Earlier this week, the Thai Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) made the decision to shut dine-in at restaurants in six areas, including Chonburi (Pattaya) and Bangkok, labeling these areas “deep red” zones which have had an average of over a hundred infections daily over the past several weeks.
According to CCSA spokesperson Dr. Taweesin Visanuyothin, the decision was “difficult” as they are aware of how many people’s lives are affected and that many restaurants would likely choose to close entirely who don’t normally depend on delivery or take-away. Dr. Taweesin also stated to the Thai press that he sympathized with those working in hospitality and understood their pain. There have not been any announcements for financial aid for those affected by the Ministry of Finance and as the restaurants were not entirely closed most are not eligible for social security benefits. A vast majority of workers in the restaurant industry are “informal” staff who don’t have social security and would not be eligible anyways, The Pattaya News notes. Additionally, since the restaurants have not been “force closed” and can do take-away, they are in nearly all cases not eligible for any financial support.
Although the closures for dine-in only affect six provinces/areas, Bangkok, Chonburi, and Chiang Mai, in particular, have tens of thousands of restaurants and contribute a significant amount to the total restaurants in the country. Restaurants have already been hit by many measures hurting their bottom lines, such as no foreign tourists for the past year without quarantine, people not traveling domestically due to fear of Covid-19, a ban on alcohol sales in restaurants, and bans on how late they can serve. In fact, the recent orders in dark red zones also ban takeaway after 9:00 P.M., a decision widely booed by prominent Thai Restaurant Associations who pointed out that many restaurants depend on late-night deliveries for their revenue.
The CCSA has stated that the ban on takeaway from 9:00 PM overnight is to lessen the amount of traffic on the roads and encourage people to stay home without implementing an overall curfew. It is also, according to the CCSA, to stop people from ordering food for private house parties or gatherings, which are banned currently due to the Emergency Decree to control the Covid-19 coronavirus.