The deputy leader of the ruling Thai Rak Thai party, Khun Purachai Piamsomboon, has announced his retirement from the politics of Thailand today, saying he needs more time for his family and for his academic interests.
In Thailand nicknamed "Mr. Clean" for his moral crusade to impose a so-called "New Social Order" and wipe out illicit sex, drugs and drinking, Purachai said he had already announced his resignation to Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and to the leader of the Thai Rak Thai party.
Purachai Piamsomboon became famous for his lightning raids on leading nightclubs in Bangkok and other Thailand's tourist resorts, forcing Thailand's entertainment venues such as nightclubs, bars, cabarets, restaurants and even noodle-stalls to close at 1 AM in the morning.
Many opponents of Purachai Piamsomboon's morel crusade say that his crackdown crusade made Thailand's tourism industry loose billons of dollars in revenue. But Purachai always dismissed this theory with the argument that tourists come to Thailand for the culture, the rich history, the temples and the natural beauty of the Thai Kingdom and not for the nightlife.
Purachai's crusade has provoked bitter debate throughout Thailand with millions of the poorer Thais loosing their source of income, from go-go-dancers supporting their family in the North to nightclub and restaurant owners loosing up to 50 percent in daily turnover by the imposed early closing hours.
Patpong in Bangkok, fabled since decades as "The Place" for exotic oriental nightlife has been hit very hard by Purachai's social order and after 1 A.M. you can't even buy a beer or order a meal.
Usually teeming with tourists until four in the morning in the past, in Patpong at 1 AM in the morning nowadays all bars are closed, the entertainers have gone home and the street look more like a ghost town than an entertainment area.
Brought into Thai politics for his known integrity and his long term acquaintance with Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Purachai Piamsomboon annoyed many Thai politicians and bureaucrats with his enforced social order crusade and many anticipated his fast exit from Thai politics.
