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Soi Cowboy To Go Dry Under Section 44?


Pdoggg

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You start at Siam Paragon or CentralWorld’s Groove for dinner and wine with your tii rak, but they’re not serving. You head to a sports bar on Sukhumvit Road for some brew with your crew, but it’s gone dark. Desperate you race to Soi Cowboy to find the vodka locked up.

Impossible as it is to imagine this scenario being real, that's the reality of a new ban on alcohol sales signed into law Monday and expected to go into effect next month.

As written and enacted under the military government’s special “Section 44” powers, the ban is for all alcohol sales – shopping malls, pubs, restaurants and everything – within 300 meters of schools. The only exemptions are for registered hotels and government-designated entertainment zones such as Patpong, Royal City Avenue-upper Thonglor, and that stretch of big box clubs on Ratchadapisek Road.    There’s not much left to interpretation in the new law enacted under Section 44.

That would shut out the barflies hanging out on Soi Cowboy, which sits within 300 meters of part of the Srinakharinwirot University campus.  

Will any of this actually happen? Again, difficult to imagine. But that’s what the law says.

The new law was signed by Prime Minister Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha on Monday and is expected to be officially published on Tuesday, after which it would automatically go into effect 30 days later on Aug. 27.

http://bangkok.coconuts.co/2015/07/23/booze-ban-create-pockets-prohibition

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Rather than August 27th, it appears that the crackdown is beginning now.

 

There are reports that some pubs that cater to uni students were ordered to close at 9PM last night.

 

Since this decree is invoked under Section 44 there is no judicial review or legal recourse to delay enforcement.

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The first 2 bars were closed.

 

I would be surprised if Soi Cowboy bars get shut down

 

 

PATHUM THANI — Two bars in a northern suburb of Bangkok were the first establishments to be shut down under a new order issued by the military junta that bans selling alcohol within 300 meters of universities and schools throughout the country. 

 
Junta chairman and Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha issued the ban on 23 July by invoking Section 44 of the interim charter, which grants him authority to unilaterally enact legally-binding orders.
 
The ban prohibits the sale of alcohol "in the vicinity of educational establishments" and student dormitories.
 
Thai officials have clarified that "vicinity" refers to a 300 meter radius around any educational establishments, an all-encompassing term that includes schools, vocational colleges, and universities. The maximum penalty for bar owners who violate the prohibition is the revocation of their liquor license. 
 
Acting under the new order, police officers raided two bars close to Rangsit University in Pathum Thani province shortly after midnight on 25 July and shut both places down. 
 
"Both bars are situated close to an educational establishment and student dormitories, which is considered an offense under the NCPO's order about selling alcohol near educational establishments," said  Pol.Lt.Gen. Prawut Thawornsiri, deputy chief of the Thai police, using the formal name of the junta, the National Council for Peace and Order.
 
The two bars are called Bungalow and M.3/2. 
 
Pol.Lt.Gen. Prawut told reporters that the bars have been shut down, and the owners have been stripped of their licenses to sell alcohol.
 
The owners, Wasan Dokmaikrue and Kitthanet Amornlertthanon, are also facing additional criminal charges for admitting customers under the age of 20, operating without proper permits, and failing to adhere to the midnight closing time prescribed under existing laws. 
 
The new booze ban was issued by Gen. Prayuth as a part of the junta's effort to stamp out vice and impose public order at nighttime.
 
The junta leader also signed new measures to crack down young street racers - known to Thais as dek vans - that regularly roam the roads of major cities at night. The new measure permits police officers to break up groups of people gathering with the intention to organize illegal races. 
 
The booze ban is unlikely to be strictly enforced, as it would render bars and nightclubs in many popular nightlife districts illegal. For instance, Khaosan Road, a favorite party destination for foreign backpackers, is less than 300 meters from Satri Witthaya School, and the notorious red light district of Patpong is less than 300 meters away from Chulalongkorn University. 
 
Since staging the coup d'etat against an elected government in May last year, the junta has launched several campaigns focused on moral education and wiping out corruption and organized crime. Soldiers have also been regularly assisting police officers with arrests and other law enforcement duties. 

http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1437893460

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Last week the Thai government passed two separate legal measures restricting the sale of alcohol near educational institutions across the country.

 

Similarities between the two measures have led to some confusion about the scope and definition of the new regulations, so we've included a brief clarification of the differences between the two legal orders below: 

 

The first legal measure was an amendment  passed by the Office of Prime Minister on 22 July 2015 to the 2008 Control of Alcoholic Beverage Act.

 

The amendment outlaws selling alcohol within 300 meters of the "fence" of universities and colleges, both public and private. Lower schools are not included in the ban.

