A Pattaya motorcycle-taxi driver has hung up her helmet and switched jobs as the city’s second shutdown in a year again has deprived her of customers.
Daraporn Yodpa, who worked out of a taxi stand on Soi Daeng-Dum in central Pattaya, said Jan. 5 she stuck it out during the first shutdown from March until July last year. In good times, she used to take home 500-1,200 baht a day. During 2020’s lockdown, she earned 200-500 baht a day.
But this year’s coronavirus crisis has been more severe and her customers – bargirls, massage parlor workers and company employees – wasted no time in fleeing the city when Pattaya shut down again. Now she’s earning just 100 baht a day.
So Daraporn said she had no alternative but to find something else to do. She’s begun selling vegetables, eggs, dried fish and cooked Issan food for as little as 10 baht each. It’s not much, but it’s enough to survive until she can jump on her bike again.
