Thailand’s nightlife venues to reopen on Jan 16, subject to assessment

Pubs, bars and karaoke bars in Thailand’s COVID-19 restricted zones and “sandbox” provinces may be allowed to reopen from January 16th, on the condition that they meet the required criteria and pass assessments by relevant authorities, according to the Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA).

The Public Health and Interior ministries, as well as the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, have been designated by the CCSA to enforce safety measures to be imposed on these venues.

One of the required safety measures is that venues must improve their environment and air circulation system and that all staff are fully inoculated against COVID-19.

Pubs, bars and karaoke bars, located in restricted and “sandbox” areas, are given until January 16th to make preparations and improvements ahead of evaluation by assessment committees in each province.

Venues which pass the assessment will be registered and allowed to reopen for business and must strictly comply with the safety measures. If a COVID-19 infection is found in any of the venues, it will be closed down.

The CCSA, at its meeting today, agreed to reduce the COVID-19 “dark red” provinces to just Tak, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Narathiwat, Pattani, Yala and Songkhla, where infections are still spreading. The night-time curfew between 11pm and 3am is in place only in the “dark red” zone, and until November 3otth, pending a further CCSA decision whether to extend the curfew.

Bangkok is now included among the “sandbox” provinces, which also include the popular tourist destinations such as Krabi, Phuket and Phang-nga. The ban on serving alcohol in eateries has been lifted in the “sandbox provinces” and five other provinces deemed at low-risk for the spread of COVID-19 – Nakhon Phanom, Bueng Kan, Mukdahan and Sakhon Nakhon.

All the provinces classified as “dark red”, “red” or “blue” zones are required to comply with the Universal Prevention and COVID Free Setting regimens.

All international arrivals will still have to undergo an RT-PCR test and an Antigen test upon arrival as per the current practice, according to the CCSA, following the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s proposal to switch to only antigen tests to reduce the waiting time.

Source - Thai BPS World

VISA AGENT  /  How to register for: THAI PASS

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Pattaya Bar Girls – What are they doing now?

 September 2020, many were holding out hope that the pandemic would end soon.
But the country’s coronavirus crisis has only gotten worse, with the average number of daily new infections reaching its peak on Aug. 13 at 23,418 cases.

While some resort islands, like Phuket, have reopened to vaccinated foreign tourists, tourism is far from having rebounded.

They caught up with M., 33, who they first met in the Thai tourist hub of Pattaya. Before the pandemic, she was earning good money as a topless dancer at a go-go bar and as a sex worker.

But when they spoke to her amid the crisis last year, she said she was struggling to send money to her mother, who was caring for her two sons, and was sharing a studio apartment with two other women who worked at the same bar.

In January, she gave up and returned to her rural hometown in the northeast region of Isaan and started a job in accounting at a local hospital.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

A year ago, you were worried that if tourism didn’t improve in Pattaya, you’d have to move back to Isaan. What led to your decision to leave the city?
The COVID situation became more severe. There were no tourists or foreigners staying in Pattaya, and I was very worried about COVID. I started to think about going home because there were almost no customers. My roommates went back home around November last year. It was sad.

Our room was quiet, and I still had to pay rent for the room [on my own]. Luckily, over New Year’s Eve, I made some money from a customer from Bangkok who came to Pattaya for an island holiday, and I saved it.

In early January, the bar owner decided to close the business. I wasn’t sure what else to do in Pattaya. I called my mother and told her I was coming home. But I didn’t leave for another [few weeks] because I was trying to find a job in a [government-designated quarantine] hotel in Pattaya, but no luck. (continues below)

Source - BangkokJack

VISA AGENT

BEERGARDEN SOI 7 SUKHUMVIT, BANGKOK

Sinds 1 July is the Beer Garden reopened after the lockdown.

On 10 july it's still very quiet.

Jealousy is the biggest problem and illness in Thailand

There several info pages but some ignore posting when one go open
Not all going on the same date open.

But there more bars in Nana the not see customers.

Yesterday I check on Soi 4 / Nana but in the big Morning Night Bar, I was there  in the afternoon the only customer / later in the afternoon I see only 4 or 5 foreign customers.

Pattaya’s bars desperate to reopen

The Covid-19 pandemic has hit Pattaya’s bar owners terribly. Some among the 10 in Soi Wong Amat, aka Soi Na Klua 18, have packed up and gone. The remainder are desperate for the government to ease restrictions on them opening. There is still rent to pay, accommodation and food for staff and utilities. They don’t want to abandon their employees. 2 owners spoke to the media.

59 year old “Saengdeuan”, who has run the well known TJ Bar for 16 years, was in tears as she told Nation TV how she won’t abandon her 20 staff.

“What else am I going to do?” I’ll just have to wait for the tourists to return, whenever that is.”

The ‘whenever’ could be months away. And even if the government allows the bars to re-open at the start of July (the hot tip), the sight of foreign tourists may not be familiar until the end of the year.

44 year old “Buapha”, who owns the Blue Marlin pub begged the government to let her open. She says there may be no foreign tourists but she could serve Thais in the meantime.

“At least that would be something.”

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Pattaya’s economy is almost entirely dependent on tourism. While the city’s beaches were allowed to reopen last Monday, pubs and bars remain shuttered and restaurants are prohibited from selling alcohol, leaving tens of thousands still out of work. Many of the workers have returned ‘up country’ to live with their families.

Source - The Thaiger

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