2 hours ago, spoon said:

Their neighboring country, malaysia, just reported highest sibgle day new cases in the region, 190+ case. That might tip the scale there.

Now I understand why Singapore has implemented a 14 day quarantine for anyone travelling from ASEAN countries.

16 minutes ago, jason1975 said:

Now I understand why Singapore has implemented a 14 day quarantine for anyone travelling from ASEAN countries.

That means u will also have to self quarantine when u are back home right?

This is sooo sad, but at the end of the day, its the safety of the boys and other Thai people which is more important, I just hope its true that they will move Songkran on a later date, I rebooked my flight bcoz of virus, aaahhh...  

2 hours ago, jason1975 said:

Oh darn. I cannot meet you tomorrow night because I have to fly back singapore last minute tomorrow.

ah yes that's right, or else be subject to SHN.... argh 

6 hours ago, z909 said:

If they close bars, they should also be closing any other business that has customers packed in a tight space.   For example, certain food courts.

 

Here in Santa Fe, New Mexico, many large restaurants and food courts are removing tables to provide 3-feet or more between them. Maybe they should do that with Go-Go Guys in the Bars???

I have not been to the bars recently and will not go. I do not wish to put myself or others at risk. It would make perfect sense to close all the bars and IMHO a good move to help contain things. This is not going away and to not minimize the risks seems reckless. It is the role of government to protect. I do think more stringent measures will be placed on all entering Thailand in the coming days and more closures will be announced.

Popular straight clubs, Onyx and Babyface will be closing the venues voluntarily from tomorrow.

 

 

 

According to one of the boys, Freshboy is closing the bar voluntarily from Monday 16th.

 

In the rest of this world many countries hit by the virus are now also closing/ordering to close bars/restrts etc. Now sit in a Swiss HTL where CNN is blaring out such special news to await a rebooked flight onward tomorrow morning.

After the initial shock in fact TH seems to be doing quite well compared to many countries.

NOTE -- I post this because it is dated today, less than hour ago. However, I am unable to find a second source confirmation. This may or may not accurately reflect current conditions or official policy.

From MSN (source Reuters)

Thailand plans to close bars, schools, halt cockfights to curb coronavirus

BANGKOK, March 16 (Reuters) - Thailand plans to close down schools, bars, movie theatres, cockfighting arenas and other entertainment centres to curb the spread of coronavirus as well as to postpone next month's Thai New Year holiday to limit travel, officials said on Monday.

The planned measures come after new cases jumped by nearly threefold in the space of a week and reached 147.

The government will ask the cabinet on Tuesday to approve closing of universities, public and private schools, kick-boxing rings, cockfighting arenas, bars and theatres nationwide, deputy government spokeswoman Ratchada Thanadirek said on Twitter.

Cockfighting is legal and hugely popular in Thailand.

The government also plans to postpone the traditional Songkran new year holiday, which falls on April 13 to 15, to limit travel inside and outside of the country for the traditional water festival.

Restaurants likely would be allowed to remain open if they took precautions on social distancing, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said.

But he added that two clusters of infections linked to a bar and a crowded boxing match showed the need to limit public gatherings.

"In this situation, prevention and treatment are the number one priorities. We have to prioritize people's lives over tourism and economic impacts. We don't know how tough the upcoming battle will be," Wissanu said.

He also recommended that government employees work from home if they can.

The new measures were decided on by a special coronavirus task force chaired by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha.

Thailand reported 33 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, bringing its total tally to 147. One person has died of the virus in Thailand.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/update-1-thailand-plans-to-close-bars-schools-halt-cockfights-to-curb-coronavirus/ar-BB11fFN2

Posts in the recent thread (below) makes reference to the same topics. Unfortunately, there seems to be no central, authoritative source the media can rely upon to get accurate information on the administration's policy going forward.

Songkran Postponement Goes to Cabinet; Conflicting Reports of Bar Closing (or not)

3 hours ago, reader said:

to get accurate information on the administration's policy

because here is no such thing... 

1 hour ago, anddy said:

because here is no such thing... 

Because the prime minister Prayuth Chan OCha  didn't decide yet what to do .

5 hours ago, anddy said:

because here is no such thing... 

When they set up the most recent COVID-19 Command Center with Uncle Tu (Gen Prayut) in charge, they of course didn't disband any of the others, bringing the current total to three. Plus the Cabinet has final say on many matters.  And then various ministers and spokespeople do things like announce "decisions" or "recommendations" on personal Facebook and twitter.  

 

On 3/16/2020 at 3:40 AM, Jasper said:

According to one of the boys, Freshboy is closing the bar voluntarily from Monday 16th.

 

I'm not disputing this, but I just noticed that Freshboys posted this business-as-usual post this morning at about 4:30-5:00 am .  

