A Coronavirus Outlook from Thailand. 

In February, I was enjoying a fun lunch with friends at my favorite Raleigh restaurant -- Mitch's Tavern on Hillsborough Street -- over a bowl of Hoppin' John and a Greek salad. It was a good-to-be-back reunion with old friend Mitch Hazouri, a favorite State professor and a fraternity brother from Raleigh and seeing others during what would be the calm before the storm, the outbreak of the coronavirus.

Hoppin' John and a Greek salad at Mitch's Tavern in Raleigh

I'm now back in Pattaya where all restaurants are closed by order of the Thai government. Fortunately take-away is allowed, so I can still pick up a plate of Pad Thai from my favorite Thai vendor.

Pad Thai at Lek's Restaurant in Pattaya

The Thai night life is shut down and the beaches are pretty empty. But even though almost all fitness clubs and swimming pools are closed, I still have access to the beautiful Dusit Thani Hotel swimming pools during the day.  I walk a deserted beach each afternoon and swim at a pretty much deserted pool, so my days are OK--just without company.  In the evening I hunker down with take-away, and read, and watch movies, TV series, the news, etc.  Life is OK so far, but there is talk of a Thai government draconian set of rules coming down--with 24-hour confinement....But my Thai neighbors are suffering the most--Thai shop keepers are without an income and the go-go girls along Walking Street are out of work--and their familes back in Isan (northeast Thailand) depend on their checks.

Thunderous Walking Street on a Normal Night and Coronavirus Now

Today I am at the Buddhist temple up the street from me--I'm helping out with the soi (street) dogs and cats.  They are fun to watch.  Promptly at 5 o'clock in the afternoon my Thai friend arrives on her bicycle with plastic bags of food.  About twenty dogs gathered together patiently await her.

I help her sort out the food and lay it down in small piles on the flat pavement as the dogs, with hardly a growl, claim their serving.  Even the fairly patient shoppers at the super markets could learn a lesson here.  Good dogs.  The cats were fed away from the dogs--same sense of animal politeness. The coronavirus has brought all of us together--it would seem.

Soi (street) dogs and cats patiently awaiting there 5PM feeding

My concerns extend away from Thailand to Portland, Oregon where my graphic designer daughter Anna now works from her house while home-schooling my seven-year-old grandson Reed (since Portland schools are now closed).  And to my CPA brother Tom in Winston Salem who looks after my taxes, and sister Sue in Raleigh--I hope both are keeping their heads down as are the rest of my family and friends during this coronavirus crisis. 

And I hope Dasiy ( a beautiful Golden Lab mix) is enjoying the extra attention with her stay-at-home family back in Raleigh.  And them her of course.  :-)

Pattaya Precautions

I hope you guys are safe and taking good care of yourselves and your families. I never thought we would get those neighborhoods all cleaned up after those devestating storms that hit Raleigh a few years back, but we did. 

Solo beach walking and swimming along Pattaya Beach, a welcome escape in the afternoons from the tedium of stay-at-home (I am very lucky).

The Dusit Thani Resort on Pattaya Beach

Good Ole Mitch's Tavern (a lot of memories there :-)