bars

  • Thailand NewsBars and nightclubs can reopen on January 16… but as restaurants

    Bars and nightclubs can reopen on January 16… but as restaurants

    After being closed for nine months, bars, karaoke venues, and nightclubs will be able to open temporarily as “restaurants” starting on January 16. And most won’t be allowed to serve booze (legally). As a New Year’s gift, the Thai government gave restaurants and approved venues across the country a free pass to serve booze the night of December 31 until 1am…

  • Covid-19 NewsUpdates for food and beverage venues in Pattaya

    Updates for food and beverage venues in Pattaya

    (“Food and beverage venues” is a euphemism for ‘bars-pretending-to-be-restaurants’) Pattaya businesses are being thrown another curved ball with the Chon Buri governor releasing new orders last night to clarify, and in some cases increase, restrictions and conditions for food and beverage venues. The updated guidelines relate specifically to bars that are trying to re-open under a loophole that lets them…

  • Bangkok NewsBangkok revises closure order, bars and nightclubs to stay closed until January 15

    Bangkok revises closure order, bars and nightclubs to stay closed until January 15

    Bangkok officials revised its provincial closure order and extended the date the order is in effect to January 15, requiring bars and entertainment venues to remain shut for at least the next two weeks, which is in line with government’s nationwide closure order. Approved New Year countdown events still can continue under the “Covid-19 Free Setting” measures, which require proof…

  • Covid-19 NewsBusiness and government leaders meet to reopen Pattaya bars

    Business and government leaders meet to reopen Pattaya bars

    A high-level meeting is the latest in the non-stop attempts by businesses in Pattaya to reopen bars and entertainment venues, with business leaders and government officials meeting at Pattaya City Hall yesterday to discuss the issue. The conference was run by the president of the Pattaya Business and Tourism Association, the Bang Lamung District Chief, the mayor of Pattaya, and…

  • Covid-19 NewsLockdown not on the cards, but re-opening nightlife may be postponed: PM

    Lockdown not on the cards, but re-opening nightlife may be postponed: PM

    The Thai PM has ruled out introducing another national lockdown as a result of the Omicron Covid-19 variant. However, he says the re-opening of bars and other nightlife venues may have to be delayed. According to a Bangkok Post report, Prayut Chan-o-cha says existing screening measures for international arrivals are sufficient, without having to shut down the country. “Harsh measures…

  • Bangkok NewsBooze sales are likely to be extended until midnight during Christmas and New Year’s

    Booze sales are likely to be extended until midnight during Christmas and New Year’s

    The hours on alcohol sales at restaurants might be extended on Christmas and New Year’s. Thai authorities are now considering pushing the hours for sales of beer and liquor from 9pm to 11pm or midnight. The proposal will be reviewed today during a meeting with government agencies and tourism associations, according to the Minister of Tourism and Sports, Phiphat Rachakitprakarn,…

  • Covid-19 NewsThailand’s nightlife venues and bars told to keep closed until January 16

    Thailand’s nightlife venues and bars told to keep closed until January 16

    Thailand’s nightlife cat and mouse game between authorities and desperate bar and nightlife businesses will continue until the middle of January 2022. Following deliberations from the CCSA yesterday, entertainment venues will have to keep their doors closed until at least January 16. To put an exclamation mark after the latest announcement, the Thai government has also extended the emergency decree…

  • Thailand NewsCCSA sticks with plan to reopen bars on January 16

    CCSA sticks with plan to reopen bars on January 16

    This article was revised on Monday, November 29. Despite hopes from millions of tourists around the world and millions of bar, club, and nightlife staff and owners throughout Thailand, the CCSA is sticking with plans to allow the bars to reopen on January 16. The CCSA had a meeting yesterday that revisited and revised several rules for entering Thailand and…

  • Covid-19 NewsNext CCSA meeting will discuss opening nightlife businesses sooner

    Next CCSA meeting will discuss opening nightlife businesses sooner

    Facing enormous pressure from entertainment and nightlife workers and businesses, the National Security Council Secretary-General hinted that lifting the ban on nightlife will be up for discussion at the next CCSA meeting. He said PM Prayut Chan-o-cha understands and sympathises with those in the industry but also worries about the Covid-19 situation as infections are still high and the country…

  • Tourism NewsWill Thailand’s nightlife survive another 2 months of closure?

    Will Thailand’s nightlife survive another 2 months of closure?

