The New Normal Is Already Here

Reader Submission:

Many people are wondering what the future of Thailand will hold.  I personally believe we are already seeing the worst of it already.  The social-distancing standards that are in place seem to be working, so why would they need to tighten them down anymore than they already are?

Chances are we’ll have to wear masks while we are out and about for quite some time and we may have to ride 4 or 5 to a baht bus (or whatever the official socially-distanced number happens to be).  Most places have already given up on the contact tracing application.  It would seem not as many people had cellular phones as they previously thought.  The clipboard sign in really doesn’t do much considering you can write that your name is Santa Claus and nobody would ever know the difference.  It is highly unlikely those spreadsheets go anywhere but in the trash when they start stacking up.

The big changes that will have to be addressed with regards to Thailand’s “New Normal” will be the international travel.  Nobody really knows how it is going to work exactly but there are a few theories floating around.  The most feasible theory that I have heard to date is that Thailand will establish bilateral agreements with select countries that will allow travel between the two, so long as certain health requirements are met.  Those health requirements could very well include a quarantine on either end of your holiday.

It will be a different Thailand/Pattaya for a while but eventually things will return to the old normal. The new normal is really just so they can see if the virus is going to spring back (and to hopefully prevent it from doing so).  I have been bugging Adam Judd over at The Pattaya News for information on travel almost everyday but I know they are putting it out as soon as humanely possible.

I have already started getting questions on several of my social media sites about whether or not people will be able to come back soon.  There ARE tourists out there that are tired of being locked up and are ready to start traveling.  That being said, there are also those that are still worried about the virus or the ones who won’t be financially ready to travel just yet.  Give them time, they’ll return.

The biggest change that Pattaya may see is that many girls have become self-employed entrepreneurs during the closure.  It will be interesting to see how many decide to continue working for themselves and how many will return to life at their bars.  The girls who have remained loyal to their bars and brands on account of being treated well will likely return, the bars who didn’t will likely be starting from scratch and will probably have to wait until a new crop of girls rolls into town.  I spoke to Bryan Flowers from The Night Wish Group about the topic and here is what he had to say:

“We expect all of our girls will return, though a few have gotten small jobs in their hometowns and they will give notice before returning.  We have also already spoken to many new girls who are ready to come to work for us as soon as we re-open.”

No matter what the “New Normal” for Pattaya is, you can guarantee it’ll have a whole heap of “Old Normal” mixed in with it and be back hopping in no time.  These are just my personal opinions.

I know there are those people out there who will scream and holler that there is no way we can get back to normal without a vaccine.  I also truly believe those people are wackos who should not be viewed as “credible” for anything.