1 in 10 test positive for ya bah in raid

PHUKET TOWN: Police who raided the Hi-Tech Pub on Phang Nga Rd, found no underage patrons. But, of the 144 urine samples collected during the one-hour exercise, 14 tested positive for ya bah (methamphetamine). The raid, at around midnight on Friday night, was led by Phuket Town Police Station Superintendent Pol Col Paween Pongsirin. Accompanying the police were Weerawat Janpen, Chief of the Muang District Office, and Dr Jessada Chaikunrat from Phuket Provincial Health Office. In total, samples from 87 women and 57 men were tested. Of these, 11 samples from men and three from women turned purple, indicating the presence of ya bah. These samples will be subjected to further analysis before any charges are brought. Hi-Tech is close to Dance Fever, which underwent a similar exercise less than 24 hours earlier, after patrons booed visiting Interior Minister Purachai Piemsomboon. In that case, too, about one in 10 of the patrons provided urine specimens that subsequently tested positive for ya bah. No action was taken against Hi-Tech. (Dance Fever was closed for 30 days after it was found to have no fire escape or fire extinguishers.) Meanwhile, in Patong, Suthin Uthaithamrong, Chief of the Kathu Dictrict Office, delivered 30-day closure orders to Galaxy Pub in Soi Sunset and Tiger Pub in Soi Bangla after they too were found by K. Purachai to have contravened the law. K. Suthin and his team also checked a number of other nighttime venues in Patong, including the famed Rock Hard A-Go-Go.