News Forum - Next CCSA meeting will discuss opening nightlife businesses sooner

[Thaiger]

Facing enormous pressure from entertainment and nightlife workers and businesses, the National Security Council Secretary-General hinted that lifting the ban on nightlife will be up for discussion at the next CCSA meeting. He said PM Prayut Chan-o-cha understands and sympathises with those in the industry but also worries about the Covid-19 situation as infections are still high and the country has reopened its borders to international tourists. Businesses and workers affected by the shutdown since April have become increasingly frustrated and vocal about their plight, participating in protests and presenting petitions to government officials. And some recent petitions will be […]

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[Soidog]

I would think it’s inevitable there will be a relaxing of rules; not that they count for much. I would imagine they will fall back to mid to late December opening, as they believe that will attract a few hundred thousand people to arrive for New Year. Misguided to assume a lot of tourists will arrive and foolish to open busy bars and nightclubs early. 
 

Remove the Thailand pass. Introduce an ATK on arrival and keep a PCR before departure and people will come. Open outside bars and restaurants with 50%-75% seating only capacity and I think that would be a good balance of risk versus reward. 

[Pompies]

The inequity of the way that CCSA and others are applying closures is unacceptable. In my home town two different Tesco Lotus malls have contributed 3 hotspot outbreaks and have been closed for a matter of days. Fresh markets have been the source of thousands of new cases and have been closed for days. But bars have been shut for almost 8 months thanks to the irresponsible behaviour of one woman who visited numerous bars while being infected. There is no logic in the imposition of these closures and it has caused innumerable cases of unemployment & business bankruptcies. This ravaging of lives will not be forgotten.

[BangkokBen]

"Facing enormous pressure from businesses"  That's what happens when you callously wipe out people's income for almost 2 years for reasons that haven't been proven to do anything to curb the disease.

[Paco]

Torture for the entertainment business

[Rookiescot]

Well there is the issue of his own cabinet colleagues being responsible for the last outbrake owing to their nocturnal activities at certain exclusive clubs in Bangkok.

Why do I suspect those clubs are now open but normal bars remain closed? 

[Bob20]

33 minutes ago, Rookiescot said:

Well there is the issue of his own cabinet colleagues being responsible for the last outbrake owing to their nocturnal activities at certain exclusive clubs in Bangkok.

Why do I suspect those clubs are now open but normal bars remain closed? 

[JohninDublin]

1 hour ago, BangkokBen said:

"Facing enormous pressure from businesses"  That's what happens when you callously wipe out people's income for almost 2 years for reasons that haven't been proven to do anything to curb the disease.

I don't know if you've seen the figures from Europe where infections are currently 21X higher than Asia per capita over the past 7 days. Europe has close to fully re-opened, though in the past 24 hours, both Austria and Germany have started to reintroduce some restrictions. 

To me, the most likely reason for this huge disparity, is because Asia has kept the restrictions in place. I'd suggest this does prove the measures do help to curb the spread.

[Lawyers_Guns_and_Money]

The fact that they are considering loosening restrictions early due to economic concerns is proof that the decisions and dates are arbitrary to begin with and are not based on any science. 

[Lawyers_Guns_and_Money]

3 minutes ago, Tjampman said:

Wow,  you finally discovered what politics is!

If it was wholy up to medical science we would have been in a complete lock down. The reason we are not is that politics have other considerations, incl reelection and economics.

You should have left it as "complete lick down". At least the replies would have been amusing.

[divrg]

4 hours ago, Soidog said:

Remove the Thailand pass. Introduce an ATK on arrival and keep a PCR before departure and people will come. Open outside bars and restaurants with 50%-75% seating only capacity and I think that would be a good balance of risk versus reward. 

I think its too late already. Many people booked other destinations when they heard about the ban against alchohol. No test on arrival. Simply demand that visitors is vaccinated, it should be enough.

I dont really understand the goverment. Do they really think that people are so addicted too Thailand that they will just come and pout money into the country? This talk about high-end tourist is going to fail miserably. Its arrogant and stupid! a product of upper class thais that hold tourism in contempt!. Well be prepared to feed your own people then. Raise the taxes for the richest people in Thailand and let them pay for raising the standards in schools and healthcare.

When something has been too easy for a long time then people start taking it for granted. This is going to be a awakening for some people in Thailand.

[farang]

no one is going to book a hotel,buy insurance,pay for a test and apply for a pass,down load all that paper work ,buy a flight and take a chance on looseing it all because you dont get a reply or the thai pass in time.thats crazy.and the thai govt acts like they dont understand why no ones coming!!!they know exactly why.its a money grab by the few i think.when more thai buiness start complaining loudly things  might change.until then ,look to viet nam,cambodia or  malay. they have none of this crap.cheaper too.

[ace035]

45 minutes ago, farang said:

no one is going to book a hotel,buy insurance,pay for a test and apply for a pass,down load all that paper work ,buy a flight and take a chance on looseing it all because you dont get a reply or the thai pass in time.thats crazy.and the thai govt acts like they dont understand why no ones coming!!!they know exactly why.its a money grab by the few i think.when more thai buiness start complaining loudly things  might change.until then ,look to viet nam,cambodia or  malay. they have none of this crap.cheaper too.

Nothing you can do to stop them from coming to Thailand because that's their choices. There is Phuket as a 2nd option and everything open over there.

[JackIsAGoodBoy]

Reality check for Thai government. Thailand is a cheap mass tourism beach holiday destination but with pollution becoming a major problem.

[resetamy]

5 hours ago, BangkokBen said:

"Facing enormous pressure from businesses"  That's what happens when you callously wipe out people's income for almost 2 years for reasons that haven't been proven to do anything to curb the disease.

