In a time when beaches are closed and people are supposed to stay two meters apart, beach masseuses are faced with perhaps the biggest-ever threat to their livelihoods.
Kicked off the sand by Pattaya’s coronavirus-related beach closures, masseuses still wander around the shoreline footpath seeking customers. The pickings have been slim to say the least.
“Golf,” 37, said she’s had no real income for four months, dating back before the pandemic hit Pattaya but curbed the flow of Chinese tourists to Thailand.
Customers are missing the service too. Visitor “Stefanie” from Italy stayed in Thailand rather than go back to one of the world’s deadliest coronavirus hot zones.
She said, while in Pattaya, she would always get a massage on the beach. Now she misses her relaxing diversion.
There is some hope on the horizon. After a large group of traditional Thai massage therapists petitioned Government House in Bangkok to reopen their services, officials indicated the upcoming “Phase 3” of Thailand’s reopening plan likely would allow massages, but only legs and feet.
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