Pattaya-
A representative from the Night Wish Group, Saifon Khanan, 40, spoke with several local news media including the Pattaya News this afternoon following an interview with the secretary of the Walking Street Nightlife Association the prior day about the effects of a potential forced entertainment closure on the group and Pattaya in general due to the Covid-19 Coronavirus.
Saifon, who is the head cashier of the group of 29 bars, the largest single bar group in the city and one of the largest employers in the local nightlife industry, stated the following to the press:
“We understand the threat of the virus and the situation. We understand how traumatic this has been globally and our thoughts are with those who are affected by the virus. We are ready to cooperate with orders from the authorities. However, we are very concerned for the hundreds of staff members, most who are the primary earners for their families and children back home. We are also concerned not just for our bars but the nightlife and entertainment industry as a whole that employs tens of thousands across Pattaya.”
“Our bars are not large venues and can fit no more then a dozen or so people in comfortably in most of the bars. We are not places that have mass gatherings and all our venues have full time maids who have taken additional precautions since the breakout of the Covid-19 Coronavirus such as providing hand sanitizer and full disinfecting of all surfaces used by customers. All of our bars are open venues and not enclosed inside with fresh air as well.” She continued
“If the government does order a temporary closure, we hope that the government provides appropriate support for the employees who are left without a job temporarily, many who work day to day and depend on their daily commissions to survive and feed their families and children.
We also hope that the government takes proper steps to ensure that businesses can resume operations as soon as things are safe. We are speaking with our landlords and vendor partners to ensure they understand the situation, we hope the government understands the situation as well and provides support to all those possibly affected.”
At this time, the nightlife venues in Pattaya, which is responsible for 80% of the cities revenue and employs tens of thousands and supports tens of thousands more remain open but that is subject to change. Pattaya is one of the top tourist destinations in the world and known globally for it’s nightlife.
The Thai Government announced this afternoon that a proposal for temporary closing of venues with over roughly fifty people was in discussion.
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