Clampdown on Bangkok nightlife gets jeers, cheers

By Marwaan Macan-Markar
September 11, 2001

Bangkok - For the past five years, Natharat Buakham and her friend Pen have been regulars in Patpong, the red-light district in the Thai capital renowned for its sex shows and bars that have women catering to the needs of men, for a price.

Work has been the main draw, since both 30-year-old Natharat and 32-year-old Pen are hostesses in a Patpong bar. And these two Thai women have no qualms about entertaining their mostly foreign male clients through the night - it has brought them money to feed their families.

"I am very proud of my life, what I have earned. I have sent much to my family in the province," says Natharat. "On good nights, I have earned 1,000 baht or more baht from tips." For Pen, her nightly earnings have helped care for her two children, aged 10 and 12. "They get food, go to school because of my work here."

But of late, the income from their work in brightly-lit Patpong has dropped to a disturbing low, from zero on some nights to no more than 300 baht (US$6.50) on others. And it is no secret who they blame for this change: Thailand's Interior Minister Purachai Piumsombun, who has been leading a high-profile crusade since August to impose a moral "social order". His tough policy has required bars to stop selling alcohol after midnight and to close their doors by 2am - the very time when the tourists are usually filling up the bars and parlors offering sex shows. The peak period for business, according to bar owners, has been 1-3am.

In some instances, police, who have been given the authority to enforce the "social order", have walked into bars and questioned foreigners seen consuming alcohol after the designated deadline. Police have also made sure that other night-life venues fall in line with Purachai's crusade, ranging from the fashionable nightclubs to roadside noodle stalls. Purachai himself has led police raiding parties to ensure that his order is enforced

"His campaign is hurting us, denying us customers, money. If it goes on, I don't know how to feed my children," explains Pen. Others have also criticized Purachai for the impact his policy is having on their wallets. The chorus of detractors includes bar owners, nightspot operators, taxi drivers and foreign men.

An economist from Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University warns that the rigidly enforced code could undermine the country's economy and the tourism sector. "The policy may adversely affect the economy. Patrons of nightspots have high purchasing power," he told the daily The Nation. "We have to accept that foreign tourists like the nightlife in our country. The restriction on the hours affect tourism, which is the one important sector the government is pinning its hopes on to boost our sluggish economy."

Currently, according to the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, this city alone has an estimated 3,000 registered nightspots, although some newspaper reports say that if unregistered ones are included, the number could be as high as 8,000. But Purachai refuses to budge from his position. And his argument is simple: he is enforcing a law that has been in the books since 1966 - the Act of Nightspot Establishments - but which has always been flauted. That law is specific on the time entertainment venues should close: 2am.

Last week, the Interior Minister upped the ante by threatening to quit as minister if the government prevented him from enforcing the policy. He was also defiant on another aspect of his moral crusade - to ensure that bars do not admit those aged under 20 and do not serve them alcohol, two features that are also covered by the 1966 act. Until Purachai's campaign, underage Thai youths had little difficulty entering bars on such popular strips as Royal City Avenue, where they could drink alcohol and dance till 4am.

Nor does Purachai want these entertainment venues to be haunts for drug use. Methamphetamine abuse is a growing problem among Thailand's youth. According to a 1999 study done by Chulalongkorn University, more than 600,000 children in this country of some 60 million were addicted to drugs.

Purachai's tough stance has gone down well with a number of Thais. Supporters include parents, child rights activists, some academics, and health experts. At a recent public forum on Purachai's crusade, academics and health experts backed the Interior Minister, saying that the country's nightspots had become venues for Thai teenagers to indulge in excessive drinking and drug consumption. A poll conducted by the research unit at Bangkok's Assumption University endorsed these sentiments. Some 60 percent of 1,215 people polled in Bangkok backed the moral crusade, 71 percent favored the new closing hours, and 58.5 percent said yes to the ban on liquor sales after midnight.

"It is a complicated issue, but it is about time that the law was implemented," says Saijai Kumkanarb, a sociologist at Bangkok's Thammasat University. "There is public support for this because of the drug problem, the alcohol problem among Thai youth. It is serious." She concedes, however, that the government needs to account for the hundreds of thousands of Thais who depend on the bustling nightlife for their livelihood. "Some thinking should go in here."

Bar owner Tarawut Rutiragul is also with Purachai on this. "He is not stopping people from drinking or partying, but only saying they have to stop earlier than before. That is fine," says Tarawut, who runs the Bangkok Bar in a neighborhood frequented by backpackers. "I have lost some income, and I think it will be that way till people adjust to the new reality and start coming earlier," he adds.

However, Pen the bar hostess is hoping for the old order to return. "We know our customers, they like to have dinner and then come to Patpong, normally at 12 or 1 to relax, have a drink, have fun."

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