Restaurants plead to extend opening hours to 11pm

The Thai Chamber of Commerce will follow up on the Thai Restaurant Association’s request that restaurants be allowed to open until 11pm, said the chamber’s chairman, Kalin Sarasin.

The association earlier asked the chamber to forward its request to the government. The asssociation said the current closing time of 9pm, imposed as part of Covid-19 containment measures, has caused a big loss of revenue for restaurant owners.

Mr Kalin said the chamber submitted its request to the Centre for Covid19 Situation Administration (CCSA) and it will ask about progress on the matter as soon as possible.

The government permitted dining hours until 9pm, but the association said that failed to generate enough income for most restaurants were already under intense financial pressure from the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic last year.

Association president Thaniwan Kulmongkol said the request to extend restaurant opening hours was addressed to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha. She said many potential customers were not visiting restaurants because of the short dining-in hours.

If the problem continued for much longer, several restaurants would “find themselves at the end of their tether and be forced to go under”, she said. She said many restaurants have already closed due to the pandemic.

Ms Thaniwan said that in the past two weeks, sales have slumped 70% for many restaurants. This threatens to put further strain on the businesses with pay cuts and layoffs a real possibility.

No relief measures have been granted to the small and mediumsized businesses whose expenses have outstripped income. She said restaurants have adopted strict public health measures at their premises.