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Thailand now. Is it a crash or is there still hope?

Thailand now. Is it a crash or is there still hope?

November 2020 · 5 min read · Thailand

Some will read this post and say that such a situation is now complete everywhere, you need to think about your own affairs, and not about what is happening somewhere.
Most likely, this is the state of affairs now in many countries, but Thailand is next to us, who are in the know, they know that we constantly flew there 1-2 times a year. It's cheap, close (only 2.5 hours by plane), warm (when it's cold in our apartments in winter) and tasty, and Thailand has many places where residents live only on tourism.
Therefore, when my husband came across articles about how it is now, in the fall, in Thailand, and when I looked at the photographs and read stories from people living in Tae, stories about life now in Tae, I somehow felt uneasy became.
And there were protests two weeks ago. Because in reality people no longer know where to work and what to live on.
It seems to me that these words, that after the epidemic the world will not be old, they will probably turn out to be true to some extent. Because how can you revive something that disappears completely?
And in Thailand, all the infrastructure that served tourism is really completely disappearing.
They say that Pattaya even more or less somehow lives, but Phuket - everything is there like in the photos below.
The man took photos in September of this year. Everything is empty. All closed. Everything is for sale - but no one is buying.
Hotels, cafes, restaurants are closed, as if there was a pestilence in the city or a war took place.

Patong area. Phuket island. Thailand. September 2020 Photo by Sergey Konovalov.
Patong area. Phuket island. Thailand. September 2020 Photo by Sergey Konovalov.

Patong area. Phuket island. Thailand. September 2020 Photo by Sergey Konovalov.
Patong area. Phuket island. Thailand. September 2020 Photo by Sergey Konovalov.

Patong area. Phuket island. Thailand. September 2020 Photo by Sergey Konovalov.
Patong area. Phuket island. Thailand. September 2020 Photo by Sergey Konovalov.

Patong area. Phuket island. Thailand. September 2020 Photo by Sergey Konovalov.
Patong area. Phuket island. Thailand. September 2020 Photo by Sergey Konovalov.

Today I came across information that out of 480 thousand foreigners living in Tai on the basis of a residence permit and other types of long-term visas (not tourists) there are only 80 thousand left, and this is taking into account the fact that they can live there and leave - come to Tai.
A lot of foreigners left Thailand.
Places like Phuket lived only on tourists. All hotels, parks, transportation around the area by tuk-tuk (local taxi), all restaurants and cafes, the same 7 Seven - all this was held by tourists.
I read that now animals are massively slaughtered in Tai, because no one needs meat, all the farms were kept for tourists, restaurants, steaks...
The same goes for seafood. Who can we sell fish, oysters, shrimp from farms and from the sea?
But for many, this was the only income.
They say that in Pattaya they are going to close the famous entertainment street Walking Street, where all the nightclubs were located, where all the tourists hung out. Now it is empty. In its place, they want to build some kind of seaport, or a pier... in general, they will build something.
It is difficult to imagine how much money those who simply cook the same food on the streets now live on. Just passing tourists, of whom there were hundreds of thousands.

I've been following how for 2-3 months there have been attempts to open Thailand at least for Chinese tourists... but in vain.
Only, it seems, they will agree, here it seems that even the Chinese bought tickets to enter Thailand, as the Thai authorities put forward such requirements that no one goes again...
Then they want to lodge everyone for 14 days in one hotel - and nowhere can be.
They want to lead everyone by the hand so that the tourists move only from point A to B, and from C to D, and more - they don't go anywhere.
They wanted to take everyone to the islands for 14 days - and then further, to health, wherever you want. But, sorry, not everyone goes on vacation for a month.
Now, it seems, they decided that tourists will be able to enter, but only in Bangkok for quarantine. Which, I must say, is just not very touristy in fact.

Sorry for people. I always feel sorry for ordinary people, many of whom have a small business - this is the only source of income for them.
Now such situations in many countries, but I know why I was hooked by the situation in Thailand.
I read that many hotels may never be restored because they are all covered with mold.
And I remembered how, after the first wave of coronavirus, in late spring, I came across photographs from one of the bag departments in one of the shopping centers in Thailand - everything was covered with mold.
Imagine, when all the shopping centers were closed, and the street is + 40, and ventilation and air conditioning in these shopping centers were also turned off, all the goods from all the sellers remained inside. And all this stood closed for 2 months.
And when they opened... all the goods were spoiled. The losses to people are just terrible...
Now imagine even further. The hotels are closed, the staff who previously aired is not there. Nobody cleans up or opens windows for ventilation, and the premises are closed.
There will be mold on everything, there you have to throw out EVERYTHING. Curtains, bedding, all things...
Will the owners find the money for a complete overhaul and refurbishment of all this?
Someone will find and recover, but some will not...

Look at empty beaches and parks too.

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I understand that someday everything will pass, everything will be forgotten, but, definitely, not all businesses will survive it.
Here is a sketch on the scale of one country. We were there exactly a year ago, and I haven't had time to write about our vacation half yet. And it's sad now to look at the devastation and decline...

No, something will definitely not be the same.

Travel Resources for your trip to Thailand

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