Following Prime Minister Thaksin's refusal to accept the proposal of Deputy Interior Minister Pracha Maleenont for a blanket closing time at midnight for all night entertainment venues all over Thailand, a filtered proposal has now been drafted by the members of the "Vice Committee" of Deputy Prime Minister Purachai.
Deputy Prime Minister Purachai's new born "Vice Committee" in charge of reviewing the earlier proposal of Deputy Interior Minister Pracha Maleenont agreed yesterday evening to change the earlier proposed closing hours for "Night Spots" depending on different "Special Zones" and to withdraw the earlier proposal for a uniform closing time at midnight for the whole of Thailand, said a source who attended yesterday's committee meeting.
In the new proposal for the Thai Cabinet, special areas all over Thailand would be zoned as "Adult-Oriented" nightlife entertainment zones. Purachai's panel decided that in those designated zones, night entertainment places with or without hostesses would be allowed to stay open until 2am, while all night entertainment venue's outside of those zones would have to be closed at midnight.
It was also agreed that massage parlors inside those special "Adult-Oriented" zones should be allowed to operate from 4pm in the afternoon but have to be closed at midnight, so that those in the zone could open 2-hours earlier than the massage parlors outside the zones.
In Bangkok, the "Adult-Oriented" zones would cover the Patpong area and New Phetchaburi and Ratchadaphisek areas. Zones in holiday resorts such as Phuket, Koh Samui and Pattaya will be assigned after consulting with the cities Mayors and Province Governors.
The "Vice Panel" believes that allowing longer operating hours in special "Night Entertainment Areas" will encourage owners to relocate their nightspots into the designated zones instead of currently mushrooming all over the cities, the source said.
Yesterday's decision by Purachai's "Vice Committee" will be forwarded to the Cabinet of Thailand for consideration on Tuesday 10 February 2004.
The new proposed rules, if endorsed by the Thai cabinet, would be included in an Interior Ministry regulation to be imposed under the Entertainment Venue Act, which came into effect early last month with originally no specific closing hours for entertainment venues.
Yesterday's decision appeared to be a compromise between the Interior Ministry, which previously proposed a midnight closure for all night venues, and entertainment-venue operators, who even want to nightlife businesses to stay open until 4am.
At a cabinet meeting early last month, Premier Thaksin and other members of the Thai Cabinet resolved that the midnight-closure proposal submitted by Deputy Interior Minister Pracha Maleenont be referred for review to Purachai's panel.
Pracha cited the need of a midnight closing time to keep young Thai people away from drugs and other vices as a reason for shutting all bars in Thailand at midnight. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra at the time questioned the rationale of a blanket closing time in Thailand.
Purachai reportedly told those who attended yesterday's meeting not to speak about the decision, but the news of the new proposal got out anyway. Pracha was absent from the session. He is on a trip to Europe and sent one of his advisers, Khun Surapol Kiatchaiyakorn, to support his blanket midnight closing time on his behalf.
