Bars warned it takes proper accreditation to be a restaurant

The practice of bars and clubs tossing up a sign selling french fries and calling themselves a restaurant in order to reopen after Covid-19 restrictions ban entertainment venues from operating has been commonplace for months in Thailand. Now bars, pubs, and karaoke establishments are being warned in Bangkok that it takes more than a slapdash bite to eat to qualify as a restaurant and sell alcohol again.

A meeting of the Bangkok Municipal Authority chaired by the Deputy Governor and focusing on the Covid-19 situation in the capital city addressed the issue of fake “restaurants” reopening. The meeting instructed that bars wanting to serve food in order to reopen must be accredited with proper Covid-19 certification.

Restaurants must have an SHA and SHA+ certificate as well as be approved as a Covid Free Setting and follow all the set Covid-19 safety provisions before they are allowed to operate as a restaurant. Oddly, the need for a restaurant license did not seem to be a concern for the Bangkok Municipal Authority meeting.

Once properly accredited, the “restaurants” would be allowed as part of the tourist Blue Zone designated area to serve alcohol until 11 pm each night. Authorities have been patrolling the 50 districts of Bangkok and will continue to do so, looking for those who are violating the rules and restrictions for businesses to open as restaurants and sell booze.

The meeting about Covid-19 was called to address worries about the Omicron variant which has now been identified in Thailand. Experts are reporting that they believe the new variant is no more harmful than the Delta variant, which swept Thailand (and the world) creating by far the worst phase of the pandemic so far. PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has assured that Thailand is not likely to go into another lockdown over the emergence of the new variant.

SOURCE: ASEAN Now

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Thailand - Prayut promises to reopen bar scene on December 1

Thailand will open its doors to vaccinated travelers from a list of ten “safe” countries starting November 1, the Thai prime minister has confirmed.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha said in a nationally televised address that it was time for the country to gradually reopen in accordance with his government’s plans.

The United States, the United Kingdom, China, Singapore, and Australia were among the countries mentioned as being on the safe list with more to be announced later.

Prayut said that the decision was made with the economy in mind even though Covid-related repercussions were likely.

“I know that such decision has risk and it is almost certain that the daily number of Covid cases will increase once we begin to relax measures but we will closely monitor the situation,” Prayut said.

“This is the high season and we cannot miss this opportunity.

The government previously said that it would open the country up by October 1 but the deadline was pushed back due to increased infection numbers. But now with the government ramping up its vaccination program, Prayut said the decision was a calculated decision.

Prayut added that restaurants, bars, and entertainment venues will be allowed to reopen and sell alcoholic drinks from December 1.

Thailand has shut its doors to foreign travelers for close to two years due to the pandemic.

The economy has been hard hit by the self-imposed violation with a recession in 2020 and minimal growth in 2021.- Thai Enquirer

Source - BangkokJack

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Thai pub's new rules for Re-opening - Don't Laugh

A meeting between the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA)’s special taskforce committee and entertainment venue operators resolved that pubs, bars and entertainment venues could be allowed to open from July 1 provided they strictly observe following 22 practices:

• Controlling the number of patrons to ensure the venue does not get congested;

• Checking every customer and staff member’s temperature;

• Providing alcohol-based hand sanitising gel at all entrances and other areas as necessary;

• Ensuring groups are no bigger than five;

• Ensuring customers queuing to be seated maintain social distancing;

• Ensuring all tables are at least 2 metres apart or are partitioned;

• Ensuring seats are at least one metre apart;

• Ensuring all venues are properly ventilated;

• Only eating and drinking is allowed;

• Beverages can only be served individually, and shared jugs or ice buckets are prohibited;

• Serving staff are required to wear a mask or face shield at all times;

• Stage or performance area must be partitioned, and audience must be at least 2 metres away from the stage;

• Event comperes or speakers are required to wear a face shield at all times;

• Patrons are not allowed to be loud or walk around the venue if not necessary;

• If the sharing of food or beverages cannot be avoided, everyone at the table must be provided with an individual serving spoon or glass;

• Toilets must be cleaned every 30 to 60 minutes;

• All tables, chairs and frequently touched surfaces must be cleaned regularly;

• No sports matches or competitions that will attract large groups of people are allowed;

• No video gaming or pub games like pool and darts will be allowed;

• Social distancing measures must be observed in smoking areas;

• No service personnel or public relations representatives are allowed to sit with customers.

Source - The Nation