Forget reopening to tourists, Pattaya pubs and bars want to reopen and sell alcohol.
Booze has been banned – officially – in restaurants since April and bars have been closed more most of the past 18 months.
Tuk, the owner of Tuk Bar in Jomtien Beach, said she reopened as a restaurant to sell food in order to survive. Nearly all of her former employees have left Pattaya and she’s working with her children now.
Hopefully, she said, the government will allow bars and pubs to serve alcohol in October.
Thanakorn Kubtajit, secretary for the Thai Alcohol Beverage Business Association, said he believes business closures and lockdowns will end starting in October. If that happens, alcohol sales will increase more than 50 percent, he predicted.