New Lockdown! 2020 recap from someone stuck in Thailand

First things first – Happy New Year in Lockdown! Good times to be had by all. Except, you know, covid and isolation and general misery. I thought I would start the new year with an amusing meme but it feels somewhat flat as we are in 2021 and it is worse than this time last year. (Look how naive and happy I was back then.) Some things are getting better though.

For one, we have been through this lockdown before and know what to expect. Wine and Netflix are the keys to sanity. Also, on a personal note, I am now freelance. The plus of this is freedom! The downside is being broke. Another plus is that my shares are going up (so the rich are optimistic) and there is a vaccine imminent.

I have been stuck in Thailand for the whole of 2020 and we have had a different journey from the rest of the world. Here is how the year panned out.

2020 in Thailand

January was normal. There were reports of some virus in China but they eat pangolins for luck over there and there is always something odd going on. I was born and raised in Hong Kong and can advise that when a Chinese person offers you a delicacy – run. Peasant food like pork and rice is awesome though.

In January, I spent a lot of time in the south of Thailand on beaches like this:

It was a delightful start to the year.

February was still ok. I spent the first half on a beach just south of Bangkok. I only point out all these beach visits because it is annoying to others and that makes me happy. It is also a pretty common part of life here. Another part of life here is that the cities can be really polluted at this time of year so it is best to get out. At the end of February, I was back in Bangkok debating to wear a mask that fought pollution or the virus.

In March things got a bit more serious. Thailand was one of the first countries in the world to get given the virus. Still, nothing much changed apart from increasing panic and nothing really getting done. On a personal note, I got fired. The job was dull and I got 7 months’ pay, so that was actually pretty cool.

THEN – April! Boom! The world got locked in. Europe was fucked. Trump said it was nothing to worry about, but then he said that for the rest of the year too, so the orange one was ignored by everyone outside his cult for the rest of 2020 (when possible). In Bangkok, we could go to the supermarkets and get takeaways and so on.

Predictably, the Thai government banned being buying booze. It is their ‘go-to’ for pretty much anything – religious holidays, whenever there is an election – even a local one, even though foreigners can’t vote (the ban starts the day before), and, as it turns out, pandemics. No one knows why. Consequently, everyone stocks up and there are feverish scenes of Thais grappling for booze on global news when alcohol sales start again.

May – see April. The only difference was that we could eat in restaurants.

June till January 1st 2021. Pretty much back to pre-pandemic life except more mask wearing and temperature taking.

Unfortunately, there was an outbreak just south of Bangkok a few weeks ago and now it seems the virus is going to tear Thailand a new one. Still, they may get it under control. One thing that is good here is that it’s generally pretty hot and people spend a lot of time outside when they meet others. They also ‘wai’ each other (put your hands together in a prayer-type stance) rather than shake hands or kiss each other a stupid amount of times on each cheek.

The rest of the world seems kind of scary depending on where you are

For most of 2020, Europe and the Americas have seemed terrifying places to those outside. They are also the main places that, purely coincidentally, seem to have the most virus-deniers and people refusing to wear masks. Because freedom.

Oh well. Large chunks of the world, including Thailand, are going back into lockdown. In the UK, the numbers are even worse than before. Happy January.

But things are on the up. Even with a lockdown

There are vaccines. Tons of them. The UK is currently getting crapped on by the virus but they are vaccinating like mad people. Two months from now things should be better. Not here in Thailand (probably) as they only seem to have a couple of hundred thousand vaccines on order. And they won’t arrive till February. But maybe they will find more. Just… hopefully not from where I think they are going to get them from. (Rhymes with Bina.)

Anyway, as I said at the start, Happy New Year! Yay! This time the lockdown will be fun! The end is in sight! Vaccines! Ok, that is the most upbeat I can be.

Whack on Netflix and open the vino and let’s see what happens. The lockdown will end. Chin up. If you get bored you can always buy one of my books. There are travel stories, sci-fi stories, real-life ghost tales and more. Cheers 2021!