Shark: Will it? Won’t it?

PATONG: Reports that the Shark Club will reopen soon continue to surface – but so far none of the reports appears to have teeth. Earlier rumors that the club would reopen did, however, spark a visit to the venue in the early hours of Friday by the Chief of Kathu District, Suthin Uthaithamrong. K. Suthin told the Gazette that he went to the Shark after midnight, accompanied by officials from the Governor’s Office. Inside, instead of revelers, all they found were some electricians fixing lighting while listening to music playing softly. An employee of the club, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the Shark will reopen after work has been completed. He declined to confirm the latest rumor – from a former member of staff – that the reopening will take place next Friday, but said that the Shark, when it does reopen, will be a disco, as before. “We will follow Thai law,” he added. “I cannot tell you that it will reopen on [Friday] because everything is secret right now.” He complained about K. Suthin’s wee-hours visit. “He checked at night, without a search warrant. The doors were not locked – but they were closed,” he said. Vice-Governor Manit Wattanasen told the Gazette that reports that the Shark would reopen were nonsense. “Governor [Pomgpayome Vasaputi] is the only one who can issue them with a license. Even if they do everything correctly, the Governor may still turn them down if he is worried that they will [offend Thai morals] again,” V/Gov Manit said. He said that local authorities are still pressing for Shark boss Kevin Radke to be blacklisted, and are currently awaiting word on this from Bangkok. He added, “I really hate newspapers that keep publishing that the Shark will reopen when in fact it is not going to. Why don’t they wait until it does reopen, and then write about it as news? Anything else is just rumor.” Mr Radke could not be reached for comment.