September 2020, many were holding out hope that the pandemic would end soon.
But the country’s coronavirus crisis has only gotten worse, with the average number of daily new infections reaching its peak on Aug. 13 at 23,418 cases.
While some resort islands, like Phuket, have reopened to vaccinated foreign tourists, tourism is far from having rebounded.
They caught up with M., 33, who they first met in the Thai tourist hub of Pattaya. Before the pandemic, she was earning good money as a topless dancer at a go-go bar and as a sex worker.
But when they spoke to her amid the crisis last year, she said she was struggling to send money to her mother, who was caring for her two sons, and was sharing a studio apartment with two other women who worked at the same bar.
In January, she gave up and returned to her rural hometown in the northeast region of Isaan and started a job in accounting at a local hospital.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
A year ago, you were worried that if tourism didn’t improve in Pattaya, you’d have to move back to Isaan. What led to your decision to leave the city?
The COVID situation became more severe. There were no tourists or foreigners staying in Pattaya, and I was very worried about COVID. I started to think about going home because there were almost no customers. My roommates went back home around November last year. It was sad.
Our room was quiet, and I still had to pay rent for the room [on my own]. Luckily, over New Year’s Eve, I made some money from a customer from Bangkok who came to Pattaya for an island holiday, and I saved it.
In early January, the bar owner decided to close the business. I wasn’t sure what else to do in Pattaya. I called my mother and told her I was coming home. But I didn’t leave for another [few weeks] because I was trying to find a job in a [government-designated quarantine] hotel in Pattaya, but no luck. (continues below)
Source - BangkokJack
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