    OPINION On Friday morning we were talking up the speculation that Thailand’s bars would be permitted to reopen on December 1. It had been a strong rumour, verified with countless politicians and police. Surely, with all the open flouting of the current alcohol ban, the government had just given up and were ready to reopen the bars, officially. The daily…

  • Thailand NewsReopening of bars and nightclubs pushed to mid-January 2022

    Reopening of bars and nightclubs pushed to mid-January 2022

    It’s going to be at least two months until you’ll be able to legally drink a beer at a bar in Thailand… The long-awaited reopening of bars and nightlife venues has been pushed to January 15, 2022. The CCSA held a general meeting chaired by PM Prayut Chan-o-cha today and decided to push back the reopening date for entertainment venues.…

  • Covid-19 NewsThailand Covid zones update: Alcohol, curfews, dining, schools, getting together

    Thailand Covid zones update: Alcohol, curfews, dining, schools, getting together

    The CCSA has revised the colour-coded zones for Thailand ahead of today’s reopening. It reduces the dark red zone to just 7 remaining provinces, reinstates the yellow zone for provinces under observation but not restricted, and adding a tourist blue zone that appears less connected to actual Covid-19 stats than it is to economic potential to benefit the tourism sector.…

  • Bangkok NewsKhao San Road expects very slow recovery, even after reopening

    Khao San Road expects very slow recovery, even after reopening

    Though it’s technically a long, flat stretch, the recovery for Bangkok’s backpacker tourist hub of Khao San Road will be a steep uphill battle. While the government plans the November 1 reopening, entertainment venues, clubs and bars that are a mainstay on the previously vibrant, cacophony of a strip are unlikely to reopen then, and businesses along the infamous road…

  • Phuket NewsThailand’s bars and beach parties remain strictly closed (cough)

    Thailand’s bars and beach parties remain strictly closed (cough)

    Will some of Thailand’s most popular hotspots ever come back to life? It appears that the bars and beach parties will never restart as these photos reveal darkened streets and deserted beaches. Last week’s Full Moon Party was curtailed after initially getting the go-ahead from Koh Pha Ngan police. It eventually went ahead but in a vastly reduced ‘covid-era’ form…

  • Tourism NewsTourism Minister proposes reopening entertainment venues November 1

    Tourism Minister proposes reopening entertainment venues November 1

    PM Prayut Chan-o-cha may be opening up Thailand to international travellers, but Minister of Tourism and Sports Pipat Ratchakitprakan is aiming to open up entertainment venues to those international travellers. The Tourism Minister plans on officially proposing that entertainment venues, bars, nightclubs, karaoke lounges, pubs and other nightlife venues be reopening in the Blue Zones, the new term for the…

  • Pattaya NewsPattaya restaurant busted selling alcohol, 15 arrested

    Pattaya restaurant busted selling alcohol, 15 arrested

    15 people were arrested at a restaurant in Bang Lamung, accused of drinking illegally in violation of Covid-19 restrictions in Pattaya. Last night, Pattaya City Police raided an unnamed restaurant in Jomtien that was suspected of selling alcohol. Officers arrived at the restaurant early in the evening to discover 9 foreigners and 5 Thai nationals plus the person running the…

  • Thailand video newsThailand News Today | Bars defy bans, Sandbox ‘still on’, vaccine rush | July 28

    Thailand News Today | Bars defy bans, Sandbox ‘still on’, vaccine rush | July 28

    An optimistic Thai PM claims the country’s worst Covid-19 outbreak since the start of the pandemic should be over in 2 or 3 weeks, maybe 4. Another 12 people were arrested last night at an underground room as part of the latest Pattaya bar raid. The “Phuket Sandbox” is still on, but the uptick in coronavirus infections now poses a…

  • Hua Hin NewsHua Hin joins growing list of bar workers demanding aid

    Hua Hin joins growing list of bar workers demanding aid

    The girls in Hua Hin bars are revolting! They’re revolting in the streets against the government’s handling of Covid-19. Like their counterparts in Bangkok and Pattaya, bar owners and employees along with local musicians staged a demonstration to protest against the continued closures of nightlife and entertainment venues in Hua Hin. The fed-up nightlife workers carried signs calling on the…

  • Bangkok NewsEntertainment and nightlife reps submit petition for aid, reopening

    Entertainment and nightlife reps submit petition for aid, reopening

    At 10 o’clock this morning a rally of owners, staff, musicians and entertainment sector workers gathered at the House of Representatives to submit a petition for support after long-term Covid-19 closures or permission to reopen August 1. Dozens of representatives from the entertainment industry took part in the demonstration after 3 continuous months of shuttered businesses due to the pandemic…

  • EntertainmentNightlife, restaurants suggest opening in defiance of restrictions

    Nightlife, restaurants suggest opening in defiance of restrictions

    After a year and a half of closures and lockdowns and restrictions and regulations that often start and even end with the nightlife and entertainment industry, some bar and restaurant owners are sick of it and growing defiant. Citing the lack of government assistance and the sporadic and last-minute closure decisions that through livelihoods into chaos, some owners are urging…

