Two weeks after Pattaya’s bars were ordered to close due to the coronavirus second wave, pubs that remained open for food using restaurant licenses are now throwing in the towel.
Deprived of selling alcohol, the “restaurants” that had been open on Soi Chaiyapoon and Soi Chalermprakiat 25 were closed Jan. 13.
Thanet Supornsahatrangsi of the Chonburi Tourism Industry Council said rules that required restaurants to close by 8 p.m., combined with the dine-in alcohol ban, left little reason for Pattaya’s expats to go out. Bars that thought they could get around the pub-closure order found quickly it wasn’t worth it.
Thanet called Pattaya an “abandoned city” and urged the government to introduce a slate of financial relief measures for tourism and hospitality industry businesses.
