What happened today?

[Mercy]

Tea money.. to keep the Police happy.

 

[WCCanuck]

Hope it all stops before i get there in a few weeks, time flys during the night as it is!

 

[imogen]

BKK still shutters down 2am..............not sure this is going away!!!!!!

 

[Evan]

So as Phuket is in Surat Thani's MIB region any news on what's happening further upstream?

 

[Janina]

It will all blow over in the next few days and back to normal

 

[lois b]

Riders still hopping until after 5am Gee...kamala might become the new late night capital of the nation.......:

 

[Trendy]

Does this 2am include the hotel bars? Or just the main discos and go go's etc...

 

[rodney c]

Let's just call a spade a spade...

"Tea Money" = extortion fees!

 

[dingding]

Spicy still open here too and maybe some out the way Thai venues but the main places kapoot

 

[bugsysue2]

I'm sure you're right Dodger, I like it when things are running smoothly (and doesn't then pose any threat of screwing anything up for me!)

 

[UCLAfan]

Its been lock down in BKK for 2 weeks now, strict 2am closing..............excuse was the guy getting done in Phuket who has very high connections but I think its got to be more than that issue now

 

[WRATH OF THE FIST]

A bribe with a more discrete name.

 

[Liv]

if the bars and the clubs are all closing at 2am...where is everybody going after shut down???

 

[ERR0R]

There's a pool hall/bar on one of the side streets off Soi San Sabai (not sure the name) but they are open all night serving drinks even after everything closes at 2am. I left there around 6am a couple of days ago. I was talking to one of the staff the other day and he said they can stay open and serve alcohol because they aren't classified as a "disco" or "beer bar."

Worth checking out if you're not ready to go home as the place was packed when I was there.

 

[XCherryGlamX]

^ that`d be the Chang club which has been noted for some unsavoury characters and police attention over the years.

 

[Ryan-HxC]

It's like how places in the US used to give any police that came in free donuts - the logic was that if the police were in there a lot no-one would be stupid enough to try and rob the place or cause any trouble.

I suppose as the thai's aren't big on donuts then they called it tea money, presumably the business is "paying" for them to go buy their tea. I'm just that the thai's have been able to take it to a whole new level!

 

[Kevin S]

Loom for boom boom

 

[Miss Information]

No....it's more like how places in the U.S. (and elsewhere) give money to threatening mobsters and gangsters, to ensure their businesses are allowed to operate unfettered. Sometimes referred to as, "protection" money.

Instead of broken arms and late night fires...the Thai police use the color of authority to make things difficult for businesses who don't anty-up.

It's called extortion and the police in Thailand do it as a normal practice. It's just "business as usual to them. And they rely on it to supplement their meager wages.

 

[Kirsty]

I guess that's why I was the only farang in there 555!

 

[familyguy]

Liders...apparently :neutral: 55