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As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing the alcohol ban and the easing thereof specifically in Pattaya. Pattaya, Thailand is the beach resort off to the east of Bangkok. For those who have watched this channel relatively frequently, you might be aware Bangkok sort of eased up in the usage of this Blue Zone scheme; they sort of eased up on alcohol serving especially in food and beverage establishments. But Pattaya as we did a video on was sort of left out in the cold on that and has not been able to serve alcohol in the same venues as Bangkok up until recent days.

A recent article from The Pattaya News, that is thepattayanews.com, the article is titled: Business operators rejoice after alcohol sales and drinks are allowed in qualified restaurants in Pattaya, what is the next step? Quoting directly: "Business operators have rejoiced in Pattaya after alcohol sales and drinks were finally allowed in qualified restaurants yesterday after an 8 month," you know, it is really weird when you think about how long this has going on. Excuse me this isn't from the quote, "after an eight-month ban/prohibition due to COVID-19 regulations in Chonburi." Quoting further: "Last night many restaurants, cafes and buffet restaurants reopened or allowed the sales of alcohol in Pattaya. Officially, the order only allows SHA (Safety and Health Administration) Plus venues to sell alcohol which requires over 70% of staff to be vaccinated and going through a certification process meeting many standards with Department of Public Health." This is sort of key in my opinion, to kind of the overall analysis of the administrative structure with respect to this. “However, it is unclear if like Phuket and Bangkok and other "blue” zones if local officials may have “relaxed" enforcement of the rules or allow venues working through the process, which could take weeks, to open in the meantime." 

Now where the rubber hits the road with that remains to be seen but I definitely think overall this is great news. I am sure that "Rejoice" might be an understatement for the folks down there that have been operating food and beverage establishments who have been trying to make ends meet. I have been down there a few times since all this began and I do know a lot of those people have really been struggling so it is certainly a very good thing for them to see that things are starting to turn in a direction where they can go about making their living. Hopefully, and we will keep folks updated but hopefully it will be only in the positive as the situation evolves.