Lets have a little recap before I continue this.

The local alcoholic law prohibits the sale of alcohol after 1am. That means, no beer, no nightclub.

Much to the dismay of churches everywhere, pre-coup 2006, every nightclub closed after 3am. Most of the more cowboy essence nightclubs such as Birdland, Club 2000 etc ran till the crack of dawn.

It was common for clubbers to finish off from the early closing clubs such as Traps at around 2am, and proceed to the other nightspots and finish off their club-hopping at the toll of the church lali.

Police were always quick to show up at any club not showing the door to its patrons after 1am, at which the owners would try and charm them into letting the club stay open just a little longer. At times they would nosy around abit more, have a quick chat again with the owner, then leave, presumably because of the little ‘lunch money’ that has been handed over. At other times, the police really do force the club to close, either from the failure on the part of the owner, or pressure from the big bosses at police headquarters.

But for most of the part, it was generally considered a ‘normal’ thing to remain open after 1am.

Cue coup number 4.

Now with the army at the government helm, the chances of bar owners trying to turn a blind eye to the alcoholic law and its 1am connection has dropped to a near zero. Nobody likes to see a military truck pull up in front of their premises, let alone take them all for a little run around the yard. Traps, O’Reillys, even Bar 66 stop the music at 1. Hence the “…owners were now operating legally…”

As a result, the night scene here has somewhat abated, with more and more people choosing to stay home and drink/party, since the thought of only a few hours on the dancefloor isn’t enough to warrant the +$30 spent.

There’s always been the concept that drinking at home is cheaper, and with the advent of the early closure of the clubs, the veranda is looking ever more favourable as a drinking spot – nevermind the neighbours…

PS: It should be mentioned however that while the major popular clubs close at the designated hour, there are quite a few other clubs which still operate under the radar. Mostly the grassroot sort of spots that guarantee brawls and vomit, its amazing how they manage to still run with everyone else around them closing shop after 1am…