With the new closing time of 4am set to begin on Friday, tourism operators on Khao San Road said it would not have much impact because this area is not included in the zone for extended hours.
Sanga Ruangwattanakul, president of the Khao San Road Business Association, said tourists are confused as they thought night entertainment venues on Khao San Road could stay open until 4am.
However, pubs and bars in the Phra Nakhon district where Khao San Road is situated are not in the permitted zone for later hours, which is restricted to Ratchadaphisek, Silom and Phetchaburi roads.
Venues outside those areas must hold an entertainment venue licence or be located in hotels to stay open until 4am. Khao San Road only has five licensed operators, said Mr Sanga.
He said Khao San operators have already called on the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration to extend the permitted zone to Khao San Road, as the laws that mandate those three areas since 1991 are outdated.
Mr Sanga said 99% of tourism operators on this road have resumed business post-pandemic, while the remaining 1% were small hostels that were permanently closed as their Asian customers, particularly Chinese travellers, have not returned as expected.
However, European guests, mainly from Scandinavian countries, Germany, France and the UK have almost fully returned to normal and helped push the average occupancy rate in December to 70-80%, up from 50-60% in the previous months.
He said tourism operators agree with the government policy to celebrate Songkran in April, with other activities running for the entire month.
Tourists normally spend three days in the area to join in its famous water-splashing activities. If the government would like to increase spending per person, the event can be extended to four days at maximum, said Mr Sanga.
