Pattaya venue may be closed after repeated drug raids
An entertainment venue that has been raided and shut down several times, may now be permanently closed after the latest raid. Pattaya Police did not name the nightclub but reported that the venue was found to be operating illegally and after hours, with drugs found inside, during a routine patrol of the entertainment district of Bang Lamung.
Pattaya Police were accompanied by a special operations unit of the Provincial Police Region 2 on patrol of entertainment venues in Pattaya City to prevent crime. Venues should be closed at 2am, and the patrol reported that most of them were, but a few of them were seen to be breaking the law and remaining open at around 2.30am.
One venue in Soi Kophai had been closed down several times and been caught with drugs inside previously. It was open without permission and had about 30 customers inside still partying. Police intervened and the drinking customers dissipated, leaving bar staff to clean up left bottles and glasses and close down. Officers searched the cleared-out venue and found the bar filled with little plastic baggies with a white powder inside.
Police suspect the powder to be drugs. They were sent to police labs to determine their contents, according to the Bangkok Post.
The search turned up packets of the powder scattered on the floor of the closed venue, but also in the parking lot. The patrol unit also discovered a black Honda Civic in the parking lot with more of the unidentified white powder – a lump of which was stashed in a plastic bag in the car. The owners of the car were unable to be identified and it was impounded by the police for further investigation.
Several staff members of the club were taken into custody at the scene and are being charged with operating without permission. They will also face charges for being open after the legal closing time, and for allowing drugs to be used in the venue.
Police will escalate the bust and involve the provincial governor, requesting that he order the venue to be closed. The recommendation comes after the venue repeatedly defied orders after being raided and closed. Customers had also tested positive for drugs inside the venue during those previous raids.