It might just be a social media post on auto-mode, or it could be a sign that the bar is still open (until it closes - 55555).

https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30384252?utm_source=homepage&utm_medium=internal_referral

 

"The Cabinet today (March 17) approved a temporary closure of entertainment venues in Bangkok and Greater Bangkok for 14 days, starting from tomorrow (March 18), as the government beefs up measures to stem the Covid-19 outbreak.

Places affected include movie theatres, pubs, bars, traditional massage parlours and other entertainment venues listed under a related law."

Jupiter is closing the bar for 14 days from tomorrow 18/3ー31/3.

 

 

I finally cancelled my trip today . Was supposed to be going on Sunday. Depressing.

But I know there are people in worse situations. So I try to have perspective.

Does anyone have any thoughts on how the bars will fare through this difficult time? If you think there will be permanent closures? Or if they will just reopen as normal for next high season?

I'm rescheduling the trip later in the year, hopefully when this has all blown over. But part of me is worried about the long term impact on the bar scene.

 

Although at some point the virus will run its course, getting the bars up and running again will probably take a while to return to what we came to think of as normal.

The majority of boys working the bars come from outside of Thailand. Many of them are now on their way home or soon will be. I'd doubt they'll return until they know the virus scare is over and the clubs have been given the official OK to reopen. Even then some may be reluctant to go back until they are assured that tourism has ramped up.

The nights of seeing 40-50 on stage at Luckyboys seem unlikely in the near term.

Massage shops may also so be slow to get staffed up again.

I like to take a more optimistic point of view. If the closures are really only two weeks, the boys on enforced holiday will likely be out of cash by then and only too happy to return to work.

However if longer than two weeks, many of them will have severe income difficulties. Some may return to work on the family farm but the economy is contracting everywhere. Finding alternative jobs on short notice especially when they have zero other skills will be close to impossible. They will weather the storm somehow but when bars reopen in a month or several months (some leeway expected of course for situation to stabilise and not immediately the day after opening) they will flock back in droves searching for customers, desperate to get back to their former easy lifestyles. And likely they will have friends in non-bar jobs who now find themselves jobless and come with them. 
We may well be spoiled for choice after this is all over. 

Right now some Chinese and Asian regulars are still landing in Bangkok to visit the bars or making external bookings, rather irresponsibly IMO as they may pass the virus on. 

15 hours ago, Jasper said:

Jupiter is closing the bar for 14 days from tomorrow 18/3ー31/3.

 

 

and so is Moonlight

25 minutes ago, hank75 said:

Right now some Chinese and Asian regulars are still landing in Bangkok to visit the bars or making external bookings, rather irresponsibly IMO as they may pass the virus on. 

Doesn't seem appropriate or justified to be singling out "Chinese and Asian" people.

28 minutes ago, hank75 said:

Finding alternative jobs on short notice especially when they have zero other skills will be close to impossible........they will flock back in droves searching for customers, desperate to get back to their former easy lifestyles

I hope your optimistic take on things proves to be more accurate than my conservative point of view.

But I will take exception to a few points.

First, don't underestimate some of these guys. Many knew what it was like to perform hard physical labor before they ever came to Bangkok. Laborer is not a "zero" skill.

Second, performing half naked on stage, occasionally banging your cock against a pole and facing frequent rejection doesn't strike me as a particularly easy lifestyle.

27 minutes ago, DivineMadman said:

Doesn't seem appropriate or justified to be singling out "Chinese and Asian" people.

Not singling out. Didn’t mean it to come across in any other way apart from factual. Just quoting what boys and mamasans told me, that customers from China, Singapore etc are still arriving, as in entering Thailand this week and making bookings. They didn’t say customers from UK, USA or elsewhere. That could be the case too. I don’t know. At least two boys I know of have secured long term offs while their bars are shut, one customer is flying in to take the boy out of Bangkok since he didn’t have to work. I asked “customer have discount, no bar fee” and was replied to with smiley faces. 

26 minutes ago, reader said:

I hope your optimistic take on things proves to be more accurate than my conservative point of view.

But I will take exception to a few points.

First, don't underestimate some of these guys. Many knew what it was like to perform hard physical labor before they ever came to Bangkok. Laborer is not a "zero" skill.

Second, performing half naked on stage, occasionally banging your cock against a pole and facing frequent rejection doesn't strike me as a particularly easy lifestyle.

I agree with you that definitely there are some wonderful hardworking boys, who strive hard to help out families back home. I have nothing but respect and good wishes for them during this difficult period. But I will also politely point out that equally, there are some boys who are working this job for the lifestyle, the easy money, the partying, and are fortunate enough to be in bars where they don’t have to bang cock against a metal pole.