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Crackdown Over! Police lay down the law!

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From the Nation Newspaper.

"Every place selling alcoholic beverages, from beer bars and somtam stalls to khaotom joints and outdoor karaoke bars, must call for last-drink orders at midnight and completely close no later than 2am, Purachai said.

Operators of entertainment venues warned that the last call at midnight, two full hours before closing time, could ruin the industry and hurt employees."

Last call at Midnight ! I wonder how long the Thais will put up with this arcanian rule ?

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Dear LG,

Sorry for the late reply as Greg only show me the article this morning. Regarding my view on Khun Meechai, he happens to be my hero too simply because of his practicality. He's the first Thai guy whose attempt to make a change for the better at a national scale succeeded...that of course was his success in controling the birth rate of the Thais that begins in late 70s..I think. Acheiving what he had done with the population control is not easy. It's very difficult in fact as he was dealing with 60 million poor Thai farmers who had not heard of nor seen "condom" before. Though I am guessing with certain degree of certainty that he received funds from World Bank in projects such as the birth control campaign and the micro finace of home industries in villages, this is not to be undercredited. Many similar projects receiving similar funds but administered by the government had fail simply by the mismanagement of funds, lack of knowledge and experience or corruption so a person like Khun Meechai is truely an invaluable asset of Thailand.

My family and I has been hoping that he will get into politic but that not seems to be the case. Like many good Thai citizens, he has been troubled and discourage to get into politics and take up a challenge at a grander scale (I don't blame him one bit.)

 

For sure if he will run for the Prime Minister one day, my family (5 votes in total) will definitely vote for him. We would love to have him as our leader for sure so you're right on spot in that sense.

I will ask Greg to consider inviting him to be the guest speaker at the Thanksgiving Dinner this year in BKK...don't know if that will be possible but it would not hurt to try, no?

Regards,

Nui

[ August 27, 2001: Message edited by: Showtime ]

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Showtime, aka Nui. I sincerely appreciate and understand your support of Khun Meechai. I agree, most wholeheartedly, it is about time that somebody with integrity get involved in running this marvelous country.

However, I also believe that the focus of the current governemtn is myopic in nature and that the current approach is not addressing the serious problems of the country I love.

I also believe that Khun Meechai is a person of flawless character and who sincerely cares about the future of the Thai people and belives what he is preaching. However, I think the approach of the current government has been very ineffective at attacking the symptoms of the current problem and also ineffective at attacking the disease.

Frankly, I am 100% sure I wouldn't support converting the Thai Government into the oppressive form of Government existing in the West. The Thai people are marvelous and their sense personal freedom is their strength. However, I also feel that the present Government is eroding the freedom of the Thai people and that is not a good thing.

In the past the Thai people have always dictated the direction of their leadership. Sometimes the people have erred in their support. I think this is one of those times.

Having said that I also must say I vastley prefer the Thai culture to that of my homeland, America, and would gladley change my citizenship/alliance if this country would accomodate me.

I also want to report that the bars of Nana Plaza closed at about 1:45 AM tonight. "It's getting better. It's getting better every day."

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Well its good to hear that the bars are now closing closer to 2 a.m. than 1 a.m. Lets hope this trend continues.

Nepfan said: "Having said that I also must say I vastley prefer the Thai culture to that of my homeland, America, and would gladley change my citizenship/alliance if this country would accomodate me." I have lived for years in Asia (mostly Hong Kong, but a a few years in Thailand), and I personally would not go that far, but there is a certain irony here.

Although it is harder for Thais to visit the U.S. than it is for Americans to visit Thailand, when it comes to obtaining citizenship or even permanent residency, the situation is reversed - Thailand is much more restrictive than America. If an American marries a Thai, that Thai is practically assured of obtaining a green card and eventually U.S. citizenship. If an American (or any other farang) marries a Thai, it does not assure citizenship, permanent residency or a work permit, even if that farang has a Thai family to support in Thailand. And obtaining citizenship is practically impossible except for a select few.

Thailand is also much more restrictive on foreign investment than the U.S. There is nothing like the Alien Business law in the U.S. With a few narrow exceptions (e.g., defense related industries), a foreigner can own and operate 100% of any business in the U.S. In Thailand, most businesses are off limits to foreigners. Foreigners can own land in the U.S.; in Thailand it is virtually impossible for a foreigner to own land. And the list goes on. And my point is this – as attractive as we might find Thai culture, it is, at its heart, very exclusionary.

I am not keen myself on living back in the U.S these days, but it is clear to me that the openness of the U.S. economy is one of the primary reasons it is so prosperous and resilient. And the correlative is also true – the exclusionary and protectionist nature of the Thai economy is one of the primary reasons it is plagued with economic problems.

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There is a long article on the crackdown on the Bangkok Post's website, www.bangkokpost.com. I am not going to post the cite for the specific article, since the article is easily found from the Bangkok Post's home page. Look in the Perspective Section for an article entitled, "Killjoy clampdown sends nightlife reeling."

The articles reports that "Operators in Patpong, meanwhile, have complained that customers have been reduced by 60% since the government strictly enforced the 1 a.m. closing time." Although I did not take any polls or conduct surveys, it is certainly consistent with what I saw when I was over in Bangkok late last week.

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Roger - Thanks for posting a link to the article. I keep looking for something in the US but, so far, there has been nothing.

Thais being the way they are, (and the difference in logic they use) it will be interesting to see what happens a little down the road. If the objective was really to curtail drugs, anyone with half a brain knows this won't make a dent in the trade. Will the government change tactics when they see it doesn't work, or will they stay on this course like the stubborn folks they can be?

If, howver, their purpose is to drive the farang nightlife away, any excuse, including drugs, will do.

Lastly, every time a nation's economy truly goes into the dumpster, it starts looking for a bad guy to point to - Germany had the Jews to blame in the 30's, etc., etc. Thailand has us terrible farang. I'd love to get inside their minds for a while to see what's really going on, but it would probably frighten me. Anyway, cheers.

Chicago Dave

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