Pattaya officials announced on Tuesday that starting today (Thursday), Walking Street will close to cars again, as it did in pre-Covid days. This news comes as more former bars have opened as ‘restaurants’. From 7pm to 6am the street will shut to be shut to cars again. The street has allowed cars at all hours since Covid-19 first broke out in 2020.
But as Covid-19 restrictions ease, the number of people walking to Walking Street has increased, creating problems as people tried to veer around vehicle traffic. The Pattaya News reports that social media users have mostly given positive feedback after the announcement about closing Walking Street to cars at certain hours.
Along with several back-peddles for the Thailand Pass, Thailand’s CCSA announced last week it also plans to ease another Covid-19 restriction- the alcohol curfew. Restaurants, and ‘restaurants’, will be able to serve alcohol until midnight, instead of 11pm. Like the Thailand Pass changes, the alcohol curfew change is set to start on May 1.
The slight loosening of the alcohol curfew, along with the easing of travel restrictions, is likely to bring up the number of walkers on Walking Street.
Last month, an entertainment official in Pattaya called on authorities to move closing times on venues to 1am instead of 11pm. The official was the secretary of the Pattaya Association of Entertainment Venue Operators. Time will only tell how much the new midnight curfew can satisfy entertainment and tourism sector…
SOURCE: The Pattaya News