Bangkok police nab bar manager for serving booze to minors

Police swooped in on a bar in Bangkok’s Sai Mai district in the early hours of Saturday, arrested the manager for serving alcohol to minors and confiscated two bags of ketamine weighing 0.62 grams.

A team from the Youth and Women Welfare Centre as well as officers from the Sai Mai Police Station showed up at Pahonbar, where they found a lot of people ignoring Covid rules and sitting close together, or dancing on the stage or around their tables.

Of the 156 people in the bar, 32 were found to be underage and were openly drinking alcohol and dancing.

Police then spoke to a 21-year-old man who claimed to be the manager and asked him to produce his entertainment and alcohol licence. However, the manager was only able to come up with an alcohol licence, which resulted in him being slapped with a charge of illegally running an entertainment venue. He also faces charges of allowing drug-related crimes to take place, allowing people under 20 to enter an entertainment venue and selling alcohol to people under 20.

As of press time, it was still unclear what led the police to this bar.