A makeup artist who applied the war paint to Pattaya’s many bargirls has become a barista after most of her clients disappeared during the coronavirus pandemic.
Tritittiya Prommetta opened the Stop By coffee shop on Nong Maikaen Road outside the Nernplabwan Ban Euarthorn development in East Pattaya after being put out of work during months of bar closures in Pattaya. Even though some of the city’s chrome pole palaces have reopened, there aren’t enough dancing damsels needing fake eyelashes, face powder and rouge to pay her bills.
In addition to coffee, the Chaiyaphum native serves up toasted bread snacks topped with condensed milk or other Thai flavors, plus various beverages. Items start from just 25 baht.
Stop By originally was located on Soi Chaiyapruek, but she moved it to the housing project, where she has drawn more customers for her low-priced offerings. She said 70 percent of her customers are using government-subsidized campaigns to pay.
Tritittiya said she’d like to go back to painting faces but has no idea when there will be enough bargirls working to allow that. For now, she’s waiting until foreign tourists return en masse to Thailand.
