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| Grey skies for grey times. |
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| A touch of beauty to help improve the mood. |
The Phuket Lockdown ended on
April 30th, but the Thailand
Emergency Decree continues until May 31st. What does this mean for us?
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There is still a curfew from 10 pm until 4 am
but we don’t go out that late at night anyway.
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Most airports are closed. There are exceptions
for bringing Thais back home or for getting some foreigners back to their home
countries. And of course there are “goods” moving back and forth.
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Just a couple of months ago, our neighbourhood
skies were very busy with airplane traffic – day and night. Now there is nearly
nothing. The other day we saw a contrail (maybe a flight from Kuala Lumpur to India)
and considered it very special. When we go up to our rooftop to enjoy the night
sky, there are no planes flying around. Highly unusual. We are actually enjoying
the silence while at the same time getting knots in our stomachs when we
contemplate the economic implications for this country.
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Our neighbourhood still hasn’t really opened.
Restaurants are still shuttered, the park is still barricaded, and the beach
closure signs are still posted. The hotels are still closed. We are waiting
patiently for some announcements.
We continue to wear our masks
whenever we leave the condo. We feel a bit vulnerable because we live in a
neighbourhood that is home to an international airport. When the airport is operating, there are very
many people coming and going from who-knows-where in the world. We shop at the
same places that the airport staff shop and when we do eventually start eating
out again, we will be eating in places that airport staff eat. Oh – and did I
mention that there is a 20,000 baht fine if you are caught in public not
wearing a mask.
Living close to the airport is a
bit problematic for us – but in a manageable way. Until a vaccination or, at
least, a treatment is found for COVID-19 or the hospitals announce they can
handle another wave, we will continue to be worried about getting infected and
then infecting others. I wish there was a “vulnerability index” whereby regions
or neighbourhoods could see where they stand regarding potential for an
outbreak. I think our neighbourhood is more vulnerable than, say, Moose Jaw or
Hobart. So even if it isn’t the “law”, we will wear our masks and we will
practice social distancing. We won’t go to crowded places. We take the proper
measures, but cannot be guaranteed that everyone is doing so. Therefore, we
treat our apartment as a “safe zone”. We
won’t invite visitors into our condo, and to show our respect, we will not
enter the homes of others. Outdoor restaurants with well-spaced tables is what
we are looking forward to as our meeting places. And, boy, are we looking
forward to eating on the beach.
Important note for Dewa owners: We have been talking with Khun Yea,
and can advise that there is a way that donations can be given through her for
all the staff. You all have her email. Money can be transferred the same way that
you pay on your owner’s account. We can tell you that the financial impact on
the staff has been significant. The hotel continues to be shut down, and it is
highly unlikely that travel and tourism (even domestic) will pick up in the
near future. Yet, every time we see any staff member, they are always full of
smiles and good cheer … their spirit is indomitable.
Here’s what happened since
the last update.
May 1 – This was the first of three closely-spaced National
Holidays in Thailand – Labour Day (Friday), Coronation Day (Monday) and
Visakha Bucha Day (a Buddhist holiday on Wednesday). One news article estimated
that ONE MILLION Thais would be travelling on the weekend. I don’t know how
provincial borders that remain closed (e.g. Phuket) would have managed. I don’t know how many
travellers were put in quarantine.
I do know that they lifted the alcohol
ban on the weekend. The weekend saw more traffic deaths than the grand
total of COVID-19 deaths so far.
May 4 – Darrel published his e-book “Laughter is Not Always the Best Medicine” on Amazon.
Incredible what you can accomplish when you are locked at home.
Click here to read more about it. All our books are free for a while. Click here
to see what we have. You might have to go to your own country’s Amazon site to
see them. If so, search for cankata.
May 5 – We went for a bike ride. We noticed how much the
newly-planted trees have grown since our last bike ride. Time + Rain = Huge
Growth! There were lots of others out – walking, running, cycling, and waving
at us.
May 5 – Darrel drove his motorcycle through the village at
noon time. NOTHING was open except for a couple of noisy construction sites. We
are not sure when this place will come back to life.
May 5 – Four Dewa cleaning staff walked past our apartment,
so we donned our masks, went out in the hall, had a little chat and gave each
of them a boxed juice. This has become a weekly ritual and is such a nice
diversion.
May 6 – Darrel had
the following to say about our preparations for our morning bike ride:
“Today was the second time
Loretta and I went for a bike ride since the COVID -19 restrictions have been
relaxed. I placed our helmets and bike gloves on the desk by our entry
door. As we were preparing to leave our condo Loretta put her helmet on
and asked me if I could tighten her straps. They all felt too loose. At the
same time, I was putting on my gloves, but they felt too tight. I removed the
gloves without mentioning that somehow Loretta's gloves ended up with my helmet.
To tighten Loretta's helmet straps is not as easy as one would think since
there are two different straps with four different connection points. This
somewhat complicated system works well to properly fit the helmet side to side
and front to back, but knowing you only have to do it once makes the effort
worthwhile. So after a number of trials, we finally got the helmet to fit
Loretta properly. I then went back to the mixed up glove issue and sorted them
out. As we were heading out the door I picked up my helmet but noticed my helmet
was now RED and not GREEN as it was the day before. Loretta and I immediately
broke out into a giggling fit - delaying our bike ride another few minutes.
Actually it was more than a few minutes because now I had to loosen my straps
since my helmet was too tight. But Loretta's was just right.”
In response to some
questions, here is some background information that puts some of our news in
context.
A map of Phuket showing the sub-districts (tambons):
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| We are in T. Saku - in the NW corner. |
Phuket Province has an area of 576 square kilometres (222
sq. mi.), somewhat less than that of Singapore, and about a tenth the size of
Prince Edward Island. It is Thailand’s largest island.
We are connected by a bridge to the next province to the
north – Phang Nga. The old bridge is much more beautiful than the new bridge,
and thankfully it hasn’t been torn down.
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| The old bridge (with the new one to the right). |
The island is mostly mountainous. Forest, rubber, and palm
oil plantations cover 60 percent of the island. The west coast has several
beautiful sandy beaches. The east coast beaches are more often muddy.
Population: about 600,000, which includes migrants,
international ex-pats, Thais from other provinces, and locals. In the “high
season”, the population swells to over a million. Well, maybe not this year. In
2017, Phuket received about 10 million visitors, most of them foreign, with
China the leading contributor. The numbers fell somewhat last year. This year,
the drop in numbers will no doubt be shocking.
Weather: Due to our proximity to the equator, there is
little variation in temperatures. The average annual high is 32 degrees C and
the annual low is 25 degrees C. We have a “dry season” that runs from December
to March (we still get some rain during these months) and the rest of the time
it is the “wet season”. We get about 2,200 mm of rain each year on average.
Feeling a bit proud of our little island: In July 2005, Phuket
was voted one of the world’s top five retirement destinations by Fortune Magazine. We’re certainly glad
we picked it.
That’s
it for now. Take care. Loretta & Darrel.
