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Phuket Polls Force Venues Shutdown
By Chutima Sidasathian Thursday, June 23, 2011
PHUKET: Election laws will require all entertainment venues on Phuket and throughout Thailand to close on June 25-26 and July 2-3, costing businesses on Phuket millions of baht.
In making sure that Thailand's national election aftermath does not produce scenes of the kind depicted in movies 'The Hangover' and 'The Hangover II,' the compulsory closure is likely to leave tourists scratching their heads and wondering whether tales of Phuket nightlife were exaggerated.
Successive weekends are likely to produce limited returns. Individual operators will be forced to decide whether staff are paid to not work, or take a no-pay ''holiday.''
There will be no exceptions. The Superintendent of Kathu Police Station, Colonel Arayapan Pukbuakao, called a meeting of entertainment venue owners and managers yesterday and told them the alcohol ban would be strictly enforced.
Phuket venues will be able to reopen after midnight on June 26 (ie, June 27) and July 3 (ie, July 4).
All retail sales of alcohol cease at 6pm on June 25 and again at 6pm on July 2.
The President of the Entertainment Association in Patong, Weerawit Kuresombut, said the election ban will cost Patong venues as estimated 30 or 40 million baht in revenue alone each evening.
Other parts of Phuket are also likely to strictly uphold the alcohol sales ban and prosecute those who break it.
The twin election dates occur because absentee votes may be cast at Phuket's Provincial Hall and around the country on June 26 before regular voters turn out for the election ballot on July 3.
An annual once-a-year bank holiday also takes place on Friday, July 1 - making it easier for those who wish to buy a drink on July 2 or July 3 to leave their money in an account. Time may soon be up for Phuket's time share industry but a meeting of administrators has ruled that more research still needs to be undertaken before changes can be made.
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Comments
Comments have been disabled for this article.
Millions of baht lost in revenue? From where? Go take a look at Patong, Kata, Karon, Chalong, Rawai, Nai Harn... it's like a ghost town.
Posted by
Graham
on
June 23, 2011 10:44
GREAT! so the ONLY weekend we are in Phuket for our ONLY annual vacation that we worked hard all year to take, basically patong will be shut?! Here's several tourists that are NOT happy!
Posted by
lea
on
June 23, 2011 11:37
The farangs are not allowed to vote anyway, so why should they be penalised by the ban and closures? Unless somebody is trying to make the country look good in international eyes, they have killed their golden goose. Welcome to a tourist free island.
Posted by
Graham
on
June 23, 2011 11:39
Based on Bangkok Post and other forums, I was led to believe alcohol sale were to be allowed up to 6 PM on day before election day and could begin again at midnite on election day. Does anyone know where I can find definitive interpretation?
Posted by
Bill Gates
on
June 23, 2011 12:46
Editor Comment:
That's right. Sales stop at 6pm on June 25 and resume 00:01 June 27. likewise 6pm July 2 and 00:01 July 4.
Is there a legal reason why these two elections could not be held on the same weekend? It seems like extra work for officials, if it is the same officials working the polls.
Posted by
Anonymous
on
June 23, 2011 15:38
How dare those nasty people hold elections in order to try and address the democratic process Lea. If you can't manage two nights without alcohol - som num nah!!
Posted by
Mister Ree
on
June 23, 2011 19:03
Oh, Please Shut Up you Little whiners. they are voting on the Future of a Country and you want to have a beer,
Boo Hoo. Buy some before 6pm and take a night off, you drunks. No wonder there are so many accidents on Phuket.
Posted by
Anonymous
on
June 23, 2011 22:45
Dear Editor just to clarify this ,does this mean that alcohol cannot be sold in restaurants on the nights of 25th June after 6pm until after Midnight on the 26th June and then the same deal from 6pm the 2nd July to 3rd July ?
Posted by
Anonymous
on
June 24, 2011 07:50
Editor Comment:
No alcohol for sale from 6pm on the next two Saturdays until 00.01 on the next two Mondays. That's it.