 

The amendment, which will come into effect 30 days after its publication, also exempts hotels, “entertainment zones,” and wholesale factories and distributors from the restriction. Currently, only Patpong district, and parts of New Petchburi Road and Ratchadapisek Road are considered entertainment zones in Bangkok.

 

On the following day - 23 July 2015 - Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha, the Prime Minister and leader of the junta's National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), issued a separate order through Section 44 of the interim constitution that became effective immediately.

 

The NCPO order forbids selling alcohol in the "vicinity" of "educational institutions" and student dormitories. The scope of "vicinity" and "educational instutions" is not specified in the order, although the latter is defined in existing laws as including all levels of education, such as elementary schools and high schools. 

 

At the time of writing, officials have not confirmed how the NCPO order will be applied. 

http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1437978181&section=0200

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The Navy is raiding bars in Phuket.    :flirt2:

 

Are Special Forces next?

 

The Soi Bangla area is exempt since it is an entertainment zone.

 

 

Phuket Provincial Police Commander Maj Gen Pachara Boonyasit on Tuesday (July 28) called the chiefs of all police stations in Phuket to a meeting at Provincial Police headquarters in Phuket Town to order them to enforce the ban on the sale of alcohol within 300 metres of any “educational institution”.

 
Gen Pachara explained that he understood “educational institutions” to include all places of education, from pre-schools and kindergartens to primary and secondary schools to technology institutes, polytechnic colleges and university campuses.
 
“Everything must be followed by the NCPO [National Council for Peace and Order] command published on July 23, which means we are to inspect all areas near education places in Phuket,” he said.
 
Provincial Police Deputy Commander Col Theerapol Tipcharoen was terse in his warning. “Anyone found selling alcohol within 300m of any educational place, get ready to be closed down. We have to protect children, that is the national command,” he told The Phuket News.
 
More than 100 officers, including naval security personnel, staged the raids on nightlife venues throughout Phuket Town on Monday night to ensure that operators were not selling alcohol to underage youths. Officers also checked for drugs and to ensure that venue operators had the required licenses to sell alcohol.
 
The raids began at 10pm after Phuket Governor Nisit Jansomwong passed down the order to make sure all officers throughout Phuket were upholding their duty “to enforce the law seriously to decrease crime and social problems and to protect teenagers from alcohol”
 
Phuket City Police Superintendent Col Kraithong Chanthongbai told The Phuket News that any operators found breaking the order will have their licenses to sell alcohol revoked.
 
“Phuket City Police will check all areas within city limits, including Sapan Hin and the Baan Kuku area [in Rassada]. They will seize alcohol licenses from any restaurants or bars found breaking the law,” assured.
 
Meanwhile, Col Akanit Danpitaksan, Deputy Superintendent of Kathu Police station, confirmed the order will be upheld in Patong.
 
“This act clearly covers every province, and that includes Phuket,” he said. “There are two schools in Patong: Sai Nam Yen School and Wat Suwankhiriwong School, and we will check the areas around both.”
 
Col Akanit pointed out the police will not be working alone. “Other officials such as Patong Municipality and Phuket Health officials have to work with us,” he said.
 
While the current interpretation of the law seems harsh, Gen Pachara on Wednesday said this would apply until further notice. Any changes in the understanding of how the law is to be applied will be clarified by orders received from Bangkok, he added.
 
CONFUSION IN THE CAPITAL
 
The confusion over the alcohol-free perimeter around places of education follows two separate law-making incidents. The first legal measure was an amendment to the 2008 Control of Alcoholic Beverage Act passed by the Office of Prime Minister on July 22. The amendment outlawed the sale of alcohol within 300m of the “boundary” of universities and colleges, both public and private. Lower schools were not included in the ban.
 
The amendment, which will come into effect 30 days after its publication in the Royal Gazette, also exempted hotels, wholesale factories and distributors, and businesses within “entertainment zones”.
 
In Bangkok, currently only Patpong district and parts of New Petchburi Rd and Ratchadapisek Rd are considered entertainment zones. Likewise, Phuket currently has only two entertainment zones: Patong’s Soi Bangla and 50m either side of it; and Taina Road in Karon.
 
Following the July 22 amendment, Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, who is also the leader NCPO, issued a separate order the next day – July 23 – that became effective immediately. The order was issued through the harsh penalties dictated through Section 44 of the interim constitution, sending a shudder of fear through the nightlife-operator community in Bangkok.
 
The NCPO order forbid the sale of alcohol in the “vicinity” of “educational institutions” and student dormitories. The scope of “vicinity” and “educational institutions” was not specified in the order, though the latter is defined in existing laws as including all levels of education, such as elementary schools and high schools.
 
