With water-splashing off the menu and the populace spooked by the latest coronavirus outbreak, sales of Songkran flowered shirts have fallen far below normal levels in Pattaya.
Sonthaya Sribanyen, owner of the Pu Boutique, which sells seasonal shirts, said she didn’t even bother stocking up a large number of floral shirts this year, expecting sales to decrease as the number of Covid-19 cases increased.
Even though the government encouraged Thais to wear the traditional attire through all of April, there are no organized Songkran celebrations or tourism-driving events, so most people are ignoring the powers that be.
Sales are down about 50 percent from 2019, she said. But that’s 100 percent more than last year when the entire holiday was canceled due to the first Covid-19 outbreak.