Is it against the "Laws of Thailand" for the Bars to be open on the 25th and 26th of June, or is it only against the law in Kathu????? Why didn't this come out weeks ago so that businesses have a clear understanding about what is going on. I am sure some Bars had parties planned, events scheduled, etc. Phuket really needs to get it's "ACT" together when it comes to the "LAW" and Bar closure/alcohol sales. This impacts 1000's of tourists in the Land of Smiles.
Posted by
ME
on
June 24, 2011 08:36
Dear Ed, is the Anonymous' comment ( June 23, 15:38 ) more intelligent (as you like saying) than mine to merit to
publish it, and not the one I wrote?
Posted by
Mario
on
June 24, 2011 13:15
Editor Comment:
Here's your rejected comment and the anonymous comment, Mario. The difference is that the anonymous comment shows no indication of bigotry. Your comment blames all Thais for the actions of a few. We don't publish comments on the basis of ''intelligence.'' This has nothing to do with intelligence. But we do reject comments that are obviously based on prejudice.
The anonymous comment: Is there a legal reason why these two elections could not be held on the same weekend? It seems like extra work for officials, if it is the same officials working the polls.
Mario comment: The questionable attitude of Thais, once again it was true to itself!
In any other country, the elections day is held in two rounds, second ballot apart. Why Thais have to complicate anythings in their social life?
The questionable attitude of Thais is not a bigotry.
You still continue to justify Thais behaviour, maybe for your convenience
don't upset the authorities by your job, but once again, the Thai reality is not that one one that you want your readers know, but the one which is under our eyes every day. It's very different, like my comment from Anonymous!
Posted by
Mario
on
June 24, 2011 17:32
Editor Comment:
Mario, there's a big difference between tarnishing a whole nation and blaming a few people who are responsible. There is no ''Thais behavior.'' There are more than 60 million Thais, and they are all different. So when you talk about ''Thais behavior'', everything you say means nothing because you exaggerate. Nobody can believe a word if you constantly talk about ''Thai behavior'' and ''Thai reality'.'' Bigots always exaggerate.
Sorry! But you're living in another
Thailand! Whait and see after July 3rd
what's bigotry and what is not!
Bye
Posted by
Mario
on
June 24, 2011 19:11
Yes there is a legal reason why the election is held over two weekends and why alcohol sales are banned. It is not done to be contrariness or complicating things, it's totally logical and many countries do the same. I would think that the fact that Thailand does so in spite of the impact on tourists would show the level of importance that is placed on the election process. Instead it curiously seems to be thought of as a conspiracy against foreigners. The reality is that it is done in an attempt to insure controlled, safe and just elections with as many participating in the process as possible. You see many people work away from their home and it is not easy for them to get to the polls. Those seem like admirable and logical goals that show at least some concern for democracy. Every country has laws and rules on the books that I guess visitors find inexplicable but I am really scratching my head on how anyone could possibly extrapolate bad behavior or anything negative from this rather small inconvenience.
It is refreshingly alarming to see how people string ... err thoughts together and where they end up. Although I don't quite get what is questionable about the "attitude of the Thai's" or how it "was true to itself" or even what is culturally binding about the rules of election law, that all seems whimsical at best. It also seems to be missing the logic of the process, that they have had an election in discussion for over a year and a half, that the law states no alcohol, etc. and they just want to hold as free and fair elections as possible. Intriguing to hear that the Thai people have their own reality, as with the earlier phrases I think these are what Robert J. Lifton would call "thought terminating cliches". There is a big difference between offering logical, constructive thoughts and demeaning rants. In reading some of these comments though it occurs to me that while I suspect that there isn't really a unified Thai reality some of the posters have created and are living in their own.
Like it or not you have chosen to be a guest in a foreign country. It is like staying in someone's home, as a guest you can comment on things and offer suggestions but it really is bad form to criticise the way the household you are enjoying the benefits of is run and totally unacceptable to disparage your host's race or nationality. In other words if your host was black you wouldn't say "those uncontrollable black people are all the same with their bad attitude/bad behavior/bad whatever". It is not only rude, it is bigoted and I bet you would not say it. If you are saying it and believe it and are so down on those who are allowing you to stay as a guest, maybe you should consider staying somewhere else.
