The FARANG Speaks 2 Much

A few days of rest due to the holidays but we are still here. World Cup madness is over and I for one am happy Italy pulled it off. No comments please - I got Italian in my blood so this is genetic happiness. Bangkok was more hit and miss than I remember for finding nightlife compared to previous holidays but there were a few spots which were covered in the weekly. However I still say the current trend when it comes to politics and police is not very encouraging.

I will stay out of the politics since I am not sure my views on it really matter all that much and my idea of what is good for Thailand and what isn’t may not be shared by others. No one wants political instability and for sure I don’t want to see any violence in any region of Thailand. Having said that though I would not mind seeing the inflationary bubble of Thailand getting pricked a little. The baht is a little overvalued, property/condo speculation has never been higher and the girls are getting greedy. So being in the nightlife biz and somewhat relying on tourists for my income, but not entirely, I think Thailand getting a little cheaper for everyone is not a bad thing.

On to another subject and one I am quite vocal about. I have always thrived on the Blade Runner aspect of Thailand - meaning it is chaotic, dirty, amazing and full of discrepancies - which is a good thing. However the current regime that is managing closing times needs to pull it together. Many times when I bring this subject up with people they always say that I am just upset because I run a venue that cannot go later than the rest of the spots around me. On the surface that may seem to be reason but in all honesty it is not. Tourism is down in Thailand and it does not take a brain surgeon to figure out why.

Take the World Cup for instance. The Tourism Authority of Thailand gripes and moans about how they don’t have enough budget for advertising and that depsite their best efforts - tourism is still down. Well - if u don’t include nightlife in your stats as a principal draw to Thailand then u might as well call it a day. Yes - TAT - people actually make trips to Thailand to focus solely on massages(the special kind), bars(beer bars and gogos) and proper clubbing. So if u continue to make everyone go to bed at 1 or 2 am when they are on holiday then tourists will go to other countries(yes - countries that u are competing with for tourists dollars) where they are not told when to go to bed. To top it all off - your friendly men in brown decided to truly enforce closing times during the World Cup semi-finals and finals. An event that only happens every 4 years, is truly a global event and was drawing record numbers to the bars that showed it. Imagine how people would have enjoyed watching the finals in their favorite spot knowing that for a few days Thailand would have stayed open all night. Crunch your inbound numbers after this big mistake and I am sure the stats are down since who wants to come to a country where they can’t watch one of the largest sporting events in history? Oh yeah - I am sure they want to return to their hotel room, order room service and listen to the Thai commentary on their hotel TV. I don’t think so. People want to be with their friends, enjoy the crowds and cheer on their favorites in public.

My point is this. Sure, if u are one of the few after hours places then maybe u don’t care, but looking at the country as a whole - this idea that in general the licensed, properly run places close at a specified time and other places are allowed to stay open is not good for tourism. Thailand should have a country wide closing time, it should be properly enforced and no one should be allowed to break the rules. Of course this closing time should not be 1,2 or even 3 in my opinion. This would be better for tourism and for business since fair rules encourage new business development. Also - there should not be 2 worlds where the Thais and the Thai places seem to act like these rules don’t apply to them. Remember folks the curfews and drinking laws were introduced to keep the young Thais from being alcholics and to go to bed on time. Right. Show me where that has happened. If u really want to get crazy - have special zones that go all night where the Thais are not allowed and enforce the closing times in all other places. Sounds crazy but let’s get something straight - tourists are paying the bills for the most part and right now tourists are getting the bum deal since they can’t stay up late and can’t drink when they want but yet the Thais can. Seems like the rules are not quite working for their desired effect. The Thais are now drinking more than ever and tourism is down. Go figure. Someone over in the tourism group needs to get a clue but this is the same group that pretends Nana and Soi Cowboy don’t bring tourists to Thailand.