The following is an e-mail from one of our readers chosen for publishing. Their opinions and thoughts are entirely their own and may not reflect those of TPN media. To submit your own feedback or opinions for consideration of publishing please mail us at Pattayanewseditor@gmail.com.
Hi there Adam and TPN,
I have recently read your article about local business folks holding a big meeting in Pattaya with the tourism authority around legally opening bars and nightlife.
I couldn’t agree more with these business owners and wanted to add my two cents if you let me.
The current situation at least in Pattaya is downright freaking laughable and a total charade, like some bad Benny Hill skit.
The covid center in Bangkok and some health officials are clearly against opening the nightlife and bar sector so have kept it closed for almost a whole year now. But because the doctors obviously conflict with business owners, government officials stuck in the middle are doing their best to let entertainment venues open.
I get it. I don’t knock anyone for wanting to open their business after almost a year of lockdowns and closures. From what I understand they have very little cash or support from the government too.
But simply labeling everything a restaurant yet requiring them to go through more hoops and paperwork and other crap that won’t be enforced most of the time is silly. It also hurts real restaurants and confuses tourists. I’m not saying open everything without rules by the way.
But open the damn bars legally and call them bars. Call a spade a spade. Stop the charade it is an insult to everyone’s intelligence and move forward from there. If you want to legally open them and implement stupid rules like no pool tables, singing, or dancing (which will be broken anyways) then do it.
But for the love of God, can we stop calling them “wink, wink” restaurants and let them open as the venues they actually are and go from there? Again, I’m not saying open them and have no guidelines or rules. Just call them what they are, stop the stupidity, and stop insulting everyone with pretending they are all restaurants. When you have the Windmill bistro or the Queen Cafe or the Palace eatery or whatever it’s just stupidity and confusing to regular tourists.
Steve, Na Jomtien.
