Closure This weekend ? ? ?

[stogie bear]

Glad I am over 100 posts now and immune from such tosh!

Yeah. We stood the lads down after you passed 100! Them stones will wait for now...

[jonstroud]

No one is allowed to sell booze on Friday, Saturday or Sunday this week. Most places also observed a ban on Thursday. Friday is for religious reasons and Saturday and Sunday are due to the senate elections. It gets worse. The following weekend is also dry because the elections are taking place over two weekends.

[Grinder]

(stogie bear @ Feb. 22 2008,03:18)

Glad I am over 100 posts now and immune from such tosh!

Yeah. We stood the lads down after you passed 100! Them stones will wait for now...  

[kahuna]

Just strolled by NEP and I could be wrong but it sure looked like business as usual to me...

[Snick]

NEP said they would be open this weekend, Guess is still Guessing

[mardhi]

Guess is not guessing - its open as per my post above.

Cheers
Mardhi

[BAM]

Thailand is really such a funny land.... no one really know what the fuck is going on half the time.... laws are made to be broken and for more bribes to be paid.

[TTChang]

(BAM @ Feb. 22 2008,20:28) Thailand is really such a funny land.... no one really know what the fuck is going on half the time

Well said, Bam!  Perhaps that is why TTChang feels so much at home here  

[Snick]

Guess Open and serving, same with KC3 and Patpong
Nana Open, BUT not serving booze.

Its a funny land

[SamplerDoc]

For All these Bars being CLOSED sure as hell were lots of Drunks Last Night  

[rossco]

Land Of Smiles - Land Of Standards - doubled

Another great weekend in Pattaya - all bars closed (including those oasis owned by the police).

I wonder if the Thai people actually recognize that most of their GDP is from Tourism - probably too damned stupid to know that as most are uneducated beyond 12/14 years.

So we have another weekend of closures - not finished yet - we have the same next weekend. None of these "days" are diarised - they just do it! Be it Election, Buddha etc etc - is it beyond their mental capacity to plan/forecast such human engineered events - apparently so!

Close bars - consequence:

Staff need money - food/drink etc - where shall they go? On the street - exactly where the authorities do not want them. Good thinking.
Bars closed - foreigners pissed off - good for future tourism
Alternative facilities - none. As we all know there is so much alternate entertainment outside bars/clubs in Pattaya - Starbucks, MacDonalds etc

Roll on China, Vietnam, Cambodia etc - they will want the foreign tourist dollar - apparently, talking to Thais, it is us the foreigners who have the problem and not them - TIT.

Work that one out.

If they continue down this path they will lose tourism to other countries who recognize the need for foreign spending.

Ah yes the bars are closed so that Thai people's brains are not addled with an election slip to complete. How many bars in Pattaya are patronised by Thais? NONE!

Since Dec 2007 the Government has managed to "close" bars for about 10 days out of 90 - good economic planning in High Season. It really encourages investors to open Bars/Restaurants and places of entertainment - I think I may be planning holidays outside this hitherto LOS.

It is not only bars that are closed it is impossible to buy any alcohol in 711's Supermarkets etc etc. I am sure that some minister has worked out the consequence of this absolute insanity - albeit too late for tourism.

Tourist numbers are down - guess what they will fall lower due to competition from outside. Will Thailand recover - I doubt it as their myopic view is crippling their tourism and their GDP.

[Snick]

Yea - they really are short sighted

They keep massaging the tourism numbers to show that they increase every year. I don't buy it.
Certainly not the amount of money spent (and IF it is growing year to year, I would guess its all due to currency appreciation - not more spending by tourists in 'local' terms)

Its scary to think that Singapore and Malaysia are becoming better tourist destinations than Thailand. But they both have a Plan, and Thailand has an Anti-Plan.

They also talk about how they want to go 'upscale' with tourists. But all I see is chinese, korean and Russian packaged tours.

[BAM]

I heard some tourists talking down on Walking last night... they didn't have a clue what was going on... the guys comments were "I guess everything here closes at Midnight"

Anyway we ended up at the Massage joint up soi Diamond. We drank all we wanted in there!

Some of the beer bars were open but totally dark... you'd see the drinks still being served in there. I guess if you turn out the lights it's OK... no one will see Hahahah.

[rossco]

Bars closed on 1st (midnight 29th Feb) until 2nd March midnight

ALSO closed the same on 7th and 8th March.

I was recently at a Gala conference where it was also leaked that ALL bars may have to close on Buddha days - average 1 day a month. Hotels/resorts and restaurants excluded.

Tourism authority is targeting the market of Resort Hotels, Dining, Spas, Health and aiming at guests spending 20K Baht per day.

Target audience is Chinese, Korean, Russian who prefer these resort "all in one" holidays. Europeans US and Oz are now minority tourists.

Street bars etc are under pressure - Thai way - not confrontational just subtle slow death by cashflow/bankruptcy.

Interesting that Walking St/Alcazar/Tiffany were stated as attractions!

Many speakers including Governor of Chonburi (Pattaya is in Chonburi province), TMB (Thai Military Bank), Colonel of Immigration etc etc

Excellent presentations during a great dinner and three performances - including a troop from Tiiffany's.

[Ivor Biggun]

MiB been down to Phuket this week so they have been enforcing closure times. Saying that they just turned off the music in crocodile and peeps were still at it at 4 am. Bangla will be down from 6pm tomorrow until about 10pm Sunday so stock up at 7/11