Mon, Jul 06, 2020 page4

• Bangkok nightlife eases out of lockdown, but lack of foreign tourists takes its toll

  • The Observer, BANGKOK
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  A mix of K-pop, sweet Thai love ballads and ’90s music reverberates along the corridor of one of Bangkok’s popular karaoke spots. In private rooms, parties of friends strike poses and bellow into microphones.

  After three months of silence, Thailand’s nightlife was allowed to reopen on Wednesday last week — provided venues follow government rules to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

  “You can dance, as long as you keep a distance from your friends,” said Planisara Suksit, branch manager of Yes!! R&B Karaoke in Thonglor, her voice muffled by a mask and plastic shield.

  

  A worker cleans a plastic barrier used for social distancing at the Sherbet club in Bangkok on Tuesday last week.

  Photo: Reuters

  The business reopened for the first time on Friday night, operating at reduced capacity as staff rolled out new disease control measures. Only smaller groups are allowed to book a room, guests’ temperatures are scanned, and everyone must check in through a government tracing system on their mobile phones. Signs urge guests not to sit too close together.

  Protective covers to place over microphones are handed out.

  Everything is disinfected regularly, Planisara said.

  “It’s quite a big piece of work because the decoration material in each room is different,” she said.

  Each space has a different theme — from likay, a form of Thai folk theater, to a room packed with more than 100 teddy bears, some of which have been removed as a precaution.

  Guests say that the new measures have not dampened the mood.

  Cherwin Lee, who works in marketing, is just relieved that case numbers are low and Bangkok is opening up again.

  “You’ve kind of [been] deprived of it, so you think, let’s go out, let’s go out, let’s do karaoke,” he said.

  Businesses, and the hundreds of thousands of people working in the nightlife industry, hope that the sector will start to recover.

  It is not possible to even think about profits yet, Planisara said.

  For now, the focus is adjusting to the new normal.

  Social distancing is likely to prove easier for some outlets than others. The government has allowed not just karaoke, but also bars, clubs and massage parlors to reopen, and issued rules for each.

  Beer pitchers and singing while seated are not allowed, nor is dancing near tables in pubs and bars. In the red-light district, performers wear masks on stage, and must keep a distance from customers. Staff who provide a “soapy massage” must wear a mask, as should customers, except during bathing, the regulations state.

  The country has managed to avoid a major outbreak, recording 3,185 cases and 58 deaths, but the economic impact of the lockdown has been devastating — especially for vulnerable groups such as sex workers, who rely on tourists for work.

  Service Workers in Group, which supports sex workers, said that some have been turned away from welfare support.

  Prostitution is illegal in Thailand, although it is tolerated.

  It is feared that poverty rates, which have already worsened in the past few years, will rise even further.

  Nopadon Khanklai, a taxi driver in Bangkok, was forced to sell his car during lockdown, because as work dried up, he could not afford the credit payments.

  “I came to a point where I had to go to the temple to ask for food. If it’s not for the temple I would have died. I had no money,” he said.

  Now that nightlife has reopened, he has begun driving a rented car, but this costs 700 baht (US$22.50) per day to hire, on top of fuel. It is hard to break even.

  He said he hopes that tourists will come back soon, but worries about the risk of travelers bringing COVID-19 into the country.

  Although travel bubbles with low-risk countries are being discussed by officials, borders remain shut to tourists. The country has recorded no local cases for more than five weeks, but venues have been warned that they would be closed if they break coronavirus rules.

  “We try, we try,” said one business owner, who asked not to be named, but he acknowledges that it is a challenge.

  At the bar, drinkers brush up against one another. Outside, groups huddle together to chat and take photographs.

  Maybe some people are feeling more confident because Thailand has recorded fewer cases recently, said Krittapart Ngernkao, a graphic designer, who has been out with friends.

  Krittapart is still taking precautions, and said that he probably would not go out partying as often as before the novel coronavirus hit.

  However, staying at home on Friday, the first day nightlife reopened, was simply not an option, he said.

  “We have been waiting to come out, we have been waiting for some joy,” he added.
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