Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Midnight curfew rule postponed for further review

Collapse
X
Collapse
First Prev Next Last
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Midnight curfew rule postponed for further review

    Midnight curfew rule postponed for further review

    BANGKOK: (The Nation) -- Thai night entertainment establishments operators have won a reprieve from a government plan to impose a midnight curfew, according to government official.

    Last month the Cabinet approved a regulation that will close all venues outside specified entertainment zones, including bars, clubs, restaurants and massage parlors, at midnight instead of 2 a.m. in its campaign to curb youth crime and restore traditional values.

    Today, the government appeared to backtrack on its plan, saying it was still open to review.

    The Cabinet will reconsider this matter during its meeting on tomorrow, government spokeswoman Sansanee Nakphong said.

    Thailand may back off plan to curb nightlife

    BANGKOK (Reuters) - The Thai government looks ready to back off its plan to curtail the country's lively nightlife and notorious sex industry, officials say.

    On the day the nightclubs, bars, discos and massage parlours were due to have their opening hours shortened, the officials said the cabinet would be given a new proposal on Tuesday which would allow existing institutions to open and close without change.

    "The new regulations will not have retroactive impact or hurt existing bars," Vichien Chavalit, an Interior Ministry official who helped draft the rules, told Reuters.

    They would be applied only to new ones, officials said.

    "We forwarded the draft to the cabinet a while ago. If the cabinet discusses and approves it tomorrow, it will become effective by March 15," Vichien said.

    Under the plan due to go into effect on Monday , massage parlours -- previously allowed to operate 12 hours a day and close by midnight -- would have been restricted to opening just eight hours a day and close at midnight.

    Discos, nightclubs, go-go bars and massage parlours in specially designated zones would have been allowed to operate for seven hours a day.

    Some would have been allowed to stay open until 1 a.m. and the rest would close by 2 a.m. -- the current limit.

    Those outside the zones would have been able to open only three to six hours a day and should shut their doors at midnight.

    The new draft was to be discussed by the cabinet on Tuesday and the plan was for the rules to become effective by mid-March, officials said.

    The original cabinet decision had enraged club owners who said hundreds of thousands of jobs would be threatened and had lobbied the government publicly and privately to reverse it.

    Bar owners, who had complained the regulations threatened to drive them into bankruptcy, now told Reuters they were satisfied with the government compromises.

    "We've talked to senior people in the government and they have assured us that existing bars will operate as usual," said Somyot Suthangkool, owner of a popular Bangkok nightclub and chairman of an industry body with 50,000 members.

    "Only the new bars will have to follow the new rules," said Somyot, who complained last month millions of waiters and singers would lose their jobs if the regulations took effect.

    But some operators said the distinction between existing and new bars was likely to offer opportunities to corrupt officials.

    "How could police officers keep track of all bars in their districts," asked Chuwit Kamolvisit, who owns six upscale massage parlours in Bangkok and has alleged publicly he paid $300,000 (160,000 pounds) a month in bribes to senior policemen.

    "The new massage parlour owners will have to bribe officers to have operating hours the same as their rivals," he said.

    --Reuters 2003-03-01
    Up The Ass Of Every Successful Business Man Lies a Ladboys Thick Long Cock!

  • #2
    So... same same, then! No changes!

    Yawn!

    Comment


    • #3
      Midnight closing reprieve for venues

      Published on Mar 3, 2004


      Night entertainment venues licensed before January 13, 2004, would not be subject to new midnight closing rules, under draft regulations approved yesterday by the Cabinet.

      The new provisions also stipulate that no new night spots would be allowed to open outside designated entertainment zones in Bangkok and other cities after the rules take effect.

      The draft rules on entertainment venues€™ opening and closing times require all establishments licensed before January 13 to close at 1 am. Exceptions include night clubs and bars, subject to 2 am closings, and lounges, restaurants, tea houses and massage parlours, which would have to close at midnight.

      Any new entertainment locales licensed after January 13, but before the new statutes take effect in April, and that are located outside designated zones would be subject to the midnightclosing time.

      The regulations don€™t stray much from current laws requiring pubs, discotheques, cafes, restaurants with live bands, and cabarets to close at 1 am. In spite of the law on the books, most of them generally stretch out their closing times until 2 am.

      In January, the Cabinet assigned Deputy Prime Minister Purachai Piumsomboon to conduct a study on closing times. His solution was to apply a zonesensitive midnight closing, a controversial proposal abandoned yesterday.

      During the Cabinet meeting yesterday, Purachai argued that the government should stick to the zoning approach he originally proposed.

      But Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said the government preferred to focus on night spots with illegal activities on their premises. Any clubs found breaking the law outside the zones would be forced to close at midnight.

      The new regulations would take effect April 1 and all entertainment venues would be required to request new licenses from the Ministry by March 13, Pracha said.

      After April 1, the Ministry would not allow new night spots to open outside designated entertainment zones, according to Pracha.

      The regulations designate entertainment zones in every province except Chiang Mai, Uttaradit, Samut Prakan, and Lamphun.

      Bangkok has only three established entertainment districts €“ Patpong, New Petchburi and Ratchadaphisek. Some business owners on Khao San Road and Sukhumvit Road recently demanded that their areas be designated as entertainment zones too.

      Additional ministerial regulations on entertainment zones were likely to be submitted for the Cabinet€™s approval this month, said Vichien Chavalit, of the Department of Provincial Administration€™s investigative and legal affairs bureau.

      Chanya Saipornchai, owner of Krungthon Entertainment Complex in Bangkok, said nightentertainment businesses owners and employees would gather in front of the government house at 5am today to thank the government for allowing night spots to stay open past midnight.

      But she added that even though entertainment spots would close at 1am, the government should allow customers to stay and drink until 2am.

      Piyanart Srivalo

      The Nation

      Comment


      • #4
        So that's cleared that up, then!

        Fucking country is run by idiots!

        Comment



        Working...
        X