A few days after the country reopened, people returned to eating and drinking in public and enjoying life.
However, most flock to restaurants and food courts in department stores and community malls that carry the Safety and Health Administration (SHA) certification logo -- which is given to establishments by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).
Businesses and shops must pass a set of Covid-safety criteria set by the Ministry of Public Health and local administrations to be certified. They include vaccinating staff and complying with social distancing rules. In addition, establishments that have the SHA certification can serve alcohol until 9pm.
Yet, observers will notice a difference in Thailand's food scene: Smaller shops and street food stalls, which were once the heart and soul of Bangkok's eatery scene, are relatively quiet. This could be because many have yet received SHA certification.
One glaring example of this is on Khao San Road, a famous tourist location in Bangkok, which has been quiet for almost two years. Before Thailand's reopening, food operators in the area repurposed Khao San Road from a walking street to an entertainment street with music, karaoke and alcohol served to draw local customers, as many of them knew it would take months or even a year before foreign tourists returned.
But without SHA certification, these venues cannot legally serve alcoholic drinks.
To rescue their business, representatives of operators on Khao San Road on Wednesday lodged a petition with Phra Nakhon district officials, complaining that the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) -- the authority handling SHA certification requests inn the capital -- was ill-prepared and had even failed to inform small businesses about SHA certification in advance.
Their complaint is completely valid. The BMA only informed local eateries of the SHA certification requirement on Oct 28, three days before the country reopened.
There also remains the question as to why and how large restaurants were able to receive SHA certification earlier, and critics are asking why BMA officials -- who inspect food establishments for hygiene and vaccination records -- do not provide certification to operators right away.
Currently, smaller eateries are struggling to get SHA certification. Owners are required to register online and the process to obtain certification and the sought after sticker takes two weeks to complete.
In the past week, of about 1,300 eateries surveyed in Bangkok, only about 10% of them had SHA certification stickers and they were big businesses and restaurant chains.
This anomaly will harm those depending on the grassroots economy, especially street food vendors and small eateries who attract tourists and are a source of affordable and delicious food for locals and foreign visitors alike.
Critics have slammed the BMA for hurting business operators, especially the smaller ones, noting that the current SHA certification process suggests a degree of cronyism is in play where those with connections with local officials are receiving certification and accreditation much faster than others.
The SHA issue might seem insignificant. Yet, it highlights the problem of how authorities deal with Covid-19 related plans.
After two years of living with the pandemic, officials are still stuck in their old bureaucratic mindset that sees many people left out in the cold.