Following attempts to crack down on ladyboys offering sex on Pattaya's Beach Road last week the authorities have now targeted ALL sex workers.
Channel 7 and other Thai media outlets reported action by the Tourist Police against both women and ladyboys or transgenders.
Last week everyone fled the scene because the cops were in uniform.
Now most of the cops were in plain clothes in the operation that began at 9pm.
But videos showed that the sex workers were still getting wise to the crackdown with many running away from officers across the road or onto the beach.
Phaisan Rattanabanterng, a reporter, joined the crackdown and reported speaking to one sex worker who said they had many mouths to feed.
And they could make thousands of baht in a night.
The customers were nearly all foreigners.
Fines were no deterrent, went the report, with 80% of those targeted having a record of prostitution.
All this was to "restore Pattaya's image", the rhetoric continued.
Twenty nine arrests were made with court appearances and 1,000 baht fines in the offing.
ASEAN NOW notes that if we had a hot dinner for all the completely ineffective crackdowns on sex workers on Beach Road over the years all the news team would be severely overweight.
The moves can be seen in the light of the authorities - with the connivance of the invited Thai press - appearing to do something about the visible sex industry on the streets ahead of the high tourist season.
The sex workers will undoubtedly be back tonight - albeit with a watchful eye for the authorities who might spoil their night.
Source - Asean Now
Wednesday, November 30, 2022
Tourist police crack down on women AND transgenders on Pattaya's Beach Road
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Saturday, November 26, 2022
Thai Alcohol Control Committee opposes selling booze till 4 AM
The Thai Alcohol Control Committee opposed a proposal to extend the legal hours for selling alcoholic beverages to 4 AM, citing a potential rise in traffic accidents.
Dr. Opas Karnkawinongpop, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Public Health, revealed to Thai reporters today, November 25th, after completing a meeting with the Alcohol Control Committee that the committee initially opposed the idea of allowing the sale of alcohol from 5 PM to 4 AM.
The committee said it was too long because it meant alcohol could be sold for 11 hours per day, which could increase alcohol-related health problems, injuries, and casualties.
Dr. Opas stated the chance of drunk-driving-related accidents could also rise by more than 27% or 10-20 casualties per day if alcohol was allowed to be sold from 5 PM to 4 AM despite all-night police checkpoints.
The Thai Alcohol Control Committee had already considered the economic benefits of the proposal, but still had agreed that the extension should not be mandated, Dr. Opas added.
Nonetheless, the committee’s objection was only a suggestion, which would be forwarded to the National Alcohol Beverage Policy Committee for consideration on December 22nd.
Dr. Opas said the objection against extending alcohol sale hours had nothing to do with another proposal to extend the legal closing hours for entertainment venues.
Technically, the two rules are seperate notes TPN media, and even if the Thai Cabinet agrees to extend nightlife closing hours in theory alcohol sales hours would also need to be legally extended.
The Thai Cabinet is set to meet Tuesday, November 29th, to discuss extended nightlife hours in tourism zones.
Source - Pattaya News
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Monday, November 21, 2022
Nightclub goers tested positive for drugs in #Pattaya entertainment venue crackdown, passport inspections for foreigners to continue
Pattaya – Four nightclub goers tested positive for drugs in a Pattaya entertainment venue crackdown.
More than 50 officers led by Major General Nantawut Suwanlaong, Acting head of the Chonburi Provincial Police randomly inspected entertainment venues in Pattaya to check for the current seven major rules which are:
1. No allowing underage users below 20 to enter bar and entertainment venues.
2. No selling alcohol to underage users below 20 in any venues including restaurants.
3. Entertainment venues must be shut and all customers gone by legal closing times, currently between midnight to 2AM depending on zone.
4. Selling alcohol over the legal time is prohibited at all venues.
5. Allowing weapons and illegal drugs into entertainment venues is prohibited
6. Allowing human trafficking in entertainment venues is prohibited.
6 Allowing illegal gambling in any venue is prohibited.
Major General Nantawut told the Pattaya News that they first inspected ‘New Season’ on Pattaya Third Road where lots of Thais and foreigners were drinking. Some of the foreigners were unable to present their passports and they were taken to the Pattaya Police Station for questioning.
Source - The Pattaya News
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Sunday, October 24, 2021
Is mass tourism a thing of the past in Thailand?
Is mass tourism a thing of the past in Thailand as the streets of the most popular tourist destinations are unnervingly quiet.
Along Chaweng’s Beach Road, a usually raucous party area, shuttered shops stretch into the distance.
Before the coronavirus pandemic, it was buzzing with traffic. Now, taxi drivers sit on the roadside, with little hope of finding customers.
Where bikini-clad sunseekers once browsed souvenir shops and drank at neon-lit bars, a lone street dog stretches on the pavement.
Elsewhere, swathes of Samui’s idyllic, sandy white beaches are almost entirely free of people.
About 40 million tourists flocked to Thailand last year, drawn by its spectacular coastlines, ornate temples and famous cuisine.
In 2022, the country will struggle to attract even a quarter of that number, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).
