Abandoned Paradises.
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Dates2020 - Ongoing
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Author
- Topics Social Issues, Contemporary Issues, Editorial
Today the Thailand of tourism is a shadow of itself. Or at least that's how the major tourist resorts on the coast and the famous islands appear.
(Thailand). Covid 19.
It goes without saying that what was once a favorite destination for tourists from all over the world today suffers enormously from the total absence of foreign visitors. Almost all tourism-related services have been closed for months. With a strange "Fukushima" effect for which some places have been completely abandoned as they were on the day of closure. With televisions, bottles and glasses still on the tables. The clocks hanging on the walls all show different times, depending on when the batteries stopped working. Wild monkeys are the new masters of the island, where elephants once ruled undisturbed. Here the entertainment and service machine never stops. 24 hours a day 12 months a year. As there is no real cold season, tourists arrive non-stop with absolute peaks during Christmas and summer holidays. The travel industry has already survived devastating crises, including the 2004 tsunami, bird flu and the SARS epidemics. But the impact of the coronavirus pandemic is unparalleled. During previous crises, revenues fell by about a fifth, according to data from the tourism ministry.