Drayangs legalised

The musical entertainment bars in Thimphu, famously known as drayangs, were operating illegally until April. Recently 12 drayangs have been granted licences on fulfilling the general technical standards of the draft rules governing places of entertainments drawn by the regulating authority.

Bhutan Infocomm and Media Authority (BICMA), after inspection, legalised the rayangs with proper licences.The Director of BICMA, Kinley T Wangchuk, said the decisions were taken in cooperation with the police and the Economic Affairs Ministry.

During the inspections, 16 drayangs in Thimphu were found operating illegally. 11 of them were licensed. Out of the two new proposals for drayangs, one was given a licence.

During the earlier inspection, the draying owners were made aware of the rules and regulations and minimum standards of operation.

Earlier in the draft rules, the annual licence fee was Nu 5000. It has been raised to Nu 25000. “We raised the amount hoping to discourage people but a few more have shown interest,” said Kinley T Wangchuk.

The look of most drayangs earlier was dark, shabby, andloud with no safety measures like bouncers or fire extinguishers. Now with BICMA inspecting and regulating, these drayangs look cleaner.

According to the draft rules of BICMA, the general technical standards that the licencees operating places of entertainment should fulfil is that it should be located in town; away from dzongs, monasteries, schools, hospitals,
government offices, residential areas and it should be indoors.

“My drayang fulfils all but one standard,” said an owner of a drayang. He said that after BICMA inspected hislegaliseddrayang, he had been working
towards fulfilling the minimum standards set by them.

Drayangs are required to have safety measures such as fire extinguishers, exhaust fans, first aid kit and medical help, bouncers and security persons. They should also have separate restrooms for men and women, should be sound proof with proper
sanitation facilities and availability of condoms and birth control methods. This kind of entertainment is not just based in Thimphu. Paro has two drayangs running on provisional licences and Bumthang has one with a licence.Ngawang Lhendup from BICMA said the licensing for the other dzongkhags is different.

“We only issue the licence;the dzongkhag authorities regulate them,” he said. He added that other dzongkhags are also picking up this business.

Meanwhile, Sonam, 29, said that legalising drayangs was not a good step because a lot of young girls worked there as entertainers and customers harassed them for sex.
The drayangs employ a good number of people, especially females, who are used as an attraction for the customers