Owners of night entertainment venues tremble at the thought of Khun Purachai's coming crackdown

It promises to become the worst nightmare ever for the nightlive venues in Thailand. Even though Purachai has not yet started his campaign on the "men's paradise venues", everyone in Thailand remembers the familiar stern face of Purachai cracking down on the teenage pubs and discos in 2001 and 2002.

Purachai Piumsombun's ghost shadow now looms over the sex industry of massage parlors, karaoke's, gogo bars and other night venues in Thailand, following the government's crackdown announcement of last week.

Purachai will be leading the new crackdown instead of Deputy Interior Minister Pracha Maleenont, who did the crackdown announcement last week.

It will be goodbye to fun and privacy entertainment and hello to "Reality TV" camera's instead, sighed a worried manager from the Mona Lisa massage parlor in Bangkok. Purachai's raid actions have the habit of being accompanied by reality TV cameras.

Who will want to spent some hours in our places when there's a good and real possibility of facing an army of Thai police and having your face shown around the whole world on TV, the massage place owner said

Few would argue with that grim prediction, especially given the fact that Purachai is emerging from a forced political exile that followed a fall-out with Prime Minister Thaksin. This dormant volcano of "Thai Social Order" is ready to erupt again and prove himself to the general public in Thailand.

Most night entertainment venues, such as massage parlors, karaoke's, gogo bars and night clubs thrive on commercial sex, which in reality is against the laws of Thailand, but toward which local Thai authorities have long turned a blind eye as it has always brought them lots of wealth in the form of bribes and even tourist dollars.

There are now real concerns that if Purachai resorts to such extreme measures against the long established sex industry, that the complete night entertainment business of bangkok and the rest of Thailand will be brought to its knees.

It's annoying, but acceptable if Purachai would only tackle the problems of closing-times, building-rules violations and employment of minors, said a business owner from Patpong. But if this is the beginning of a campaign to close down all venues that offer special services, then this is real trouble for us, added the night club owner.

Everyone, as well Thais as foreigners, knows what's going on behind the doors of massage parlors, gogo bars and other night entertainment venues, he further said, and if this kind of entertainment will no longer be tolerated in Thailand, then the Thai night club industry is in deep trouble, he added.

When Purachai was Interior Minister of Thailand in the year 2001, he went to great lengths to impose the so called "Social Order" campaign that kept teenagers out of pubs and discos late at night, even forcing adults to drink beer from Cola bottles, while looking over their shoulders for the shadow of Purachai, like frightened animals.

Purachai led frequently nightly raids himself and Thai people could follow his reality TV show life. He sacked or transferred without mercy many officials and police who failed to enforce his rules of "Social Order". Some police, that once were controlling the night entertainment streets of Bangkok, while driving expensive cars, are still doing duty in some remote village of Southern Thailand.

Purachai became a popular political figure in Thailand for the common Thai population, but was then suddenly and abruptly moved to the Justice Ministry. There he fought bitterly with the old Thai guard and was all but abandoned by his mentor Thaksin Shinawatra, who saved him by kicking him upstairs and putting him in the position of deputy prime minister.

Political insiders in Thailand said that Thaksin brought Purachai out of his current coma for two main reasons: Prime Minister Thaksin wants to make amends and bring Purachai back into the battle field as the strong man in charge of Thailand's social order campaign. Secondly, Deputy Interior Minister Pracha Maleenont has to many friends in the business of the night and even have to many "old scars" to cover.

Commercial-sex entrepreneurs expressed fears that Purachai's rigid principles will wreak complete havoc on the industry of the night entertainment. We've rather have Deputy Interior Minister Pracha on this job, as Pracha is a man who frequents massage parlors himself, said a massage parlor owner. Now with Purachai to lead the crackdown campaign, this is horror, he added.

"Welcome to the show," said controversial massage parlor tycoon Chuwit Kamolvisit, who for the last weeks has rocked the Thai media with exposing the Thai nightlife industry with stories of Thai police demanding massive bribes to keep the businesses of the night going. Purachai is the only man in Thailand who can clean up the image of the Thai Kingdom. He is welcome and can visit my massage places any time because I have nothing to hide anymore, said Chuwit Kamolvisit, the Thai sex king.