It's no mystery that the Covid-19 pandemic has upended the lives of people from all walks of life, all over the world. From children who were looking forward to their first day of school to people in retirement, there's not a single person who hasn't felt the effects of the coronavirus, even if they weren't necessarily infected.
At the beginning of it all, Thailand seemed to be able manage the virus and its spread, even being lauded by some as having handled the pandemic well. Because of that, everything mostly went back to normal for months and it seemed that the worse was behind us. But in came 2021 and hopes of it being the year for new beginnings were dashed. More than a year since we first entered quarantine, we're facing a third wave where more than 2,000 positive cases a day are being recorded, as well as new deaths. Hospitals are filled with Covid patients that they're running out of room and eating out is no longer an option.
In other words, we're technically back in lockdown, even though the government probably won't admit it. While "third time's a charm" might apply to many other things, lockdown isn't one of them. Guru has complied life stories from people from different walks of life to put a spotlight on the challenges that Rona has brought. The bottom line: we're all in this together, and we'll go through it together.
Nicolas Ziade
General Manager of Mulligan's Irish Pub
Nicolas Ziade works at Mulligan's Irish Pub, which used to be a busy place, its walls bouncing the buzz of conversation and reverberating the sound of a live band. Its location in one of Bangkok's party central places, Khaosan Road, has been quiet since the first quarantine.
"On Feb 17, last year, I had to cancel a St Patrick's Day concert and then we were closed until Jun 15. My savings, a little help from the SSO [Social Security Office], and my company, I was okay financially. Mentally, the four months of having to stay home and just wait for the bar to reopen affected me. June 15 was a great day: people came back and by July 1 we had the live music back, but it wasn't the same. Revenue was down due to no tourists, so we cut back our hours. We had 45 staff members but had to downsize to 15. I lost all my savings after being shut down for four months. By January this year, we were shut down again so I had to restart marketing again. The great thing that came out of this is that I'm expecting a baby in September. Honestly, I think this shutdown will last until June. With vaccines being pushed, I hope it will be 90% back to normal."
Jon Spearman
Owner and chef of Pizzeria Mazzie
Pizzeria Mazzie has garnered a following since it opened a few years ago in Park Lane Ekamai. Owners Jon and Celina make sure everyone feels welcome, with Jon, a Brooklyn native, making the pizzas nightly. With this third wave, Pizzeria Mazzie has reverted to deliver only, something that has affected them greatly.
"The government's response to Covid has had a negative effect on our business. The repeated response of not allowing alcohol sales, forcing early closure hours, curfews and the like, have effectively shut our restaurant repeatedly. There has been a very ineffective line of communication from the authorities to local business owners about the rules to the same repeated mandates. After 15 months, the lack of a clear and concise communicated plan to deal with the reality of the pandemic has been the most troubling and has left us unsure of the future of small restaurants in Thailand. These issues leave us to imagine what the restaurant scene in Bangkok will look like in the next six to 12 months. We are curious about which other restaurants are optimistic that we can get back to a business climate similar to January 2020 before the pandemic hit.
"Personally, this past year has been very difficult. My wife is pregnant with our second child, due in June, and we have been forced to be extraordinarily cautious about working hours and connecting with our customers. This has left a huge void in our business and life. We opened Pizzeria Mazzie to feed people, make people happy, make them feel welcome and to give them a different experience with a pizzeria. To not be allowed to share this intimate connection has been extraordinarily difficult. We are not sure what the future holds for us in Thailand. We hope we can come out of this with a business intact that pays staff a good, living wage and supports their families and responsibilities."
Pan Pan Narkprasert
Owner of House Of Heals, Legendary Drag Queen
Better known by his drag persona, Pangina Heals, Pan Pan Narkprasert has become synonymous with the drag scene of Thailand. Aside from being one of the hosts of Drag Race Thailand, the local version of the famous TV show Ru Paul's Drag Race, Pan Pan also owns his own drag bar named House Of Heals on the 33rd floor of Renaissance Bangkok Ratchaprasong Hotel. It took a lot of effort and patience to establish the drag bar, but it's sadly closed temporarily due to the third wave.
