Subject: Thailand's tuk tuks, tour buses and boats marooned at Lunar New Year
JackTheBat
Forum Moderator
Rank: 15Rank: 15Rank: 15Rank: 15Rank: 15


UID 56406
Digest Posts 0
Credits 32071
Posts 2113
Karma 31683
Acceptance 7762
Reading Access 150
Registered 1-12-2010
Status Offline
Post at 12-2-2021 01:57  Profile Blog P.M. 
Font size: S M L
Thailand's tuk tuks, tour buses and boats marooned at Lunar New Year

Thailand's tuk tuks, tour buses and boats marooned at Lunar New Year
FEBRUARY 10, 2021
By Jiraporn Kuhakan, Juarawee Kittisilpa
https://www.reuters.com/article/ ... -year-idUSKBN2AA17Z

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Parked in rows with many gathering dust and cobwebs, hundreds of “tuk tuk” motorised rickshaws, tour buses and boats lie silent across the Thai capital of Bangkok, after suffering a twin blow from the coronavirus pandemic and a lack of foreign tourists.

Celebrations of the Lunar New Year, which begins on Friday, normally bring a spike in spending and travel among Thais and an influx of visitors from China and elsewhere in Asia.

But the pandemic has upended Thai transport businesses, leaving many drivers and owners struggling to make ends meet, while a survey predicted Lunar New Year spending would suffer its sharpest fall in 13 years.

“These tuk tuks have been parked for a year...you can see them all covered with dust,” said garage owner Kraisak Kulkiatprasert, who now rents out fewer than 10 vehicles a day, despite having slashed rentals, versus more than 100 earlier.

“I will monitor the situation for another year,” he added. “If it doesn’t get better, I will have to shut down.”

Campon Taikae, a 50-year-old tuk tuk driver, said he had earned only 50 baht ($1.70) after driving for hours a day earlier, but felt he had no chance of finding another job.

In another part of Bangkok, tour buses are parked in long lines, devoid of their tourist passengers.

“Before the COVID pandemic, I’ve never been short of work,” said driver Tossaporn Rakratchakarn, as he cleaned his vehicle’s dust-laden windshield.

“I usually drop tourists off and pick another group up. It’s been a year now and there’s been no movement at all,” added Tossaporn, who had even returned to his home village at one point, to look after a fishpond.

Wasuchet Sophonsathien, president of the Thai Transportation Operators Association, said only about a tenth of Thailand’s 40,000 tour buses were still operating.

The story is the same for many tour boats and ferries.

Things were completely different from the days in the past when passengers packed his vessel, said Mani Hogkhontod, a 54-year-old boat driver.

“I have been thinking about finding a new job, but I am worried that I have to start from zero, because of my work experience and age,” he said.

Thailand’s tally of infections stands at 23,903, with 80 deaths, as this week’s daily cases rank among the lowest reported since the southeast Asian nation’s latest and biggest outbreak emerged in mid-December.

Recent Ratings
obe   22-2-2021 11:49  Acceptance  +10   
austin821   13-2-2021 07:04  Acceptance  +5   
Top
austin821
Throbbing Titan
Rank: 7Rank: 7Rank: 7


UID 115149
Digest Posts 0
Credits 3022
Posts 332
Karma 2963
Acceptance 1186
Reading Access 70
Registered 26-2-2014
Status Offline
Post at 13-2-2021 07:03  Profile P.M. 
Font size: S M L
Not sure if your on facebook, but check out this video showing Asiateque in BK.

https://www.facebook.com/danaboutthailand/videos/423919242170784



Very Sad to see this happening to so many people...

Recent Ratings
obe   22-2-2021 11:50  Acceptance  +10   Yep terrible. Great restaurants there.
Top
 


All times are GMT+8, the time now is 11-11-2024 10:03

Powered by Discuz! 5.0.0 © 2001-2006 Comsenz Inc.
Processed in 0.030817 second(s), 10 queries , Gzip enabled

Clear Cookies - Contact Us - 141Love
Disclaimer: This forum is operated as a real-time bulletin board system. 141CLUB.COM carries no legal liability on its contents. All messages are solely composed and up-loaded by readers and their opinions do not represent our stand. Readers are reminded that the contents on this forum may not convey reliable information thus it is readers' own responsibility to judge the validity, completeness and truthfulness of the messages. For messages related to medical, legal or investment issues, readers should always seek advice from professionals. Due to the limitation of the forum's real-time up-loading nature, 141CLUB.com is not able to monitor all the messages posted. Should readers find any problems regarding the messages, do contact us. 141CLUB.COM reserves the rights to delete or preserve any messages and reject anyone from joining this forum. 141CLUB.COM reserves all the legal rights.