Entertainment zones to be fixed this month

PHUKET: Details of entertainment zones across the country should be finalized by the end of this month, Deputy Prime Minister Pongpol Adireksan said yesterday. He added that some zones may be allowed to open as late as 4 am. In an interview broadcast on Phuket’s 95FM radio station last night, K. Pongpol also stressed that it is government policy to strengthen enforcement of closing hours, which he described as “ineffective”. Talking with Nikki La-Ongsuwan, the host of the QFM Show, who is also President of the Patong Tourism Industry Association, he said, “All establishments in tourism areas [outside entertainment zones] will have to close by 2 am. [Elsewhere] they must be shut by midnight.” He said that, inside entertainment zones, the closing time might be 2 am, 3 am or even 4 am. The decision on the actual timing for any particular zone would be made by the Minister of Interior, Purachai Piemsomboon. “We will relax the curfew time. By law it is now 2 am in certain areas. We will extend that if warranted.” Extensions would depend, he added, on whether the problems of weapons and narcotics were under control in the areas under consideration. “We would like to see Phuket declared a weapon-free area and, if possible, a drug-free area. If we can control those problems we don’t mind allowing people to have a good time. “That’s the intention of our government, to let people have a good time, but within limits – they can have a good time as long as they don’t encroach on other people’s right to privacy, or cause public disturbances.”