"Utterly f**ked. It's as if we're playing a sick game of Russian roulette where either we can get sick or accidentally make someone else get sick. It's psychologically and financially devastating. People are playing the blame game. Wake me up when this is over, I want to be a groundhog. I have learnt that it is good to save money from over the years because you never know when the next pandemic is around the corner. I have learnt that my mental health is very important and people should be kind to others. I have learnt that I took travel and human interaction for granted. After this, I will hug people more and travel the world instead of pushing it off."
Phannapast "Yoon" Taychamaythakool
Illustrator
Despite the ongoing pandemic, noted Thai illustrator Phannapast "Yoon" Taychamaythakool remains prolific, displaying her second solo show "Venus In The Shell" at River City Bangkok in January and February, among many other highlights in her illustrious career. The Chula graduate has also worked with iconic fashion brand Gucci. But even she wasn't left unscathed by the pandemic.
"Although Miss Rona isn't a welcome addition to this Earth, she reminds us of problems that need addressing, how we should adapt to this ever-changing world and, perhaps, where we should be heading next.
"In Thailand, I think she shows us uncertainty. She can come knocking on your door if you're not careful. Like everyone, I've been affected by the pandemic in my daily life and the relationships I have with other people. More importantly, it reveals shortcomings, unpreparedness and inaptitude on the government's part in handling the situation. It affects the economy and hinders people's ability to plan their futures. Miss Rona also makes us hear many voices and perspectives that you may have never heard before. Every voice is powerful and criticism isn't a crime. If you open your mind and listen to these voices, you'll learn to look inside and see what needs to be improved.
As an artist, art offers me a way to escape from the real world. But only momentarily. In the moments when I see life as it is and I see the changes and hardship that people face, I realise then that things aren't as pretty as the world I paint. Although I would like to offer some encouragement through my artwork, I also keep asking myself what else can I do to help so that no one is left behind when Miss Rona is gone."
Melalin Mahavongtrakul
Thai student in the UK
Melalin Mahavongtrakul left Thailand to pursue a master's degree in the UK when the pandemic was only a few months old. For any student travelling abroad, the prospect of being in a new environment can be thrilling, but Rona turned that all around.
"It was definitely interesting to come to the UK during a pandemic. I was excited about being back in class after several years away from academic life. In reality, lockdown happened. I did anticipate that, but I didn't expect to have almost all of my classes on Zoom. Here I am, having flown half way across the world, only to be doing my degree from a new, tiny bedroom. It's crazy to think about it sometimes, but it is what it is. The one thing I like is that I can just roll out of bed, in my pyjamas, and head straight into a Zoom session. You can't really do that with in-person teaching.
"I'm happy with how the vaccine rollout's going here even though I haven't had my jab yet. With the infection rate slowing down, we're easing out of lockdown and it's been sunny these past few days. I'm not sure if it's too soon to celebrate, but at least I'm glad we're getting some sense of normalcy in our daily life back."
Weerawat "Num" Triyasenawat
Chef-patron of Samuay & Sons and Mak Khang
Originally, Weerawat "Num" Triyasenawat travelled to the US to pursue an MBA. Years later, he found himself back in his hometown of Udon Thani to open Samuay & Sons, where he champions local farmers and uses locally-sourced ingredients for his dishes that are influenced by various parts of Thailand. Like every other restaurateur, however, he has also had to struggle through the pandemic.
"Cooking is my life. I couldn't have come this far without cooking. Why? Because I can do what I love, I can make people happy and I can meet many interesting people like chefs, farmers, artists and people who love food. When Covid hit, it slowed me down and made me think more about how I can use my skills to help people like doing lunch boxes. A good thing about this is that nature has had time to recover for a while while we can't travel. A bad effect from Covid is that it hurts us a lot in our restaurant business. We have lost more than 60% of our guests during the pandemic. We hope that the Thai government helps us by preparing enough vaccines and effectively distributes them to most of the population. This can help us get back to a normal situation very soon. Until then, please stay strong and safe from Covid."
