Pattaya restaurants are calling on Chonburi officials to relax pandemic-control measures to allow them to reopen, saying they cannot survive on takeout and delivery only.
Sombat Thongkumban, owner of Muang Chon Chicken Rice, said he and other restaurateurs have strictly followed restrictions limiting service and requiring staff and customers to wear masks and use hand gel. But business has plunged from the days when customers could eat inside the restaurant. Expenses haven’t.
The owner of the Je To noodle restaurant said sales now total only 10 percent of pre-pandemic levels, as the shop did most of its business at their 50 tables. Noodles don’t travel well and so many menu items had to be dropped for delivery, the owner said.
Many restaurants in Pattaya, Bangkok and other areas have tried to survive using food-delivery applications. But after the first month, when the services began to pay out the restaurants share of the revenue, owners realized it wasn’t worth it: the delivery services takes as much as 45 percent of a sale, making it cheaper to close than try to stay open and rely on deliveries.
The only hope, restaurateurs say, is for Chonburi to lift the closure order for restaurants so they can reopen, even with strict safety measures.
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