The ensuing confusion has left operators and officials struggling to understand which order applies now and to who, and which definitions will apply after the July 22 amendment comes into effect later this year.
 
Justice Minister Paiboon Koomchaya on Monday tried to quell the controversy over the vaguely worded July 23 order banning alcohol sales “near” educational institutions, denying it prohibited booze sales within 300m of schools.
 
He also said that enforcement depended on the formation of new entertainment zones.
 
Minister Paiboon said it would take 180 days to draw up new entertainment zones that would clarify where alcohol could and could not be sold legally.
 
Until then, there’s nothing that says existing operators cannot sell booze within 300m of any school, he said.
 

 

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Booze Ban to be Arbitrarily Enforced During 6-month ‘Study’      

 

BANGKOK — Thailand will go back to the drawing board with its unilateral ban on sales of alcohol near schools, while leaving it on the books as vaguely written for selective enforcement based on the “judgment” of law enforcement officers. 

 

Two weeks after the military government issued two confusing orders – one banning sales within 300 meters of some schools and universities and a second prohibiting all sales "in the vicinity” of all school property, a deputy prime minister said a committee will spend six months deliberating what “vicinity” means.

 

“There is still a point that we have to define, which is the word ‘vicinity,” Deputy Prime Minister Yongyuth Yuthavong said today. “What does that mean? The committee is collecting opinions from relevant agencies to reach a clear understanding … It will take about six months.”

 

The former of the two orders, which had yet to go into effect since being signed on 20 July, will be indefinitely suspended. The latter, issued by fiat by the junta to immediate effect on 23 July, will remain the law of the land while its implementation is studied.

 

“In the meantime, security officers will have to exercise their judgement, based on appropriateness of the situation,” Saman Footrakul, director of the Alcohol Beverage Office, told reporters today.

 

Agencies involved in working out the details include the Royal Thai Police, Ministry of Public Health, Excise Department, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Education, and Ministry of Interior Affairs, Saman said.

 

Thanakorn Kuptajit, president of Thai Alcohol Beverage Business Association, said the decision to leave enforcement up to the judgment of law enforcement officers was troubling.

 

“When it comes to legal action and criminal laws, the words ‘exercise of judgment’ are very scary,” he said. “Because we have different opinions and judgments. It will breed different standards and unfairness.”

 

During the 180 days while the law’s implementation is studied, he said security forces should refrain from closing any bars until they receive clarification. “As far as I have been reading news, the [junta] never explicitly told officers to shut down bars.”

 

In the wake of the order, several bars including two near Rangsit University in northern Bangkok were raided and shuttered, while officials elsewhere in some other parts of Thailand hand-delivered orders for places to close.

 

The moment it went into effect, the law enacted on 23 July immediately created dry spots throughout the capital, from luxury malls such as Siam Paragon and CentralWorld to red light areas such as Soi Cowboy. It effectively imposed prohibition in villages throughout the kingdom where most everything is near a school.

 

It came as a great surprise to most everyone and seemed all but unenforceable. Accordingly, it was all but ignored except for those few cases of selective enforcement.

 

The law was especially surprising because it landed a few days after another decree had been issued by from Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha on 20 July.

 

That decree, which was more specifically constructed to ban sales within 300 meters of certain schools and carried exceptions, now effectively goes away.

 

It wasn’t long before the military government first back pedaled from the ban. Within days of its enactment, Justice Minister Gen. Paiboon Koomchaya went from supporting its expansion to 500 meters from 300 meters to saying it would be shelved for six months of study.

 

On 27 July, Paiboon told the media the government would use that time to map out new entertainment zones to clarify where alcohol could and could not be sold.

 

Today, Deputy Prime Minister Yongyuth said the reason Prayuth’s 20 July decree was suspended was because it might conflict with Prayuth’s sweeping ban of 23 July.

 

“We have to go back to deliberate on and study it again,” he said.

 

 

http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1438691186&typecate=06&section=

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Most of these drinking places are open when schools are closed... Is the sight of a closed bar (how one does see alcohol bottles if the bar is closed.) non educational?

Something is having bars accessible to students as in proximity to schools, something is having a closed bars...

I can't honestly see the point (if there is any rational point).

7-11 and other marts already have alcohol ban sale times... Did this have a positive influence?

I mean, if one really wants to have a positive input on youth education the whole town should be shut....or most of it.

Have never seen students gathering, alone or in groups, in any kind of bar. Seen them mostly in ice cream parlours, fast food or food halls...