Tourism ground to a halt in April, when Thailand imposed a ban on all incoming passenger flights. The country – which has so far managed to contain Covid-19, recording 3,255 cases and 58 deaths – is discussing travel bubbles with low-risk neighbouring countries, but no one knows when these might be established. Borders remain shut to almost all foreign tourists.
The travel sector has survived devastating crises before, including the 2004 tsunami, bird flu and Sars outbreaks.
But the impact of the coronavirus pandemic is beyond comparison, says Tanes Petsuwan, deputy governor for marketing communication at the TAT.
During previous crises, revenue dropped by around a fifth, he said. This year, the coronavirus pandemic is expected to cause a 80% fall in revenues. “It’s a huge impact,” he said.
To make matters worse, Thailand’s economy has become even more reliant on tourism, accounting for almost 20% of GDP, according to Tanes. About 4.4 million people are employed across the industry – in transport, travel agencies, restaurants and hotels.
In Samui, many have gone for months without work. Before coronavirus, Jarunee Kasorn, who works in a local massage parlour in Chaweng, says her colleagues would welcome up to 90 clients a day.
They’re one of the few businesses to reopen on Beach Road, but a whole day can go by without a single customer. “If there are no tourists, then there’s no business,” she said.
Most of the shop’s 20 staff have left the island altogether, and returned to their family homes elsewhere in Thailand.
Though modest social assistance payments were offered to workers during lockdown, this is no longer available.
“Many people say we won’t die from Covid, but we will die because we are not able to eat,” says Ta Sasiwinom, who has just reopened her stall at an outdoor market in Fishermen’s Village, known as the walking street. The past few months have been a struggle for her and her two daughters. “We cook more cheaply – eating egg and rice, rice and egg,” she says.
Parts of the market, and the nearby beach, have begun to return to life. There are groups of visitors and locals peering at the discounted stalls, but it is still nowhere near as busy as it would usually be.
Among those shopping are tourists stuck abroad, foreign residents living in Thailand, and Thais – who the government has encouraged to travel domestically through a stimulus package that offers subsidised hotel bookings.
The scheme, and a looming long weekend, has provided a welcome boost, says Lloyd Maraville, general manager of Nora Buri resort and spa.
Of the hotel’s 144 rooms, about 100 are empty, though this will fall to 85 over the holiday.
Government measures, he adds, “might sustain hotels for a while but it will not be a long-term [solution].” Rooms have been booked at far below the usual rates. “Profit is out of the question at this moment, we just want to maintain the resort,” he says.
Tanes believes that when tourism is able to begin again, the industry will be altered completely.
He hopes for positive change. “I think this is a good time for Thailand to upskill the human resources of the industry to move Thailand [away] from [being an] overcrowded tourist destination,” he says. Mass tourism, and the dependence on large tour groups, he argues, will be a thing of the past.
In Samui, businesses are focused on survival for now. Just last month it was announced that nearly 100 local hotel owners had been forced to sell. Many more remain shut indefinitely.
“I’ve lived here for 20 years and I’m shocked, I never thought it could be like this,” says Rattanaporn Chadakarn, who runs a stall at the walking street.
No one knows if the Great Panic will continue. For now, she adds, everyone is just waiting for the skies to reopen.
Source - BangkokJack
VISA AGENT
Wednesday, June 3, 2020
#Thailand - Major makeover proposed for Pattaya’s Walking Street
Problem is the tourists and traffic Walking Street has attracted in the past are likely not interested in the swish makeover and quite liked the red light atmosphere and the bar girls in hot pants leaning out of the noisy bars.
But the Thai government has seemed fixated on cleaning up the streets’ reputation for years, with little success. Now, the futuristic design and slick new look make the red light district look like just another shopping street. Online critics are already jumping on the bandwagon saying it will be “just another mall.”
“There is not a hanging wire – or streetwalker – in sight!” one complained. Where are the tangled coils of telephone and power cables? Where are the neon signs with at least one letter not working? Where will the crusty old expats end up if they’re pushed out of Walking Street?
The designs were presented by the city’s engineering team to Pattaya’s mayor and his deputies yesterday, to an apparently “lukewarm” reception.
“After all, Pattaya is a renowned world class resort. And it must be able to generate revenue, that’s important.”
He sent the engineers away to revise their designs ahead of the next discussion on the issue.
Thai and foreign comments on the news were extensive and mixed. Most agreed that it’s time for a makeover, but opinion differed widely over exactly how and how much.
The reality for the city is that the Walking Street occupies prime real estate and the owners of the land want to maximise the potential value of retail and food and beverage offerings, and would prefer that it had a broader appeal beyond its raunchy nighttime-only activities. It’s inevitable that the red-light district will move into lower-rent areas of the city.
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Thursday, May 28, 2020
#Thailand looking more like a THIRD WORLD COUNTRY
However, a news source said that the crowd dispersed only temporarily and queued up again once the police had gone.
“Furthermore, their loud chattering is really annoying and kept us up until dawn,” they added.
