Chon Buri: A night entertainment venue in Pattaya faces a five-year shut down after local authorities and police caught staff serving 75 underage customers in a predawn raid yesterday.
Route 99, located in central Pattaya, was found to be operating without a business licence, opening beyond the legal opening hours, and serving underage people when a combined task force of local officials and police in Bang Lamung district stormed the venue at 4.30am.
Authorities received a report the venue holds parties every Wednesday night and lets teenagers in for 100 baht per head, police said.
Police said they found 75 underage customers among 300 people in the pub, the youngest just 14. Of the underage customers, 24 tested positive for stimulants. Four other customers also tested positive for drugs while three people did not have identification cards on them. A small packet of crystal methamphetamine and one pack of ketamine were found abandoned on the floor.
Kittipong Meeboonmak, 40, the operator, was held and charged. According to local authorities, Chon Buri governor Khomsan Ekachai will be asked to order a five-year shutdown of the nightspot for defying the National Council for Peace and Order's restrictions on alcohol sales.