Three bars busted in Pattaya for illegal booze, baraku

Three bars busted in Pattaya for illegal booze, baraku

Chon Buri: Three bars are facing closure after one allegedly opened with expired licences while the other two offered a banned baraku smoking service. 

The Bang Lamung district office asked the provincial governor's permission to close the bars following an early morning raid over the weekend. The authorities conducted the crackdown after members of the public filed complaints through the governor's website.

Inspectors raided the Viber Bar in the Phra Tamnak area of South Pattaya and found the business's liquor and operating licences had expired. The inspectors, led by Pornsit Jitramwong, assistant district chief for crime suppression, detained Arkom Foythong, 26, the pub supervisor. He will be charged with selling alcohol beyond the permitted hours and without a licence. 

The team later moved in on the Laek Lin bar on Soi Pettrakul, in north Pattaya. Customers were seen smoking baraku, a banned tobacco-type product.

The government outlawed baraku and imports of the Middle-Eastern style hookah pipe, a device used to smoke baraku.

District officials confiscated 10 baraku burners, hookah pipes and fruit-scented tobacco. The inspectors subsequently moved to the Easy Enjoy bar, also in north Pattaya, where baraku was also offered. The bar was previously raided for offering baraku but the operators continued to offer the illegal smoking service. 

The authorities also seized contraband liquor found on the premises. The staff said the liquor was to be presented as gifts to senior police. The bar supervisor, Supansa Singthom, was detained for questioning.

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