PUBLISHED : 8 FEB 2021 AT 04:30
NEWSPAPER SECTION: NEWS WRITER: PORAMET TANGSATHAPORN
Grilled chicken sells in front of Pazan Bar and Restaurant, where the owner has turned his business that usually serves alcohol into a restaurant after being hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. Nutthawat Wicheanbut
Yet massive lay-offs in local offices and businesses saw his customer base dry up too.
"There were only around 40% left in one of the companies after huge lay-offs last year."
He revealed that he earned only 5,000–6,000 baht a day recently, barely enough to pay the costs.
"Even after I earned that for five days, there is nothing left to save. I need to pay 20,000 [baht] a week for the groceries. That 10,000 [baht] left will be used to pay for gas and living costs for my family of five.
"Not to mention the 5,000 baht monthly rental pay and another 150,000 for a new three-year lease that I need to find by this August. How am I going to find that amount?" he said.
The government's "Khon La Khreung" co-payment and relief package schemes did not help him much as he needs cash and cash flow to run his business. Meanwhile, the money gained from the schemes is paid as debits in the government-run app and withdrawal as cash can be done with limits and only in a designated period of time.
"I don't know what to say. I just keep praying that my family and this country can survive the effects of this pandemic."
Unlike some others, Pongpat Penchotiros, the 29-year-old owner of Pazan Bar and Restaurant, is lucky that the decision to turn his bar into a charcoal grilled chicken restaurant after the first wave proved a success.
"When they [government] asked us to close, we shut the rooftop and focused on the restaurant on the ground floor which only had to shut an hour earlier," he said.
Although he's not making the money he made before, he says they have made adjustments to stay afloat.
"As the purchasing power of consumers decreased, we needed to reduce costs," he said.
Mr Pongpat said he is happy with the Khon La Khrueng scheme, but said people's technological illiteracy could be a hindrance and said he believed the soft lockdown wasn't thought through.
"Closure orders and restrictions should be the same everywhere [instead of allowing the provincial governor to decide for each province. Furthermore, the government should give us more time to prepare."
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