Covid Catastrophe: Koh Phangan Thailand! Part Fourteen (8 photos)

There are some parts of this island that are doing alright, sure rental prices are discounted as much as 50%, even more sometimes. As a renter here, I'm certainly not complaining about that. Yeah, a lot of restaurants have closed down, many hotels and resorts too. There used to be 40 million people visiting Thailand each year. They would open up their wallets and shower money down on the tourist industry which made up for about 25% of the country's GDP.

Well now that's all gone and there are some parts of the island where you look around and in the kindest of ways you say to yourself in modern day text message speak, WTF! OMG! and NFW! Which I made up just now and it stands for No F-ing Way! Yeah, it basically looks like a bomb went off in some places. In the best case scenario the property is open and maintained but all the seats are empty. Beach lounge chairs are lined up with umbrellas and nobody in sight. One staff on duty, the kitchen is closed and they are only serving drinks to no one.

The worst case scenario is a total loss! Like the property got hit by a devastating earth quake! There are so many properties that have been completely abandoned and have had zero maintenance, collapsing under their own weight. Plenty of beach front restaurants that look like a big wave hit them and were then left to rot.

How about the entire town of Haad Rin where about 95% of all businesses are shut down and many falling apart due to zero tourism. No more full moon party, that is over. Haad Rin is where thousands each month would swarm the area for most of a full week spending boat loads of cash; leading up to the big full moon night, where people would drink buckets of liqueur until sunrise on the beach.

As much as we hear about the actual disease, the virus, and the lives lost, such devastation to the tourism industry around the world and the lives impacted from it should not be overlooked. What does the future hold for this small island in the Gulf of Thailand, we will have to wait and see. But at the moment much of the island looks like this! Now come witness the Covid Catastrophe on The Island of Koh Phangan Thailand!