The postponement of the Pattaya Music Festival and surging numbers of coronavirus cases are leaving beach vendors feeling blue.
After the New Year’s period didn’t produce a predict surge in Covid-19 cases, vendors were feeling optimistic. Four weeks of tourist-drawing concerts were planned for March and things finally were looking up.
Then the omicron coronavirus variant hit in earnest after Chinese New Year. New daily in Banglamung District, which includes Pattaya, went from a few dozen at the end of December to more than 2,500 two months later, including positive results of antigen tests.
Chonburi on Monday reported 1,275 RT-PCR test-confirmed cases and 1,270 ATK positives. Nationally, Thailand reported 22,311 confirmed and 21,497 ATK cases along with 42 deaths and a test-positivity rate of 31.3%.
Beach chair vendor Somsri said she thinks people are not traveling to Pattaya because they afraid of catching Covid-19. Even if they’re aware that omicron infections have proved less severe than the delta variant, they are afraid of being isolated at home or in a “hospitel” for a week or more.
Vendors are upset with the cancellation of the four-week music festival and any event larger than 50 people because, they point out, Pattaya is now about 90% fully vaccinated. People cannot live in fear of the virus, especially when its effects aren’t severe, if they’ve already been vaccinated. It’s time to get on with life, the vendors said.
Now, the beach chairs are mostly empty, with business down 50-90%, depending on the day of the week.
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