Bars 'Remain Closed' in Phuket; Don't Tell Bangla Road. Meanwhile Bangla Road bars are packed by 9 p.m. daily under cover of being “restaurants” and having paid off corrupt police. In Phuket, the law says “restaurants” may sell alcoholic beverages from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and again from 5-11 p.m. Live music can be performed inside restaurants, but the number of musicians is limited to five and they are to keep physical contact with others to a minimum.- Bangkok Herald

Bars 'Remain Closed' in Phuket; Don't Tell Bangla Road

16 November 2021

The Kangaroo "restaurant" is open and serving booze despite bars supposedly being closed in Phuket.

You wouldn't know it from Bangla Road, but bars technically remain closed in Phuket.

The central government claimed Monday that Phuket Province has been maintaining stringent coronavirus-prevention measures as stipulated by the Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration, which recently announced that no relaxations were yet being applied on pubs, bars, karaoke clubs and other nightlife venues.

Meanwhile Bangla Road bars are packed by 9 p.m. daily under cover of being "restaurants" and having paid off corrupt police.

In Phuket, the law says "restaurants" may sell alcoholic beverages from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and again from 5-11 p.m. Live music can be performed inside restaurants, but the number of musicians is limited to five and they are to keep physical contact with others to a minimum.

Bars – err, restaurants – are packed on Bangla Road.

Fishing piers are currently off-limits from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. unless for strictly necessary reasons. Only workers who were fully vaccinated are allowed to be employed in fishing, and random Covid-19 tests using antigen kits are carried out at the piers every 14 days.

People entering Phuket by land, on water and by air must be either fully vaccinated or have recently recovered from Covid-19. Others must present a coronavirus test result that is no older than seven days, RT-PCR or antigen, but the evidence must be certified by a medical facility or lab. The entrant must also download the Mor Phrom application onto their mobile device.

In Bangkok, district offices have been publicizing a vaccination service for non-immunized workers of Thai and foreign nationalities, currently being offered at Din Daeng Youth Center. Most of the vaccine recipients who showed up so far have been migrant workers from Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia.

The National News Bureau of Thailand contributed to this report.