Phil? Phil Connors? It’s Me, Ned Ryerson!

When I got back from Krabi, things had started to get locked down. Some things were official, like a mandatory closure of all pubs, clubs, bars, massage shops, entertainment centers, and movie theaters. Other things were less explicit. Some restaurants remained open, as did some random stores. Over the past week, things have cracked down. All non-essential businesses have been asked to close. All restaurants are banned from having people dine on the premises, so take out and delivery remains the only form of income for them. They are now requiring everyone on public transit to wear a mask. The Thai government has locked down a couple of the provinces, such as Phuket, closing beaches indefinitely, making sure hotels aren’t accepting new guests, and instituting a 8PM-5AM curfew.

A couple of days ago, I went on a long walk around 7PM. It spanned 6 skytrain stations, and was about 6..5km. The only point where I was even remotely within 6ft of anyone was near one of the skytrain stations that had two big grocery stores by it, as well as a pretty bangin’ street food area. It’s the same street food area I go to when I’m looking for these crispy fried sticky rice crackers. Storefront after storefront was closed with the metal gates locked shut. There were a few bubble tea stands still open, but other than that, nothing. I was really hoping my favorite khao man gai (chicken & rice) place was doing take out, but the entire sidewalk was deserted. This place is at the street level, underneath one of the most luxurious malls in town. Probably top 5. This would say a lot if you knew how many malls there were in Bangkok. There’s usually street food 2 sois (streets) away too. Nothing. There was nothing. It was like a post-apocalyptic scenario where there would be a few cars that nonchalantly drove by and the neon in front of the mall was left on, but there was no one. Not a soul. Just me. It was eerie.

Today was a bit of a weird day for me. All day, I thought it was Tuesday. Here’s the problem. When every day for the better part of a week, you wake up, watch the news, switch to a TV series to binge, play Animal Crossing on your Nintendo Switch, drink coffee, maybe do some reading, eat fruit, make your bed, shower at 5PM, leave to get food at 6PM, are back in your apartment by 7PM, eat dinner number 1, binge watch some more TV while playing more Animal Crossing, eat dinner number 2, watch some YouTube, and go to sleep around 4AM, days start blending together.

Sometimes I’ll find myself staring out at the street, looking at how many or how few cars there are on Sukhumvit Road, or how many heads I see walking around the street food area next to my building. The action is way better than the action that would be going on outside of my windows in Cambridge. The question is will this only last until the April 12 timeline the Thai government stated, or, like the United States, will the social distancing and the closures continue?

I am currently supposed to be on a stage, and I just heard from the chef there today. He said that there’s really not a lot to do day to day, but I could come by if I wanted to. Part of me needs to go, just to get out of the apartment. Another part of me thinks I should just stay home. Just like part of me think I should grab my gear and fly to Krabi to hang out with my pal down there who has a private pool at her condo, but the other part of me thinks I should just stay home and try not to be part of the problem. Life would be infinitely better if I could be in a pool for a few hours a day. First world problems though, right?

Speaking of first world problems, I’m starting to crave western food. Pizza, a good burger, a nice plate of pasta…. all of it sounds good to me lately, though if I had to choose between my local fruit here and a crappy slice of pizza (not to be confused with Giordano’s), I would choose the fruit every time.

So I have 2 more months here in Thailand. Hopefully, the COVID restrictions will be done in a month, which will give me one month still to stage at bo.lan. I think that if the restaurants really don’t need me or want me as we get into May, I might just try to take it easy somewhere on a beach for a little while, that is, if beaches are open again.

With all of this going on, there really isn’t a whole lot to write about. I may go on another long walk sometime soon. There just isn’t a lot of great places to walk if there isn’t anything open. If you want to hear about anything going on in Thailand, let me know. I’m happy to answer questions.