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My Corona Diary December 2020 - 2021


Nasiadai
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Mekong,
Let's wait and see how things develop with the webcams.
In the post-Corona times, when Pattaya and the bar business are back to normal, we will see how the bars manage the use of the webcams.

In recent years, one thing has struck me as unpleasant.
When I entered a beer bar, e.g. in Soi 7 / 8, they only paid attention to me briefly, namely when I ordered my drink.
After that, all the girls were immediately busy with themselves and their smartphones.
Many other guests also had this negative experience.

It is up to the bar management to stop this bad habit.
An example:
At the start of work, all girls have to switch off their smartphones.
After about 4 hours, they are allowed to check their smartphones for a period of 15 minutes.
After that, they have to switch them off again.
It is up to the bar manager to ensure discipline.


 

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3 hours ago, Nasiadai said:

all the girls were immediately busy with themselves and their smartphones.

It's all Steve Jobs' fault, the day he put self-facing cameras, on the the damn iphone...

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Around here it is common to see young mums walking their new borns in strollers, whilst also glued to phone.

Several times I have had to sound my klaxon, when a young mum, absorbed in her phone, has come to a stop at the edge of the road, she, safely still on the foot path, but stroller with little bobby, stuck out in the road, causing vehicles to take evasive action.

When roused from the phone, the young mother gives the car driver, a death stare.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Now we move on ...

An interesting article in the Handesblatt about the Thai tourism industry in Corona times.

https://app.handelsblatt.com/politik/international/suedostasien-thailands-wirtschaft-am-boden-im-paradies-geht-die-verzweiflung-um/27005630.html?utm_source=pocket-newtab-global-de-DE&ticket=ST-4119954-09Aedy3T1ffdFyEfHlbB-ap3

Thailands Wirtschaft am Boden: Im Paradies geht die Verzweiflung um
Thailand's economy is down: Desperation is rampant in paradise.

Von: Mathias Peer

Preliminary remark:

Handelsblatt is one of Germany's leading and most important newspapers for business, companies, economics.
The author of this article - Mathias Peer - probably knows neither Bangkok nor Pattaya. He has obviously written this essay with the help of several well-informed sources as well as public sources. Sure, one notices - as a connoisseur, an insider of Bangkok and Pattaya - that the author has no authentic knowledge of details and specific features.

His aim is to show a rather ignorant readership how terrible the effects of the worldwide Corona crisis are on the Thai tourism industry.
I translate a few paragraphs and
present them now.

 

 

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"The slump in business is unprecedented: Until the beginning of the Corona crisis, Thailand's tourist numbers were still growing unchecked to 40 million holidaymakers a year at last count. In the meantime, visitor numbers have plummeted by 99.8 percent year-on-year. Economic output plummeted by 6.1 per cent - the biggest drop since the Asian crisis at the end of the 1990s.
Every second employee in tourism lost his job. For this year, economic researchers expect at best a slight recovery. Thailand's central bank sees the question of when tourists will be able to return to the country as the main risk for the country's economic future."

 

"The crisis has set Pattaya back decades - even the rubbish collection service is feeling the effects. Before the pandemic, they collected 500 tonnes of waste a day. Of the estimated 500,000 inhabitants, 300,000 have left the city, according to the authorities - mainly people from rural areas who hoped for higher incomes in the city's once thriving tourism industry.
"There is almost no one here anymore," says a waitress who introduces herself as Kannika, in what used to be a mostly crowded "walking street". Her basic salary is 110 euros a month - plus just under one euro for each drink sold. What provided a good income in the heyday of the tourism business is now barely enough to survive. "We can't keep this up much longer," says the 43-year-old."

I believe that the Thai tourism industry will recover very quickly in the post-Corona period.
The Thais are very pragmatic and solution-oriented.

My objection, my concern:
Many Western tourists will probably not be able to come because of the devastating economic development in many Western countries. Corona is acting as a kind of accelerant for the economic decline of many Western countries.

Please do not misunderstand me. Western holidaymakers will continue to come to Thailand and Pattaya, but their numbers will continue to decline steadily.

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"Even in the city's red-light district, which used to be discredited for widespread sex tourism, new business models are needed. Before the crisis, Englishman Bryan Flowers ran two dozen bars in a street full of go-go bars. Only a little more than half of them are open at the moment."

"There are hardly any walk-ins any more. But Flowers has found a new source of income. He set up improvised broadcasting studios between the bar and the music system. Twelve hours a day, scantily clad barmaids present themselves in front of webcams for live streams on the internet. Viewers are invited to buy them virtual drinks in exchange for a personal thank-you video - completely G-rated. Flowers doesn't want to risk being blocked by payment processors. In the meantime, he makes half of his revenue from digital. "We wouldn't have survived without livestreaming," he says."

As I said before: Necessity is the mother of invention.
The success of the webcams proves the bars, the bar operators and the girls right.

 

 

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"Hairdresser, barber!" scream my hairs!

"We have not been cut for almost seven months.
We want a haircut, and we want it now!"

And my month-old beard is also calling out: "I want to be shaved off."

And my head is shouting in desperation:
"Charly, you look just horrible with this long hair and wild beard.

Off to the barber! That's an order."

758876887_Charly-bloodynose-DSC01895.JPG.694ce3a140a9f8245538983febc2375a.JPG

That was 6 weeks ago in February when we had frost, ice and snow.

I had a bad fall at the pond of the river Este.
I wanted to take photos of the frozen pond and the wild birds such as ducks, pigeons, seagulls, etc.

 

 

1505656551_Charlyvordemhaircut-DSC01913.thumb.jpg.3cf48b77301c6eb9f4107337d4f5335b.jpg

Two days ago; I look like a homeless person.
Hair dishevelled, unshaven, a wild beard.

1312381414_Charlyvordemhaircut-DSC01908.jpg.958bb765b2ccb1ad887c1d6742941c01.jpg

If my family saw me, oh my goodness.
My daughter, my sister! There would be thunder and lightning!
A great ranting and shouting.

1419392953_Charly-beforehaircut1.jpg.5ae60b69153ce3bddbb230c544ded120.jpg

But it was the conversation with my Dutch girl, the girl with pearl earring, Meisje met de parel,
that tipped the scales.
"If you don't go to the hairdresser today and have your hair and beard trimmed thoroughly and short,
then I'm no longer your girl, then I'll terminate my friendship with you.”

That was the striking argument, the killer argument, and at the same time a terrible threat.
She threatens to be no longer my communication partner, my secret advisor and my bosom friend.

 

So I immediately made my way to the hairdresser.
Frau Monika - that's the hairdresser's name - was very happy when she saw me.
She immediately took out the scissors and the clippers and threatened me with them:

I'm about to activate these two devices and they'll turn you into a real gentleman again."

44303529_Charlyvordemhaircut-DSC01916.jpg.206c9d8093752394216520d7114e47d6.jpg

Here is the result. Back to normal.

 

 

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