In a notice released today, Mr Weerawit called on operators to uphold the “work to law” ban. Staff and venue operators were asked to refrain from continuing to serve customers past 11pm, and asked to not use the car park located behind the Hollywood discotheque.
The call for solidarity follows an order issued by Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew on monday (Dec 27) mandating: “The sale of alcoholic beverages indoor venues is prohibited after 11pm to 6am of the next day, except a shop with an outdoor area that can be opened for consumption of alcoholic beverages is available exclusively for the New Year’s Eve festival according to normal business hours on Dec 31 until 1am on Jan 1.
“An area with air conditioning can be opened for consumption of alcoholic beverages until 11pm before New Year,” the order added.
The new order also confirmed that “service places” such as entertainment venues, pubs, bars and karaoke were to remain closed until further notice, in line with national orders issued from Bangkok.
In Phuket, many nightlife venues have been allowed to operate as long as they had a valid permit to serve food, and hence were technically operating as restaurants.
The move has been accepted by local officials in order to allow as many people as possible to return to work in order to earn some level of income.
An officer at the Phuket Provincial Administration Office, which is responsible for issuing provincial orders approved by the governor, told The Phuket News earlier this week that the Phuket provincial figures had no choice but to institute the 11pm cutoff for indoor venues serving alcohol on New Year’s Eve.
“Phuket is a pilot province, so it can have special rules, but since Omicron arrived in Thailand, Phuket must follow the rules issued by the Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA),” the officer said.
“The last order of Phuket Provincial announced that indoor venues would be allowed to serve alcohol until 1am, but the new order has changed that. The sale of alcoholic beverages at indoor venues must stop from 11pm to 6am the next day.
“An outdoor area can be open for the consumption of alcoholic beverages exclusively for New Year’s Eve celebrations on Dec 31 until 1am on Jan 1. All information of the new order is all correct.” the officer confirmed.