Posted by
Martin
on
June 24, 2011 21:36
Martin, you know, there is no difference between your dialectic shows into your comments, and the mirror for larks! There isn't any legal reason to hold the elections in two rounds. The only reason is to allow voters residing in other provinces, to express their votes, which will be sent in sealed boxes to the native places and will be opened on July 4th, all together.
About the selling alcohol ban, even if I don't drink, I think it's a sign of a weak and immature democracy (which doesn't make any honour to the capability of the people to manage their self-control !)
As per we are guests in this country, I'd like to remind you that expat pay (fees and taxes) to live and work here
(and other justiable reasons, not last to the aim to help, in any sector): guests usually don't pay to stay in someone's home.
I don't know about you, but I'm used to cope the problems and to say what I think should be right or not (learnt from the developed countries experience). Leaving and changing places at the first difficulty, is not a part of my attitude!
Posted by
Mario
on
June 25, 2011 09:18
Hopefully the new government will ban alcohol sales in Phuket every weekend. That will make the island a safer, more family-friendly location and genuine tourists who actually have some class and money, rather than the sexpat wastrels and obese beer-swilling bogans, will start coming here instead.
Posted by
Maximillian von Thurgau
on
June 25, 2011 11:27
Mario, when are you going to stop posting? Nobody wants to read your illiterate intolerant hatred on this site. Example: "Martin, you know, there is no difference between your dialectic shows into your comments, and the mirror for larks!" What language is that, because it certainly isn't English? Go and get some education and that might change your intolerant attitude, too.
Posted by
Maximillian von Thurgau
on
June 25, 2011 11:35
Well the larks and I are confused but I think your metaphor is misapplied. Using the mirror to reflect you own words: You rant about "uncontrolled Thai's" and how the government needs to do something and then in the next breath rant that not allowing alcohol sales during the election means that the government doesn't honor the capabilities of their people. Which is it? You say there is no legal reason for the election on two weekends then describe why there needs to be an election on two weekends. Again, which is it? Also, I guess we are different types of guests and were taught differently about when we stay in someones home. When I am a guest I take my hosts to dinner and help with expenses. This doesn't buy me the right to call them names, disparage them and tell them how to run their home. Coping means accepting the realities of a situation and making the best of it, it does not mean finding fault with everything, bigotry and belittling every effort to fix it. I think I would not like you as a guest in my home no matter what you paid for. Do you read your own posts?
I am sure you are a thoughtful individual but what constructively are you offering besides sitting at your computer and screeching "uncontrolled Thai's" and other bigotry? What are you actually doing to make things better? How can you not comprehend that blaming all Thai's for the behavior of a few is wrong and finally how can you not see that the anger and bigotry that your posts reflect is not healthy or helpful. I was not suggesting you leave, apparently that was too subtle. What I was suggesting was if things here make you so miserable perhaps you should reflect on that and its impact on you. I too learned in the West that individuals have the right to speak out against injustice, I learned from my parents that people are individuals not races, not religions, not colors, not nations. I learned from experience that sometimes people, cultures and governments have to go through rough periods to work out their issues and they need to be given that opportunity (this means that yes, there probably will be problems following the election but no that does not mean you get to say I told you so, this is still a democracy in infancy). Lastly I learned from Falstaff that sometimes discretion is the better part of valor.
Posted by
Martin
on
June 25, 2011 11:36
M.von T., I'll never stop posting my comments. If you can't read them, certainly you're a lark!
Martin, thanks a lot for your speech.
Posted by
Mario
on
June 25, 2011 13:29
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Millions of baht lost in revenue? From where? Go take a look at Patong, Kata, Karon, Chalong, Rawai, Nai Harn... it's like a ghost town.
Posted by Graham on June 23, 2011 10:44