Queen's Birthday (no...not this queen!)

I was just reading a guidebook that mentioned that HM Queen Sirikit's birthday is August 12th - which happens to fall smack dab in the middle of my vacation. As a national holiday (according to Frommer's) how does this affect business/bars etc.?

Big celebration and bars normally close - at the discretion of the Police - out of respect. In Great Britain when we have a big Royal event the bars used to get to open all the time. Now they stay open all the time anyway and crimes have fallen over 11%

That's the day when grouse shooting starts, so if you see anyone grousing on the boards, it's quite OK to shoot them that day.

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