The Covid-19 Plague travel embargo is slowing and incrementally coming to an end. That doesn’t mean the plague is over. It appears to mean, politically at least, that after a three month lock-down phase world economies are collapsing and can’t continue to remain closed. Third world countries, where there is little welfare state infrastructure, have been hit much worse than western nations.
Many daily workers in Thailand have been reduced to penury. Decades of planning an economy dependent on tourism proved to be unsustainable. When knowledgeable economists say “The New Normal ” will change Thailand forever, they are stating fact. Tourism revenues will have to fund a shift to a more sustainable economy. Easier said than done. Change will have to come from the top.
Thailand has welcomed tourists for decades. However, visitors have never been welcomed into Thai society. Thai is a very structured and highly regulated society based on the Buddhist religion and a centuries old hierarchy . Your visit to Thailand resembles an individual in a bubble. You’re there, but you’re not. No matter where you go, on whatever budget you’ve chosen, how far above the street or how street level you are, you’re never other than ‘farang‘…. a foreigner.
Language is a huge barrier. Thai are shocked to hear a foreigner speak Thai, because so few ever learn even a few words. Thai are insulted. Instead foreigners accost Thai for food, drink or directions in pigeon-English, or brutish sign language, expecting Thai to understand and respond. Thai respond positively if you can speak a few words of Thai. They appreciate every respectful gesture, being polite is still a widely accepted currency, spend generously.
Expect to find new barriers to your freedom. The Covid Lock-Down means that new rules are piled on old rules and Thai expect you to follow. Line-ups, closed area’s, mandatory distancing and masks, all… the new normal. You will find restrictions everywhere. The idea that Thailand is open for every bizarre behavior is the farthest thing from truth. Thai are by nature a very traditional and conservative people.
Salacious media, for reasons of selling advertising space in travel related publications, have in the past sold an isolated sensational microcosm of Thailand that few Thai have knowledge of or experience in. Personally, I have lived in Thailand for three decades and never once sat in a ‘girly bar‘. Expect Thai to express relief when you don’t ask for anything ‘weird‘. On your next visit to Thailand you can expect to visit a conservative country as ‘the new normal‘ insinuates additional restrictions into the travel industry.
The highly publicized sex industry, the 1960’s backbone of post-Vietnam war era Thai tourism has flat-lined. Ex-pat drunks have been sent packing as visa restrictions and currency fluctuation work to clear them out. Thailand has an official policy in such matters that has been highly effective, “Good guys in, Bad guys out”. Still a retirement tourism haven, Thailand successfully sells it’s excellent medical tourism and luxury nursing homes.
The Phangna Full Moon Party, and infamous ‘Khao San Road’, all skillfully presented, never mainstream, are being phased out. It’s all been a show, for an increasingly irrelevant and unwanted backpacker tourist. Each of these experiences was carefully measured for value and have been found wanting. Expect Thailand Experiences to be further restrained. Welcome back to Thailand… bring cash.
J West Hardin Road Trip 