Images of hundreds of residents queuing up to receive free bags of rice and other dried foods on April 23 2022 in Pattaya suggest that Thailand’s economy still has a long way to go on the road to recovery.
During “lockdown” in Pattaya in 2020, huge crowds of people queuing for 200 baht food and drinks handouts from Rom Pho fresh food market were a daily occurrence. Two years on, familiar scenes are surfacing again as hundreds of residents line up to receive free food from the generous owners of Sampan Korean barbecue restaurant in North Pattaya last weekend.
Despite the partial return of tourists into the kingdom, many restaurants, bars and businesses and taxi drivers in Pattaya are still struggling.
A motorcycle-taxi driver lining up for food said that while the city’s economy is doing better, he only earns enough money on weekends and holidays. Other days, he only makes…
