A leading representative of the entertainment and nightlife industry in Thailand is urging the Department of Disease Control to allow the entertainment venues in the country to close at 2 am instead of the current midnight closing time. The meeting was held in the Chatuchak Newspaper building yesterday and was called "Brainstorming to help save the economy and revive tourism."
Thanawat Srisuk, the representative of the industry, claimed, among other things, that the entertainment industry was a critical part of the tourism industry in Thailand and "very important for both domestic and foreign tourists" He told the meeting that "during the industry 's four-month closure, millions of workers had struggled.".
Entertainment venues around Thailand were closed on 18 March due to precautions and lockdowns by Covid-19. On July 1 the government allowed e-openings of "high risk" enterprises. Thanawat claimed that the entertainment industry was "the first to close and the last to open," but is now suffering a 70 per cent drop in business, blaming the ongoing ban on foreign tourists and the closure of Thailand 's borders as the key factor.
From the point of view of staffing, Thanawat also claimed that many operators in the entertainment industry depended on foreign workers from neighbouring countries such as Cambodia and Laos ... "but with the borders still closed this also hurt the industry dramatically."
He proposes that the Disease Control Department allow entertainment venues to shuffle the closing time forward to 2 am, rather than midnight, to provide a longer time for venues to remain open and attract business.
Both Pattaya and Phuket, both high tourism-dependent, struggle to reopen without any palpable tourist flow. On Saturday night, a photographer sent The Thaiger photos from Patong estimating that only 10-15 per cent of businesses were open on the Bangla Road walking street in the town.
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