At a subdued meeting outside the police booth on Bangla Rd, the President of the Patong Entertainment Association, Weerawit Kuresombat, told The Phuket News that the group had gathered to request an end to the curfew.
“We support the NCPO [National Council for Peace and Order] but [the curfew] has had a very serious effect on us. We hope that the NCPO will cancel the curfew in tourism provinces.
“All businesses – restaurants, entertainment venue, and others – are in trouble. Normally entertainment venues open at 8 pm but now we have to open four hours earlier and close at midnight. Tourists come here for their vacation and want nightlife. But entertainment business owners have no choice, they have to close at midnight.
“The result is that revenue [of all entertainment businesses in Patong] has fallen from B10 million a day before the curfew to B5 million.”
Before the curfew was imposed, he said, the average tourist would spend B2,000 a night in Patong. But with the curfew, there were not enough hours for them to spend that much.
"It is lucky that this has happened in the low season, not the high season,” he added.
“Some tourists went to Bangkok first and found it frightening [under military rule and with anti-coup street protests]. Then, they checked the news and found that there were no protests in Phuket.
“But when they arrived they found that Phuket was closed early each night. That disappointed them.
“We have sent a number of requests to the NCPO asking for mercy. Every year we pay tax to the government of about B180 billion. Ten days of slashed revenue will not have much effect on that but if it goes on for a month, there will be a huge effect.”
He said that bigger businesses are managing but the small ones in particular are suffering, and some cannot afford to pay rent or staff salaries.
“We just need everything to go back to normal,” he said.
Gov Maitri said, “I have already reported the issue to the NCPO. They know that Phuket is a tourist centre and the province is top of the list of items being considered by them. The NCPO announced last Friday that tourism province may be exempted.
He said, “I was already planning to visit Patong before I got the invitation from the Patong Entertainment Association.
“I have already sent a report to Ministry of Interior about the Patong Entertainment Association request [to end the curfew].
“In Phuket there are no political gatherings. Everyone gets on with the island’s officials. The NCPO should cancel the curfew.
“Phuket people should be patient and cooperate with the Police, the Navy and the Army who are all here to make life better for us.
“People and individuals should cooperate for peace. For example, I have told officials in Phuket to be stricter about [such things as] drug enforcement and encroachment on national parks. Anyone with information about crimes can inform the officials.”
The Governor held a brief closed-door meeting in the police booth with Pol Col Chiraphat Pochanaphan, Superintendent of Kathu Police, Patong Mayor Chalermlak Kebsup, Mr Weerawit and others. He asked them to work together to keep the lid on gambling, indecent shows and drug abuse in the area.
After that the group strolled along Bangla Rd, with the Governor stopping from time to time to chat with tourists and commiserate with business owners.
Tourist Adam Savitch, 36, from the USA, told The Phuket News, “I have been here since January. It’s silly [the curfew]. What’s the difference if the town shuts down at 10, 12, 2 or 4 am? It only hurts the businesses. It doesn’t really affect our nightlife – the party comes back to our house. But Phuket is still a beautiful place. The beach is still nice.”
Another American long-stay tourist, 38-year-old James West, remarked, “So far the curfew has not affected me.” But, he said, he had been thinking about doing business in Phuket and “the coup is a much more serious matter when it comes to making decisions about business.”