Bangkok Lifestyle Magazine 

The Silom Soi 4 was subject of some police raids a couple of weeks ago and now has to close at midnight instead of 2am. What is the foundation of this measure of the police and how long are you expecting this measures to be in effect?
The foundation of this measure is actually clearer than one might think. Basically, the places which have to close don’t have proper licenses to open until 2 am. Now that has always been like that, but it has not been enforced properly. A new man in the police force for the Silom Area is very strict and known to be absolutely not corrupt. That’s a good thing though, but that is also why some bars have to close temporarily. There are 4 different types of licenses. Most bars have a license to sell alcohol (until 1 am) but they don’t get a license for being allowed to have loud dance music and people dancing. To get this club license is not easy for many of the places and that is the problem. Many venues didn’t go through the hassle of applying for one before the crackdown, because it was not really necessary. Now it is and people have to comply with the law. There are only a few places like Narcissus for example, who have a real "discotheque license" which allows them to have people dance in the club. Also, don’t forget the APEC meeting. Bangkok is on high security alert and to be honest, I can understand it a little bit. There have been many terrorist attacks in South-East-Asia recently and the amount of important people gathered at APEC would be a perfect target.

Many other clubs might face the same legal situation concerning unclear rules and regulations. What makes Silom Soi 4 so beloved by the police?
Soi 4 has been pretty much the first real party-street in Bangkok. You can see a lot of famous people there, which means that it will be covered in the press a lot more often. If there is some kind of crackdown you can be sure that Soi 4 will play its part too.

How big is the financial stake your are loosing through this measurements?
Yes, I’m loosing money and it’s quite a bit too. But I’m not dependent on that money so for me it’s ok, as long as we don’t have to close for 2 months. But nobody thinks about the employees. If we close for 2 weeks, I cannot pay them for a whole month and they are very dependent on that money. So I think that the crackdown is hurting some people who can afford it least.

If the situation does not change is it still profitable to stay in business?
If the situation does not change, it will still be profitable but not as much as before. Event thought it would be still profitable I would quit this business. Why? Because of the hassle dealing with it, and because of being seen a something very close to a criminal when operating a nightlife business. In Thai culture this is not an honourable occupation.

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