elef Posted October 5, 2008 Report Share Posted October 5, 2008 The Pattaya Ghost 04-10-2008 Link Holiday Alcohol Ban, New Bar Crackdowns Loom in Pattaya Pattayaâ??s bar owners may be in for even rougher times at the hands of city officials hinting at a renewed bar crackdown and Thailandâ??s new health minister, who wants to ban alcohol sales during all public and religious holidays and festivals. Pattayaâ??s leaders went into panic mode late this week after several Belgian media outlets published a report claiming that a third of the nearly 1 million citizens in the greater Pattaya area are involved in â??selling sex.â? At an emergency meeting called Friday by new Pattaya Mayor Itthipol Khunpluem, said the sensationalist stories would damage tourism to Pattaya â??unless counteractive measures were not taken immediately, â??To this end,â? the Pattaya Daily News reported, â??Pattaya City will immediately set up a public relations team to monitor negative publicity about Pattaya in the international news and will also create a new website to promote a positive image of Pattaya, providing a funding budget for this project.â? More ominous, however, are comments from other officials that hinted that Pattayaâ??s bars may very soon see new rules or stricter enforcement of existing rules. Mr. Wattana Juntanawaranon, Pattaya Deputy Mayor, said Pattaya, itself, has to clean up its image by encouraging all bars and entertainment venues to have stricter rules for the girls, and discourage them from dressing provocatively, or actively soliciting custom. Mr. Ittipol also said the city also needs the co-operation of the Pattaya and Banglamung Police to accompany the officials to check up on the bars. If there were any bars or venues that were not co-operating in this initiative, their licenses would be revoked as this was a serious matter. Banning sexy outfits and touting for customers, if enforced, would have a big impact on places like Soi 6 but could extend even to the â??helloâ? girls (and boys) on Walking Street, as well as the cityâ??s hundreds of beer bars. New Bans on Holiday Alcohol Sales If that werenâ??t worrisome enough, thereâ??s potentially worse news on the horizon: a ban on alcohol sales during holidays. Public Health Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung this week announced a proposal to halt any alcohol sales on public and religious holidays, including New Yearâ??s, Songkran and Loy Krathong. This comes after a year during which multiple elections forced bars to close or not sell alcohol, costing the industry hundreds of millions of baht. The plan, quickly endorsed by Thailandâ??s Alcohol Watch Network and its allies, could be implemented before New Yearâ??s Day, depending upon the results of a public opinion survey the ministry will commission, The Nation newspaper reported. He said a survey conducted some time ago revealed 67 per cent of people agreed with the idea to ban alcohol sales on religious holidays, Songkran and the New Year period. Chalerm plans to commission the Suan Dusit Rajabhat University to conduct the survey this time. Asked about pressure from liquor companies, Chalerm said he had no worry about this. â??I think they will agree to cooperate,â? the public health minister said. Chalerm, of course is the same man who, during a stint as Interior minister in the Thaksin Shinawatra cabinet, launched the devastating â??morality campaignâ? that saw nationwide crackdowns on bar closing times - as early as midnight - that generated worldwide bad press for Thailand tourism. Back in office again, many in the nightlife industry thought they were â??safeâ? from Chalermâ??s crusading ways. They may be very wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elef Posted October 5, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2008 300,000 sex workers in Pattaya. The normal estimate is that 80,000 - 100,000 BGs and FLs work in Pattaya, but the number farang/arab/russian who are living there is 200,000-300,000 and many of those have ex-BGs and ex-FLs as GFs and those are included - maybe... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Encore Posted October 5, 2008 Report Share Posted October 5, 2008 >He said a survey conducted some time ago revealed 67 per cent of people agreed with the idea to ban alcohol sales on religious holidays, Songkran and the New Year period.< Highly dubious. I cannot believe that 2/3 of Thai would vote for alcohol ban during Songkran. I think more then 2/3 are usually drunk during Songkran. Still, that wouldn't worry me, I usually avoid going out those days anyway. But those plans about enforcing certain dress code does concern me HANDS OFF SOI 6!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mekong Posted October 5, 2008 Report Share Posted October 5, 2008 The survey ws carried out in Bangkok, it just so happened to be at Wat Arun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elef Posted October 5, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2008 Hm, IMO a person answering may very well agree to ban alcohol sales on those days even if they want to drink themselves at home. :evil: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger_Baby Posted October 5, 2008 Report Share Posted October 5, 2008 Interesting. Is the Pattaya Ghost a reliable news source? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mekong Posted October 5, 2008 Report Share Posted October 5, 2008 It was first reported in more reliable sources Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lusty Posted October 27, 2008 Report Share Posted October 27, 2008 Why has Thai officialdom got a thing about shooting the golden goose? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamui Posted October 27, 2008 Report Share Posted October 27, 2008 Why has Thai officialdom got a thing about shooting the golden goose? They will learn it the hard way when numbers of visiting families and 'qualitiy tourists' are going down due to the recession... Or maybe not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALHOLK Posted October 27, 2008 Report Share Posted October 27, 2008 Do these bloody retards think that sextourists and sexpats are the only ones to celebrate new years eve with alcohol. :onfire: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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