Exactly. These people are starving, and committing suicide in rampant numbers. I could no longer still receive a salary 3 or 4 times the average Thai's wage, barely work (teaching online is not real teaching), and not feel a tremendous sense of guilt and shame for that.  Also - requiring people to pay for their children's education, when they have no money, no livelihood, when they aren't even receiving a real education. Thailand's propensity to obey these policies has been its death knell. 

I will pray that Thailand opens up and generates more tourism and business for the beautiful people, but I fear that with all of these draconian measures (not just in Thailand - worldwide), this country will never go back to what it was before. CM alone will take 10 - 20 years to recover, and honestly I don't think it will. Sino-Thai and Chinese firms are going to basically buy Chiang Mai outright as it is the first real stop on the one belt one road global initiative.  

[Manu]

8 hours ago, JohninDubin said:

I don't know if you've seen the figures from Europe where infections are currently 21X higher than Asia per capita over the past 7 days. Europe has close to fully re-opened, though in the past 24 hours, both Austria and Germany have started to reintroduce some restrictions. 

To me, the most likely reason for this huge disparity, is because Asia has kept the restrictions in place. I'd suggest this does prove the measures do help to curb the spread.

Have you been to Walking street in Patong lately? I was there in October, a friend of mine in September so at least for 2 months now, it is party (almost) as usual there. Bars open, beer drinkers, live music, etc... I have not heard of any cluster coming from there...??

In France, with their 75% fully vaccinated, you need a Pass or PCR test to go to bars, restaurants, clubs but also pratically for everything else like cinemas, theatres, supermarkets etc... and even to take a train. From 15 December, everyone over 65 that did not get their 3rd dose will loose their pass so basically their right to do anything. But like everywhere else in Europe, it is also kicking off in France with currently over 20 000 new cases daily and a death rate roughly the same as in Thailand for a population roughly the same as Thailand. One cannot even blame the non-vaccinated this time since they are not allowed to go anywhere...

These two examples contredict your statement.

[LoongFred]

4 hours ago, resetamy said:

Exactly. These people are starving, and committing suicide in rampant numbers. I could no longer still receive a salary 3 or 4 times the average Thai's wage, barely work (teaching online is not real teaching), and not feel a tremendous sense of guilt and shame for that.  Also - requiring people to pay for their children's education, when they have no money, no livelihood, when they aren't even receiving a real education. Thailand's propensity to obey these policies has been its death knell. 

I will pray that Thailand opens up and generates more tourism and business for the beautiful people, but I fear that with all of these draconian measures (not just in Thailand - worldwide), this country will never go back to what it was before. CM alone will take 10 - 20 years to recover, and honestly I don't think it will. Sino-Thai and Chinese firms are going to basically buy Chiang Mai outright as it is the first real stop on the one belt one road global initiative.  

Love to visit Chiang Mai but the covid rates remain high. Until the rates go down it's not worth it. Previously we'd go every month or two. Stay in a nice place and eat out. Never went to the bar scene though. 

We have a number of successful Thai friends that live in Chiang Mai so it's always been fun.

[LoongFred]

10 hours ago, Pompies said:

The inequity of the way that CCSA and others are applying closures is unacceptable. In my home town two different Tesco Lotus malls have contributed 3 hotspot outbreaks and have been closed for a matter of days. Fresh markets have been the source of thousands of new cases and have been closed for days. But bars have been shut for almost 8 months thanks to the irresponsible behaviour of one woman who visited numerous bars while being infected. There is no logic in the imposition of these closures and it has caused innumerable cases of unemployment & business bankruptcies. This ravaging of lives will not be forgotten.

I don't thing it was one person spreading covid, it was many irresponsible people. That's why Chiang Mai is restricted. 

[steve860]

Possibly  now you'll  have some unsuccessful friends in CM.

Edited November 21, 2021 by steve860

[HiuMak]

Beauty of thailand lies in the night

[steve860]

9 minutes ago, LoongFred said:

I don't thing it was one person spreading covid, it was many irresponsible people. That's why Chiang Mai is restricted. 

Correct 

[Disenfranchised]

11 minutes ago, LoongFred said:

I don't thing it was one person spreading covid, it was many irresponsible people. That's why Chiang Mai is restricted. 

Restricted?

Living in Chiang Mai, I haven't noticed any restrictions apart from not being able to have a beer or glass of wine with dinner. Given the amount of traffic on the road Friday, one would have thought things were back to normal.

Mind you, it is a little sad to see all the shuttered and abandoned establishments in the inner city.

[Brownie]

15 hours ago, Soidog said:

Introduce an ATK on arrival and keep a PCR before departure and people will come.

Once the real tourists start coming, they will find a new scam - doctored exit PCR tests to keep you in LOS for another 2 weeks.  Honestly, that is scaring me the most - not being able to go back home after 2-3 weeks

[Wetiko]

13 hours ago, Lawyers_Guns_and_Money said:

The fact that they are considering loosening restrictions early due to economic concerns is proof that the decisions and dates are arbitrary to begin with and are not based on any science. 

Thank you Mr. Prime Minister. You've received your instructions from Uncle Sam.

[LoongFred]

6 hours ago, steve860 said:

Possibly  now you'll  have some unsuccessful friends in CM.

My friends are mostly Thai professionals and are pretty unaffected by the current economic situations. They understand why there are covid restrictions and accept it. It's mostly the bars and associated entertainment industry that are affected. It greatly affects those afiliated with these. Of course this affects some associated with foreign tourism (single old males) disproportionately.