You’ve probably noticed: this 11pm closing time is getting serious. Even the old 24-hour stalwart, Café 365, has started shutting its doors.
That’s probably because local police have threatened owners of alcohol-serving restaurants, bars and karaoke joints that don’t close early with jailtime.
At least one complaint has been filed, against a restaurant on Pandonmar Street in Sanchaung Township, and they will have to appear in court, the Voice Weekly reported.
The authorities have vowed to strictly enforce the curfew so as to avoid disturbances in the run-up to the November 8 election.
“We asked them to sign [an agreement] that if they don’t close, they will be arrested,” an official from the regional police force said. “The regional order was implemented to stop instability as the election comes closer.”
Section 188 punishes those “disobeying a direction from a public servant to abstain from a certain act or take certain order with property in his possession or under his management”.
The maximum sentence is six months.
The legislation has been around for decades but wasn’t enforced until earlier this year.
