Pattaya exodus continues as emergency decree extended - Pattaya Mail
Pattaya exodus continues as emergency decree extended
By Jetsada Homklin May 24, 2020
People are packing up and going home, some never to return.
With the government extending its emergency decree for yet another month, Pattaya’s stable of bar, pub and entertainment workers increasingly are leaving the city for the provinces, some never to return.
The extension of the decree until June 30 was announced Friday, giving the government extraordinary powers to clamp down on businesses and personal freedom. Despite the fact Thailand has reported only a handful of coronavirus cases a day – in some cases none – for weeks, the government tried to justify the extension saying it needed the extra time for the final two phases of the country’s reopening.
For much of Pattaya’s population, which relies on the tourism, service and entertainment sectors, it was another notice that their pain will continue. “High-risk” venues, such as bars, movie theaters and massage parlors cannot reopen until the third or even fourth phases, which may be weeks away.
Pattaya is too expensive for those with no income to stay, a fact illustrated daily by huge lines for free food handouts. Many have already left the city for farms and rural homes in Issan and the North where they can live much more cheaply.
Run, a service-sector worker, said the economic impact goes beyond just direct employees, such as bartenders or tour guides. It hits companies and people servicing them, from motorcycle taxis to restaurants. Owners of the low-rent apartments where those workers lived also are hurting now, as many of their rooms have been vacated.
The extension of the decree until June 30 was announced Friday, giving the government extraordinary powers to clamp down on businesses and personal freedom.
Things look pretty bleak in Pattaya - can only imagine the streets being heavily populated with For Rent - For Sale - Closed - Temporarily Closed signs.
Expect Patts to become a Ghost Town - read somewhere a while back that there are more than 5k Hotels and Guest Houses. Don't know about AirBnB's and the like. Expect a veritable graveyard of shut down, never to open again establishments.
Any Patts folk care to comment on what you are experiencing and/or seeing?
Hows good old Jomtien Immigration these days?
Anywhere near the hustle and bustle of five years past?