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There seems to be a new crackdown going on.
1am closings in Bangkok, 2am closing in Phuket, etc..
And I just saw this article about a raid at Q Bar.
'Social order' cops raid night club
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - As part of the government's efforts to bring moral rectitude to a city famed for vice, Bangkok police raided a night club popular among foreigners early Sunday to perform urine tests and check passports, authorities said.
More than 50 plainclothes and uniformed policemen, under orders of Interior Minister Pracha Maleenont, closed the American-owned Q Bar for the remainder of the night, stopped customers from leaving and administered urine tests on 373 people, said Sgt. Maj. Manote Panyatana.
Two people were found to have "purple urine," meaning that they had taken drugs, but police were performing further tests to see if they had taken illicit or prescription drugs, Manote said.
Of the 373 people tested, 104 didn't have passports with them, as required in Thailand, and were taken to a police station where they were fined and released, Manote said. He did not know the amount of the fine.
Anti-drugs and "social order" campaigns, begun by the government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, have in recent years put a dent in Bangkok's reputation as an anything-goes city.
Most clubs and bars now close at 2 am, and spot check raids are common at night clubs throughout Bangkok.
"We do random checks at a different bar every Friday. It's by the orders of the police commander and policy of the government to be strict about drugs," Manote said.
"We did the raid last night because the minister requested it... he ordered us to arrest, and he's commanding, so we had to make the arrests," he said.
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Snick
p.s. I always keep a copy of my passport w/ me. But this article doesn't make clear if a copy is good enough.
1am closings in Bangkok, 2am closing in Phuket, etc..
And I just saw this article about a raid at Q Bar.
'Social order' cops raid night club
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - As part of the government's efforts to bring moral rectitude to a city famed for vice, Bangkok police raided a night club popular among foreigners early Sunday to perform urine tests and check passports, authorities said.
More than 50 plainclothes and uniformed policemen, under orders of Interior Minister Pracha Maleenont, closed the American-owned Q Bar for the remainder of the night, stopped customers from leaving and administered urine tests on 373 people, said Sgt. Maj. Manote Panyatana.
Two people were found to have "purple urine," meaning that they had taken drugs, but police were performing further tests to see if they had taken illicit or prescription drugs, Manote said.
Of the 373 people tested, 104 didn't have passports with them, as required in Thailand, and were taken to a police station where they were fined and released, Manote said. He did not know the amount of the fine.
Anti-drugs and "social order" campaigns, begun by the government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, have in recent years put a dent in Bangkok's reputation as an anything-goes city.
Most clubs and bars now close at 2 am, and spot check raids are common at night clubs throughout Bangkok.
"We do random checks at a different bar every Friday. It's by the orders of the police commander and policy of the government to be strict about drugs," Manote said.
"We did the raid last night because the minister requested it... he ordered us to arrest, and he's commanding, so we had to make the arrests," he said.
--
Snick
p.s. I always keep a copy of my passport w/ me. But this article doesn't make clear if a copy is good enough.
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