Pattaya bar and restaurant owners applauded the city’s downgrade to a coronavirus “orange zone”, which allowed them to reopen or extend services Monday.
Bars again were allowed to reopen from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., while restaurants could offer dine-in service and serve alcohol until 11 p.m.
Niwed Taveepol of the Area 39 bar in Soi Buakhao Tree Town Market was busy Jan. 31 rearranging tables to provide social distancing and cleaning surfaces, preparing temperature-scanning checkpoints and posting QR codes for Thai Chana contact-tracing app check-ins.
He said Pattaya’s second shutdown was devastating, but he and other bar owners were thrilled the lockdown was lifted after just five weeks.
Now Niwed just hopes people will return to Pattaya and his place, noting that many venues have chosen to remain closed due to early closing times and a lack of customers.
