Upcoming Election

[kittyboy]

I am meeting a friend in Pattaya at the end of June. We scheduled months ago and it turns out we will be in Pattaya during the upcoming election (or elections?).

Just a few questions for the old thailand hands...Formed and ill formed opinions are welcome.

What happens to the bars during the election? Are they shut down?
Has there been curfews in the past during the election cycle?

What is the probability of protests and or riots after the election?

Should my friend have an alternative plan to get back to thailand? Ie..go to Cambodia and fly to Europe from there.

Similar Threads:

• Upcoming visit?
• Upcoming Jazz Concert .... Mark your calendars
• Upcoming Holidays In May 2013
• Upcoming Special Events at Happy Place Bar!
• Upcoming Musical Event in Pattaya

[thonglor55]

The bars will close on polling day and the preceding evening. Last time there was an election they were also closed for a 24-hour period seven days earlier - as far as I can recall it has something to do with when absentee or postal votes close. It may or may not happen again this time. Whether there will be riots afterwards will depend on how quickly the Thai establishment moves to disallow the result of any election that goes Thaksin's way, and how the Red Shirts react to that. Remember that the election dates are close to the beginning of the Buddhist Lent, when the bars are also closed for two or three days (depending on the whim of the government). All of these items were set out in the thread "Having an erection" of 8 May and you can see the commentary that I and others made at the time.

Right on Thonglor! And just to add that the bars usually do not know themselves until the day before when the police hand out fliers or our lawyers call and tell tell us that we have to close and the details. They love to keep us in the dark! We will try to stay open selling soft drinks and have the boys there!

[anonone]

Right on Thonglor! And just to add that the bars usually do not know themselves until the day before when the police hand out fliers or our lawyers call and tell tell us that we have to close and the details. They love to keep us in the dark! We will try to stay open selling soft drinks and have the boys there!

You have become a mind reader....i was curious if you had to close down, or just could not sell alcohol. Thanks for the info.
I will arrive in Pattaya right before the election, so If you are open on the 2nd and 3rd, I will drop by.
Please post if you receive any more info on the details.

On a related note, how much impact does this have on non-bar areas? Not sure how everyday life is affected...Do people go to their home district to vote?
May I assume that Dongtan Beach operates in a fairly regular manner? Perhaps with the same restriction not to sell beer / alcohol?

I am trying to recall from memory of years past but I cnt seem to recall. Maybe someone can help us. If I remember correctly, on.ly the alcohol venues had difficulties and many resorted to covering their alcohol with sheets or blocking them off in 7-11's and supermarkets. Some bars served soft drinks. I dont recall that the boys went home. We close for Bhuddist holidays even though we could stay open for soft drinks to allow the boys some time with family or freinds or just go to the beach.

In Bangkok many bars do remain open during the election because the law does not require them to close.
The law states that there is No Alcohol sold from 6pm on the day before polling until midnight on polling day.
This means that bars and restaurants can remain open but serving only non-alcoholic drinks and food.
From memory, places like Dicks Cafe, Telephone Pub, Balcony, Banana Bar, Maxies, @Richards and Coffee Society all remain open and are quite busy because all the gogo bars and discos are closed.

[Beachlover]

What is the probability of protests and or riots after the election?

This is my biggest worry as it feels pretty unpredictable.

Personally, I'm avoiding Thailand during the election and not making any plans to be there for at least the first several weeks after. It's no hardship as there are plenty of other places to spend time in.

I will also use Singapore or Kuala Lumpur, instead of Bangkok, as my main hub of travel into Asia so if I need to cancel plans to visit Thailand it doesn't affect any long-haul flight bookings. All I do is lose is a couple of low-cost carrier flights (maybe $100) and book an LCC flight to go elsewhere instead.

[newalaan]

Though not specifically election time, i seem to remember sitting at one bar during one of the official 'no-alcohol' holidays, where everybody around me was drinking their alcohol as usual, G&Ts, whiskey, beer from coffee mugs. No one batted an eyelid, the usual menu, the usual order and only the apology from the waiter regarding the coffee mug was different from usual.

Visits since which have coinsided with alcohol-free holidays I have been at my bfs village, and as you would expect,they are mainly treated as just another drinking day, possibly any 7-11 stores adhere to the law but the local family shops sell whatever alcohol you want day or night. It still amazes me when at 2am where village evening life normally stops about 9pm, if someone wants a few bottles of Leo they just wake up the family shop owner and get served. Never seen a shop owner unhappy at being woken up at all times. Some do respect the dry buddha festivals but regular drinkers don't seem to.

But with regards to the election, I am due to leave Thailand just before polling day, by pure coincidence rather than planning, but I am glad this is the case. As thonglor55 said in his post, bars being closed or having alcohol or not, may well be the least worry for any visitors depending on the election result. If for any reason whatsoever the red shirt do not win power, i'm sure there will be repeated scenes of last May and the demonstrations. If the reds do win, there is bound to be reaction from Yellow or whatever colour is 'in vogue' or the military, I just can't see a senario where the elected government will take over without trouble. I sincerely hope a smooth transition to whatever the post election result give, but now more than ever the political tensions are so acute.

I'm sure thonglor can fill us in with the groundswell of opinions from his heavily fortified ghetto, not sure if it will be "up telescope", binoculars from the parapets or 'over the top' into the action to find out what's going on. But I'm sure he will report honestly what he observes. So I hope the forum takeover is held off until the election is past so Thonglor can be our man on the ground before announcing, yet again, his departure when it is confirmed the current moderator will be in place with the new owners.

I have no experience with the intricacies of Thai politics, my bf shows little interest in line with the other 90% of the population, but I am surprised that there has been no evidence (so far) of rallying cries up in his Issan home from the red shirt brigade, maybe they've yet to settle on the appearance fee for demonstations and the vote buying figure first.

I would agree that the uncertainty which accompanies anything to do with Thai politics would be worth thinking about a change in plans if one is considering visit in July.I
see krobbie, and others no doubt, will be in Thailand at the time of elections, the only thing I would consider if definitely coming, would be perhaps be booking a hotel near the airport the night before incase travel routes are hit. Most any other plans outside Bkk will probably be ok as usual.

[Beachlover]

I see krobbie, and others no doubt, will be in Thailand at the time of elections, the only thing I would consider if definitely coming, would be perhaps be booking a hotel near the airport the night before incase travel routes are hit. Most any other plans outside Bkk will probably be ok as usual.

Krobbie, maybe you should bring your Mac... that way if you get stuck in Bangkok for any period of time past your planned holiday, you can still get work done for your boss. Maybe even convince your boss to let you live and work from Bangkok on a more sustained basis! (If that would be ideal for you).

[joe552]

BL what makes you think KR has a boss?