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Have never seen students gathering, alone or in groups, in any kind of bar. Seen them mostly in ice cream parlours, fast food or food halls...

 

That's my experience too.

 

The powers that be portray students as being out of the movie, Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift.

 

I do hear about rumbles between vocational school students.   I guess that happens on the outskirts of Bangkok: I really don't know as I don't go there.

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  • 6 years later...

Currently circulating on social media in Bangkok:

Despite the current booze ban, Crazy House, a fully nude GG gogo bar (at least before the pandemic), right around the corner from Soi Cowboy, on Sukhumvit Soi 23 in Bangkok, was serving alcohol to its guests. On Japanese expat sites they say that this was an open secret...

Last Sunday they got a surprise visit from Thonglor police:

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Thonglor Police Station arrested 61 people, 26 of them men and 35 women.

Upon checking the receipts, they found alcoholic beverages listed there (-> how stupid is that???)...

Source: FB

FDB-n2dVQAU0cp4?format=jpg&name=900x900

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3 hours ago, Pdoggg said:

find out soon enough if other media verifies this Tempo News report. 

The Daily News also reports on the raid:

https://www.dailynews.co.th/news/414546/

as well as:

https://www.komchadluek.net/news/489940

Thaiza:

https://thaiza.com/news/amp/514951/

and even js100:

https://www.js100.com/en/site/news/view/110347

and Amarin TV:

https://www.amarintv.com/news/detail/104867

and Siam Rath:

https://siamrath.co.th/n/292517

and Matichon:

https://www.matichon.co.th/local/news_3011677

and Channel 3:

https://ch3plus.com/news/category/263528

and Channel 7:

http://www.ch7.com/amp/525109

- they even have a video of the event and name the bar:

news.ch7.com/detail/525126

 

Edited by Papa Sam
More sources added
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Excerpts from a story that originally appeared today on the SCMoPo:

I don't think Bangkok's nightlife can ever be the same again.

You have to have good friends in the police to stay open

(manager of a pop-up bar which has operated in near open view throughout the latest lockdown, despite a booze ban.)

"When we have to close there is another bar upstairs to go to. We know how to work carefully."

There are regular local media reports of raids on illegal bars across Bangkok crammed with both Thais and foreigners who are tested for Covid-19 - at their own cost - and fined around US$120 on the spot.

Bar owners say their pay-to-play relationship with local police stations has become more complex and costly.

.. at Soi Cowboy, the neon-lit strip whose racy go-gos have drawn tourists since the 1970s, reopening feels a long way off, and food stalls have occupied the entrances of closed bars

Outside 'Kozy-Kazy' nightclub on Soi Cowboy (some say it's the sister bar of infamous Crazy House gogo bar next door on Sukhumvit Soi 23), Kanya Serint, a 38-year-old who has worked as a chef in the area for the last decade, now makes papaya salad for a small income while she waits for the tourists to return.

If we reopen our country too soon - only to close again - that will be the end of Soi Cowboy," she said.

https://www.msn.com/en-xl/money/other/once-asia-s-party-capital-will-bangkok-s-nightlife-scene-recover-even-if-thailand-s-tourism-industry-picks-up/ar-AAQ1ZsK

 

Edited by Papa Sam
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2 hours ago, markm said:

and they want tourists back. why!!!!!!!! unless your a mormon ........................... not that there  is anything wrong with that lol

Every survey I've seen in the past 1-2 years found that the majority of Thais are against opening the country to foreigners...:coldb:

One has the impression that Thais rather want farangs' wallets to come to LOS alone but not so much farang people...

From CNA today:

“The more tourists visit Bangkok, the more income is generated. Right now, we want our economy to improve, especially for Bangkokians in the service sector. They don’t have income because many businesses have been closed for a long time.” says the deputy governor of Bangkok.

He also pointed out that they developed an exit plan, which will kick in if quarantine-free travel is terminated under the scenario of COVID-19 transmission reaching a critical level. 

The exemption form quarantine for the 46 countries ends after 2 months on December 31st 2021. We'll see if there'll be an extension of this date or not...

thailand-sandbox-table.png?itok=kpdMBQ8T

thailand-sandbox-map.png?itok=cCoTFj-u

And last but not least: According to the deputy governor, “there is a high possibility” for the alcohol ban to be eased in certain venues.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/thailand-bangkok-nov-1-covid-19-reopening-international-tourists-2274841

3 more days to go for the grand reopening!

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22 minutes ago, markm said:

wait and watch for me i think . can you imagine an outbreak and they close the borders and the airlines cancel flights let alone your home land wanting to disown you 

Sound thought Markm and good advice.  :party0005:

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