Christmas Eve raid finds 40 underage pub patrons drinking

Many children eagerly await a visit from Old Saint Nick on Christmas Eve. They hang their stockings and set out cookies and milk for Santa Claus. But for one club in Sisaket province, and its underage patrons, without a chimney for Santa to come down, they instead got a late-night Christmas Eve visit from someone a bit less welcome. Police in Sisaket played the Grinch and busted over 40 underage patrons drinking illegally in an unlicensed pub.

The police raided the bar after discovering it operating long after the curfew when bars and venues serving alcohol are required to close. The nightlife entertainment venue is located in the Pho subdistrict of the Mueang district in the northeastern province. Sisaket police reported that the venue was still packed with people, many of them underage, partying and drinking even though it should have been closed.

After instructing bar staff to cut the music, officers rounded up partygoers and collected ID cards from all. They discovered that many of the people partying illegally were also underage – less than the legal age of 20 to be permitted in an establishment serving alcohol.

Police reported that staff at the bar had not checked IDs or taken any preventive measures to stop underage drinking in their venue. It was also reported that the venue itself was not properly licensed, according to TPN National.

The media did not confirm if the 40 underage patrons caught drinking and partying on Christmas Eve were arrested and charged with a crime or if they were released with a warning. There is also currently no information available on what penalties and punishments, if any, the pub itself will face for serving minors, being open after curfew, and possibly operating behind a license.