  • Pattaya News121 arrested in raid of “restaurant” clubs violating Covid-19 rules

    121 arrested in raid of “restaurant” clubs violating Covid-19 rules

    A raid around Pattaya at the earliest hours of this morning brought over a hundred arrests for violating Covid-19 measures, drinking, gathering, and smoking shisha. The raid of 2 venues that attempted to skirt the national bar and club closure laws by operating as an alleged restaurant took place between midnight and 2 am. The so-called restaurants had been operating…

  • Pattaya NewsChon Buri governor says Pattaya bars will stay closed for now, Covid cases remain high

    Chon Buri governor says Pattaya bars will stay closed for now, Covid cases remain high

    With ongoing calls from Pattaya bar and nightclub owners to reopen, the Chon Buri governor recently addressed the business owners saying restrictions and disease control measures will stay the same for now as the province still has a number of Covid-19 cases, mostly clustered at markets, factories, construction sites, and migrant worker dormitories. Governor Phakharathorn Tieanchai says many businesses in…

  • Covid-19 NewsPattaya bars plead for government help

    Pattaya bars plead for government help

    Beer sellers of Pattaya are pleading with the government to let them open for foreign tourists. Also, to relax closure measures that apply to the entertainment businesses. Barring that, they ask for significant financial aid. The proprietors of beer-related businesses say they are suffering greatly due to the economic crisis. As per their statements to the associated press this week.…

  • Thailand video newsGood Morning Thailand | What’s happening in Pattaya, Phuket sandbox, reopening for tourism

    Good Morning Thailand | What’s happening in Pattaya, Phuket sandbox, reopening for tourism

    Today we take a look at what’s happening in Pattaya with Trev from Buzzin Pattaya, a ‘local’ of 10 years. Business, repairs and bar girls. We also have Sumi talking about a meeting in Phuket over the weekend about the progress of the Sandbox.

  • Covid-19 NewsFace masks required in 31 provinces, fine is 20,000 baht for not wearing

    Face masks required in 31 provinces, fine is 20,000 baht for not wearing

    Face masks are now being required in 31 Thai provinces with a fine of 20,000 baht going to those who don’t wear them. Chiang Rai is one of the new provinces to be included in the list, but so far, Chiang Mai is being left out. As daily Covid-19 infections have reached an all-time high, it is only a matter…

  • Thailand NewsEntertainment venues the source of 6,020 Covid-19 infections

    Entertainment venues the source of 6,020 Covid-19 infections

    As the Covid-19 third wave reaches in Thailand’s provinces, the main culprit in the spread of the infectious new strain is entertainment venues such as bars, clubs and pubs. With around 1,000 – 1,500 new daily infections over the past week, 71 provinces throughout the country have traced Covid-19 infections back to clusters in bars and nightclubs. The CCSA announced…

  • Pattaya NewsUPDATE: Field hospitals being established in Covid hot zones around Thailand

    UPDATE: Field hospitals being established in Covid hot zones around Thailand

    UPDATE: The field hospital in Bangkok’s Bang Bon district, west of the Chao Phraya river, had its first 10 Covid patients today. The director of the medical services office of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration says that the 10 patients into the makeshift hospital, located at the Chalerm Phra Kiat Stadium, will enable assessment of the performance by the medical team,…

  • Covid-19 NewsPattaya police warn restaurants not to act like bars

    Pattaya police warn restaurants not to act like bars

    Following the closure of entertainment venues in 41 provinces for 2 weeks, Pattaya police warn that bars acting as restaurants and restaurants acting as bars would be punished. In Pattaya, police patrolled heavily to check in on venues and remind them of the penalties and fines for breaking shut-down rules. The current outbreak of Covid-19 throughout Thailand has been disproportionately…

  • Thailand NewsUPDATE: Thai PM orders closure of bars and clubs in 41 provinces

    UPDATE: Thai PM orders closure of bars and clubs in 41 provinces

    UPDATE: The order to close bars and nightlife venues in 41 provinces will go into effect at midnight, the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration announced this afternoon. Under emergency measures, the local governments in the other 36 provinces have the power to set restrictions and close venues if needed to control the Covid-19 situation. Original story… The order to close…

  • Covid-19 NewsAll new Covid-19 infections in Chiang Mai are linked to nightlife venues

    All new Covid-19 infections in Chiang Mai are linked to nightlife venues

    All of the new Covid-19 infections reported by health officials in Chiang Mai yesterday are linked to local nightlife venues. Over the past few days, 47 cases linked to bars and nightclubs have been confirmed, including the 36 new cases reported yesterday by the provincial communicable disease control panel. With the rise of infections linked to entertainment venues, Chiang Mai…