The year 2020 stands as a stain on human history, a time of unimaginable loss, pain and grief, punctuated with isolated tales of triumph over tragedy. The story played out worldwide, but also close to home, as Pattaya mostly was spared the health costs of the coronavirus pandemic, but none of the side effects.
Driven by tourism and hospitality, Pattaya’s economy collapsed under the weight of a four-month shutdown, closed borders, the total loss of foreign tourism and the exodus of a huge percentage of the city’s Thai and expat residents.
After going eight months without a locally transmitted case of Covid-19, Pattaya seemed to have turned the corner, with several rousing holiday weekends in the fall bringing domestic tourism back to the city. Then it all came crashing down, as a second coronavirus wave smashed through the kingdom’s borders, spilling into Chiang Rai, Tak, Samut Sakhon, Krabi, Rayong, and then Pattaya.
The shutdown from May 15-July 1, and the new closure order that will last indefinitely, disproportionately hit the most vulnerable of Pattaya’s population, the grilled chicken vendors, moonshine peddlers, shoe shiners, recyclables scavengers and the city’s thousands of bar workers.
Even those who had “proper” jobs – hotel employees, waiters and spa attendants – have been hit again. Many left last spring. Some returned, only to now face the prospect of departing again, perhaps for good.
Pattaya Mayor Sonthaya Kunplome took pains Dec. 31 to tell the rest of Thailand that Pattaya is not technically locked down. There are no travel restrictions. The beaches are open (for now). And about 20-30 percent of those who booked hotels still decided to come, Sonthaya said.
But with little to do but sit on sunbaked sand, why would anyone come, especially as the region adds dozens of new coronavirus cases a day?
A year ago, the beaches were full, the skies lit with fireworks and the bars banging. As 2020 turned to 2021, the beach was dark, with nary a hotel fireworks display to marvel. Walking Street remains dark.
Thailand is not expected to begin Covid-19 vaccinations until at least May. And, even then, it has reserved only enough doses for 18 percent of the population. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha previously said he doesn’t expect mass tourism to resume until summer.
From now it becomes a race between time and money. Will domestic tourism resume to tide over the city until summer? Will anyone still be here when foreigners return? All one can do now is strap on a face mask and wait.
