Whitney Posted January 11, 2004 Report Share Posted January 11, 2004 From information I have read on other sites, in todays Bangkok Post, not on-line edition, the Interior Ministry is seeking approval for 6pm-12am business hours for entertainment establishments on 13 Jan., to take effect around 22 January. Thankfully I have not bought my airline tickets just yet. I'll wait till all this business about opening and closing hours settles out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarHammer Posted January 11, 2004 Report Share Posted January 11, 2004 "Thankfully I have not bought my airline tickets just yet. I'll wait till all this business about opening and closing hours settles out" Unfortuantly, I did. Was slated to go in early February. The good news is that I can cancel the tickets and only lose $100.00 or use the money I spent as a credit to go somewhere else. I am sure even with these new closing times Thailand would still be fun, but when I am on vacation I don't want to travel halfway around the world for a destination with more restrictions on fun than I have in my own home town. I have never been to the Phillippines or Brazil so I am now leaning towards trying one of those places for my next vacation. I wonder what are considered entertainment places that will have to close at midnight? It is just difficult for me to believe that every restaurant, bar, pool hall, club and hotel lounge would actually have to shut their doors at midnight. The very concept is just so alien to me since I've never lived anyplace with closing times earlier than 2AM. And this opening time at 6PM. What does that mean exactly and what sort of places would this restriction cover? Would all the little bars on Soi 22 and all the beer bars in Pattaya have to be closed until 6PM? It just sounds insane. Are people not allowed to stop in a bar during the day for a beer? I suppose a national bedtime is probably next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitney Posted January 11, 2004 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2004 Go to Regional Sanuk section for info-titled Manila/Angeles thread. The go-gos and bars stay open till 4 or 5am in Angeles. Even if the nightlife hours are cut substantially in Thailand, you can still take sidetrips to Manila and Phnom Penh, which are interesting places to see also. Don Muang Airport has many flight options to Southeast Asian countries, not costing a hell of a lot. There are quite a few travel agencies around Sukhumvit/Nana Hotel area and up towards Grace Hotel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarHammer Posted January 11, 2004 Report Share Posted January 11, 2004 "Even if the nightlife hours are cut substantially in Thailand, you can still take sidetrips to Manila and Phnom Penh." I think I am going to wait another couple weeks or so to see if these draconian restrictions are going to come into effect during my planned trip. I don't want to be in LOS when the police start trying to enforce these new closing times as I am sure the atmosphere will be much poorer than normal. If they go ahead with this, I am sure people will adjust after awhile and some sense of normalcy will eventually return, but in the meantime I suspect it might be wiser to look for greener pastures. I don't think I would go the sidetrip route. If I cancel the LOS trip I will probably just go to either a few places in the Phillippines or Rio and Sao Paulo in Brazil. There are lots of places I would like to travel to, so the bright side of this is that if Thailand becomes too restrictive it will force me to go to some of the other places I've never made the time to see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keith doug Posted January 11, 2004 Report Share Posted January 11, 2004 I think Bangkok will be finnished as a night place for fun now.. 1 thing is certain there will be more and more girls on the streets now... Thats 100% sure. Tourists like to see places and in the evening go out and have a late drink .. That will finnish . It seems pretty obvious the government are not interested in the tourists and many many bars will now close! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redbaron Posted January 11, 2004 Report Share Posted January 11, 2004 That's if it's all true.. It may not go through. I can't imagine many THAI drinkers being too happy about waiting until 6pm for a drink. Especially on their day off. Wait and see before jumping to any conclusions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCgringo Posted January 11, 2004 Report Share Posted January 11, 2004 a great business move will be to buy the minimart next to Nanaplaza and the 7-11 on the corner, there will be alot of business after midnight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redbaron Posted January 11, 2004 Report Share Posted January 11, 2004 Just like there is every King's birthday ... and others when the bars have to shut. I assume. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarHammer Posted January 11, 2004 Report Share Posted January 11, 2004 "I think Bangkok will be finnished as a night place for fun now" Maybe not finished, but definately no longer hospitable for nightlife. With midnight closing times there is certainly no chance that Thailand will be considered a "hip" or "trendy" place to go for vibrant nightlife. The silly thing about all this is, these kinds of early closing times will not deter the very sex tourists the government would like to keep out. The girls will still be there and available. All these regulations will accomplish is to make cities like Bangkok less exciting and vibrant. "1 thing is certain there will be more and more girls on the streets now... Thats 100% sure." I think that is almost a certainty. The trade will just move to the street. "Tourists like to see places and in the evening go out and have a late drink .. That will finnish ." That depends on the tourists. Some won't even notice this sort of thing, others will be irritated to find they can't go to a club or bar past midnight. I don't think this sort of thing will kill tourism in Thailand at all (though I suspect the net effect will be negative), but it will force an awful lot of people who are aware of these new regulations to consider alternatives if they like to go out at night for drinks, dancing and fun. I rather suspect if these regulations go into effect, they will repealed in the not so distant future. I just don't want to be there when the sh*t hits the fan and the nighttime atmosphere gets bad. Lots of other fun places to go in the meantime. We will just have to wait and see since at this time we don't even know if any of this is going to happen yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCgringo Posted January 11, 2004 Report Share Posted January 11, 2004 Since they seem to want to attact other Asian tourists does anyone know how late bars are open in Japan, Taiwan, Korea etc Will they be pissing off the very people they are targeting as their new tourist base ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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