Pattaya Update: From the Trenches

[Dodger]

I noticed a few surprising changes in Pattaya during my motorbike tour around town this week:

Many of the businesses which are supposed to be closed under the lockdown restrictions are now finding creative ways to keep operating - at least the best they can in the current climate.

Many are doing this by placing the products they sell outside the business on the sidewalks versus allowing customers to enter their businesses. I drove along the soi next to TukCom and saw several tables set up along the outside of the building displaying smart phones and accessories which were apparently carted down from one of the floors inside TukCom. This has been going on at TukCom for several weeks now.

I also noticed many other retail shops in various paces around town who had opened their front doors and placed a ribbon across the doorway. This way customers can order what they want from the seller without entering the business proper. Businesses all over town seem to have adopted this creative method of doing business which serves the public well and allows the businesses to at least make a little money. My hat's off to them all.

Many of the homeless people who could be seen along Jomtien and Pattaya beach fronts are now almost all gone. The Pattaya Mayors program to transfer the homeless to a Home for the Destitute in Banglamung appears to be working.

One exception is one of the homeless boys I mentioned in the post entitled "Homeless Boys" who seems to be refusing to relocate. I spotted an old blanket fashioned into a make-shift hammock with somebody sleeping inside near Dong Tan Beach. There was someone sleeping inside this contraption which was dangling between two trees, with an empty water bottle and a pair of sandals lying on the ground nearby. I had my suspicions who it was. I called his name, and out pops a head with messy hair appearing like a chicken that had just been hatched from an egg. It was him,,,smiling as if he didn't have a care in the world. I asked him what in the hell he was doing, and his response was..."they told us we couldn't sleep on the sidewalk anymore." After complimenting the lovely ocean view from his new dwelling, I handed him some food money and told him better days are ahead.

As hard as things are in Pattaya right now, it just refuses to go down. The businesses are ordered shut - but not all are. The massage parlors are ordered shut - but a massage can still be found. Restaurants are ordered shut - but food can still be had. The boy bars are ordered closed - but even that can be had too.

This is the greatest test of Pattaya's resilience - and I'm still betting on Pattaya.

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