Nightlife ·
Khao San Road may get bar hours past midnight under a pilot scheme
By Cesar RodriguezUpdated
A government meeting on 30 October 2026 proposed Khao San and Rambuttri roads as a test zone where venues could open after midnight.
Khao San Road sits outside Bangkok's designated entertainment zones, so its bars trade on restaurant licences, which the report says keeps them from opening past midnight. On 30 October 2026, Paradorn Prissananantakul, a minister attached to the Prime Minister's Office, met Bangkok officials and police to discuss making Khao San and nearby Rambuttri Road a pilot area where venues could stay open later under safety and operating conditions.
The first step is a single register of entertainment venues, bars and restaurants that all agencies share. The government is also looking at amending the Entertainment Places Act, a royal decree listing where venues cannot open, a colour-coded risk rating for businesses and a channel for noise complaints. The minister linked the change to reports that some venues paid officials to overlook breaches.
Nothing has changed yet: no start date or new closing time was announced, and the current rules still apply on the street.
Source: The Thaiger. Summary written by Best of Thailand; read the original for the full report.