Sunday, May 10, 2020
Surviving lockdown in my Thai paradise
Back in 2010, along with my friend Terry from London, I visited Thailand purely by chance. We were on a winter holiday in Penang, Malaysia where Terry was less than impressed with the weather.
“Darling, it’s cloudy again,” he said one morning, in his disapproving Princess Margaret voice. “I can’t possibly go back to London without a tan to annoy my work colleagues.”
“It’s 35°C and sunny in Thailand,” I replied casually, looking at the weather forecast on TV.
Terry’s face lit up.
“I’m already packing, darling,” he gushed, in a flurry of hatboxes.
And with that spur of the moment decision, the future trajectory of my life was changed.
We took a one-hour flight from Penang to Bangkok and checked into a twin room on the 23rd floor of the Shangri-La hotel, with stunning views over the Chao Phraya river. That evening we went to Telephone Bar in the vibrant Silom district and got chatting with a group of friendly locals.
When I got back to my hotel in the early hours of the morning, I was very surprised to find that Terry, along with all his hatboxes, had left. All that remained was a brief note on my bed: “Gone to Koh Samui. I want to be alone.”
Suddenly, I found myself 10,000km from home, all alone in a foreign country where I knew no one. I’m sure the sensible decision would have been to go back to Ireland and forget about the whole experience but, instead, I reached into my pocket and took out a little piece of paper with a neatly written telephone number and the words: “Call me! – Woody.”
Over the next few days, Woody and I visited some of Bangkok’s most famous tourist attractions. First, we went by motorbike taxi to the Grand Palace, the official ceremonial residence of the king. Built in 1782 by King Rama 1, it’s a huge complex on the west bank of the river and includes the renowned Temple of the Emerald Buddha. Some of it is open to the public, as long as you are well covered and have appropriate footwear (no flip-flops). Next, we took one of the frequent river boats down to Sathorn – a great way to see the towering skyline of the city – and disembarked at Saphan Taksin right next to the Shangri-La hotel. By early evening we were sitting in a side street outside a little restaurant that served the best fish in Bangkok for about €3.50 a main course.
Later that night, Woody brought me to App Arena Club to see his friend Coco, a sensational drag artiste, who lip-synched flawlessly to Whitney Houston – and looked very like her too. It was a whirlwind sightseeing tour which I would never have experienced if Terry hadn’t made his dramatic dash to Koh Samui.
A year later, Woody came to live with me in Ireland and we entered into a civil partnership in 2014. Ever since, we have made a trip each year to Thailand and we’ve built a little house in the rice fields near where he grew up, about 500km north of Bangkok.
In March, Woody and I arrived for our annual holiday in Thailand but now, like the rest of the world, we are caught in the grip of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Thai government has responded swiftly with draconian measures to contain the spread of the virus.
The beaches of the south are closed, patrolled day and night by drones; Phuket is in total lockdown (no one can enter or leave the island) and the bright lights of Bangkok’s world-famous nightlife have been turned off.
Throughout the country, there’s a strictly enforced curfew and anyone caught outside after 10pm could end up with a hefty fine or, worse still, a year in the Bangkok Hilton!
Controversially, there has been a total ban on the sale of alcohol since April 1. Thais are very sociable people and love nothing more than to gather at a friend’s house for a game of cards over a bottle of local whiskey but, in general, they are law-abiding and compliant and these strict measures have been highly effective.
To date, there are just 2,969 coronavirus cases in Thailand and while, sadly, there have been 54 deaths, in a country of nearly 70 million, these numbers are extremely low.
One of the other key tactics here has been to radically reduce international travel.
All foreigners have been banned from entering Thailand and Thai citizens returning from abroad must quarantine for 14 days at an appointed place.
Our return flights to Ireland on KLM have been cancelled, leaving us somewhat stranded here.
But at least we are not accidental tourists shipwrecked in an strange land. We are staying at Woody’s sister’s house in a private gated community in a leafy suburb of Bangkok. I start each morning with coffee in the garden, after which I teach English to our gorgeous nephew Hummer who is almost four years old and already nearly bilingual.
Woody’s sister and her husband both work in the property and construction business and, in a typically Thai gesture where family is paramount, they’ve told us we can stay as long as we want.
Since May 3, Thailand has started taking tentative steps towards getting its economy moving again. Outdoors markets are opening up, along with some cafes and restaurants and, for the first time in nearly two months, little Hummer has been released from the confines of his garden to play at the local park. Last week, we all visited the nearby King Rama IX Park and watching him whizzing around on his little green bicycle was pure joy.
In those early days, when I first visited Bangkok, I used to wonder what it would be like to live in Thailand – but I always lacked the courage to give it a try.
Now, with my classical music career on hold and a global pandemic forcing us all to rethink our lives, I have found myself here more by chance than by choice.
But what a blessing it is.
As restrictions are easing, our next plan is to all go up to our village house to help harvest the rice fields and mango and banana trees. These dazzling days in Thailand are a long way from Mozart and Puccini – but the joyous connection with family and nature is like waking up each morning to an unexpected paradise.