Bangkok, midnight, Friday: Tucked up in bed, pajamas on, a nice cup of Ovaltine in hand and a good book to read. Could this really be the end for FARANG’s fearless bartripping duo? Surely not. But this is apparently the way the current Thai government would like things to be from now on. Following a long, and many would say rather heavy- handed, clampdown on closing hours and enforcement of restrictions on nightspots (which has included such Friday-night frivolity as compulsory on-the-spot urine tests for all), it’s recently been declared that all nightspots outside of designated nightlife zones will have to close at midnight from March 1st.
Those establishments within the zones will be allowed to remain open until 2am. In Bangkok the only areas currently designated as nightlife zones are Patpong (one of Bangkok’s best known red-light districts), Rachadapisek (the centre for rich men’s super brothels) and around New Petchaburi Road, specifically Royal City Avenue (also an area with a less than squeaky clean image). Needless to say, this has caused an uproar amongst party goers, music lovers, entertainment venue operators and balanced individuals all over the country. Dan and Andy sober up for a few hours to ask some of Bangkok’s nightspot operators how they feel about the new rules.
‘S’ – PR manager at a company who asked not to be named but whose club is in a zoned area:
“The government’s reason for doing it – they say it’s going to stop crime, drugs and prostitution – is actually going to make those problems worse because the kids have nowhere to go now so they’re just going to private parties where they can take drugs and anything they like and there is virtually no control that the police can have. And it’s definitely going to affect tourism, even at 2am we’re forever getting tourists saying ‘What??? What’s this? I can’t believe it.’
“We do have a 2am license for the discos, however, we’re not expecting it to be plain sailing because maybe between the hours of midnight and two, since there are less things open at that time, maybe the police are going to start hassling the places that are open more.”
Billy from the Bull’s Head on Sukhumvit Road feels that the early closing time will have a negative impact on tourism:
“I think we’re all right because we’re a restaurant and we close at 1am anyway so it’s going to be business as usual. The problem is for us is that it will affect the whole tourism scene and will have ramifications for everyone.
“The thing that annoys me is that they want tourists to come over for like cultural and natural sort of stuff rather than nightly entertainment but what they don’t realise is the whole thing about Thailand is that they get repeat tourists [for example, in October 2003 54% of tourist arrivals were repeat visits, says the Tourism Authority of Thailand]. My mum and dad are a perfect example. They’re here now for I think it’s the seventh time. The first time they were here they went to the Grand Palace, the reclining Buddha, the Crocodile Farm, everything – they did it all on their first trip. But when they came back a second, third, fourth time they don’t want to see all that, they’ve seen it all already.
“I mean, my mum and dad are in their 50s but they still come here and go out for a drink at night and stay out to two or three in the morning. They’re on holiday, they’ve worked hard all year and they don’t want to be told to go to bed at midnight.”
Q-Bar, also in Sukhumvit, has been used as a testing ground for many attempts by the government to regulate nightlife. DJ Billy-V says:
“I think it’s quite ridiculous, really. It’s a very clumsy law and seems to come out in favour of pimps, perverts and prostitutes.
“Patpong, which the government denied the existence of for 30 years, what is there? Go-go bars and a counterfeit Western goods market. Rachadaphisek, what’s there? Enormous brothels! And RCA, well where did RCA make its name? It’s the kiddy-zone.
“I’m all for the government doing things for the youth but shutting things down isn’t doing things for the youth. How about some youth programmes? How about building some parks? How about taking an interest in the youth and giving them some real alternatives that they can do things with? The government seems to be ignoring all that and the easy option is to go and close nightclubs down.
“I’ve been in Bangkok for nine years. When I first came here everything was off the street. Now I live on Sukhumvit Road and it’s the world’s largest open-air brothel and it kicks off at about 10 o’clock in the morning and goes through until dawn.
“It’s at odds with all the things like making Bangkok a fashion hub – like fashion, music, entertainment and clubbing are all rolled into one aren’t they? So, they’re going to close it all down. And there was the Bangkok fashion city parade that was on Sunday [February 15th] – four out of five of the clubs that provided music for it are going to be shut at midnight.
“You’ve got places like Malaysia and Singapore which offer all-night clubbing, in controlled environments, off the street with taxes and everything paid properly and Thailand’s going the reverse.”
The law comes into effect as this issue of FARANG hits the streets, so you, dear reader, are probably in a more informed position than we are, and all of this is speculation. Two facts that were repeated by all the nightlife operators quoted above and others known to Dan & Andy is that, as FARANG goes to print, none of the police had yet been informed by the government how to enforce the new law and that no nightlife operators were consulted on the change. It is difficult to guess what will actually happen. On the one hand, it may be strictly enforced, as the current 2am law is, which may finally result in some more decent (albeit, illegal) after-hours places popping up. On the other hand, if the law is enforced, bars will go broke (according to the new law most clubs cannot open until 9pm, leaving only three hours to make money), which will mean a big drop in income for dirty cops. Whatever happens, it’s a step in the wrong direction. And for all you people who say, “Oh well, I don’t go out anyway,” just try to find a 7-11 selling booze after midnight next month.