Musicians have appealed to the government to allow night-time entertainment to resume, saying they are out of work and out of money, and have families to feed.
About 50 independent musicians on Thursday petitioned Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha at the government's Complaint Centre calling for sympathy. They asked that he allow night entertainment venues to reopen in a week's time. This would clear the way for them to return to work.
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration had allowed restaurants to open. However, pubs and bars remained closed, and this meant independent musicians had nowhere to perform and were out of a job.
The group's representative, Pornphan Petrarat, said artists who relied on being able to sing and play music at night for a living were struggling to feed their families. They have had no income since April.
“We will have had zero baht income for four months come July. The country has about 100,000 self-employed musicians and that means 100,000 households are affected,” Ms Pomphan said.
The musicians were ready and willing to follow all health guidelines set by the covid response centre. They just wanted to get back on stage and earn a living.