouldn't even realize the longer opening times. But the reality is that many bars are open air and produce a lot of noise. And so I think many people will get disturbed because nobody seems to care about the noise pollution or even think about this problem. People who don't want to party every night until 4 am seem not to be very welcome here. And I idiot even bought a condo here. I have loud bar noise in my condo despite special windows now already and this every day going on for years. When I bought my condo this area was very quiet. And now the government wants to "improve" my situation by extending the opening hours...

I feel for you buddy! The joys of buying in Thailand.

[BobBKK]

On 8/25/2019 at 6:27 AM, Lashay said:

Because that's the actual real law, despite what this minister seems to think (Thai government officials not knowing their own laws, shocking)

 

The real laws:

 

Midnight closing for bars and clubs, except those in designated entertainment zones (Bangla Road, walking street pattaya, RCA BKK, Patpong and Ratchadaphisek Road..some debate over Cowboy and Nana).

 

Places properly licenced in those zones can legally stay open until 1am (though last few years BKK cops have been saying 2am, but there was no actual law change, someone pulled a fast one there, cops in Patong on other hand say 3am for bangla bars...unless a "big boss" in from BKK.).

 

Only other exceptions are Live music venues (1am) and dance halls that don't serve alcohol (2am)..note no exceptions for clubs?

 

Most bar owners have talked to are really not that interested in staying open to 4am, most would be happy with 2-3am, but they are interested in law changing for 2 reasons, tea money pay offs and preventing what happens when a "honest" (more case of him feeling not getting enough of the tea money) cop/gov official is put in charge. Early closures for days/weeks/months.

 

Happened in BKK few years ago, sunk many clubs permanently and for a while word was out internationally that bkk was no longer place to go if you wanted to party. Think still happening in CM.

 

Hell Bangla still closes early multiple times a year when a "big boss" from BKK is in town, if the boss man is a cop its becomes 2am, if government 1am.

 

Clubs of course want 4am, hell they want 24 hours and they are the ones really pushing for this. 1-2am close for some of the bigger ones  can be 6 figures lost in just basic costs, before factoring in the lost profits.

 

As to peoples concerns about noise and such, do people not realise he is only talking about changing entertainment zones opening hours? If you are living near an entertainment zone...well you knew what was up before you moved there.

Right but it's very hypocritical to say it's 'ok' for walking street and nana but not for loi khro. I agree 2am seems a good compromise.