Thailand Lifts Curbs On Nightlife Venues And Ends Mask Mandate

Thailand has scrapped a mask mandate and allowed bars and pubs to remain open for longer hours as the Southeast Asian nation rolls back its remaining Covid-19 curbs amid a decline in new cases and a rebound in tourist arrivals.

The wearing of masks is now voluntary nationwide, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha said in a statement published on Royal Gazette late Thursday, ending a mandate first imposed in June 2021. People with chronic diseases should continue to wear masks during group activities to prevent infections, he said.

Pubs, bars, karaoke outlets and other entertainment venues can return to their normal operating hours, according to the statement. The nightlife venues in the country’s main tourist destinations were allowed to reopen earlier this month but ordered to shut at midnight. According to the Bangkok Post, Thailand currently has an estimated 100,000 nightspots in the country, but only 20,000 are properly registered — the rest operate without licenses. It’s further estimated that some two million people are employed in the country’s entertainment and nightlife business.

Open they might, but the proposed rules don’t leave much room for things like…dancing!

The rules appear to prohibit dancing to some degree, mingling and having more than a certain number of customers. Read the proposed iron-clad regulations for clubs that were hoping to reopen below:

• Controlling the number of patrons to ensure the venue does not get congested
• Checking every customer and staff member’s temperature
• Providing alcohol-based hand sanitising gel at all entrances and other areas as necessary
• Ensuring groups are no bigger than five
• Ensuring customers queuing to be seated maintain social distancing
• Ensuring all tables are at least 2 metres apart or are partitioned
• Ensuring seats are at least one metre apart
• Ensuring all venues are properly ventilated
• Only eating and drinking is allowed
• Beverages can only be served individually, and shared jugs or ice buckets are prohibited
• Serving staff are required to wear a mask or face shield at all times
• Stage or performance area must be partitioned, and audience must be at least 2 metres away from the stage
• Event comperes or speakers are required to wear a face shield at all times
• Patrons are not allowed to be loud or walk around the venue if not necessary
• If the sharing of food or beverages cannot be avoided, everyone at the table must be provided with an individual serving spoon or glass
• Toilets must be cleaned every 30 to 60 minutes
• All tables, chairs and frequently touched surfaces must be cleaned regularly
• No sports matches or competitions that will attract large groups of people are allowed
• No video gaming or pub games like pool and darts will be allowed
• Social distancing measures must be observed in smoking areas
• No service personnel or public relations representatives are allowed to sit with customers

We reached out to a popular Bangkok nightclub to see how it would be affected should the rules come into play. The owner, who asked not to be named, replied: “I honestly have no idea. If I only I knew what these knuckleheads have in mind.”

Southeast Asia’s second-biggest economy has accelerated the easing of curbs on travel and businesses in recent months after new Covid cases fell to around 2,000 a day from more than 20,000 in April. The relaxation comes as tourism-dependent economies are increasingly competing to woo back travelers.

“Through our strict health measures, the infections and deaths from Covid-19 have declined significantly, allowing the government to ease a number of measures and restrictions,” Prayuth said. “We hope that further relaxations will help people and businesses” to live their lives and carry out economic activities as close to normal as possible, he said.

Before the pandemic, the overall tourism-related sector accounted for about a fifth of Thailand’s economy and jobs, with nearly 40 million overseas visitors arriving in 2019, according to the central bank. Shares of airlines and hotels gained in Bangkok trading on Friday. Asia Aviation Pcl, which controls the nation’s largest budget carrier, rose as much as 1.4% while Asia Hotel Pcl jumped as much as 5.8% and S Hotels & Resorts Pcl advanced 3.2%.

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