In Phuket (Thailand)
Sitting facing the turquoise sea, sheltered behind a surgical mask, Siri, 52, scans the empty beach with a desperate air.
“Before the pandemic, tourists were fighting at 7 am to get a place,
remembers this rental of beach chairs in Patong, the main seaside resort on the island of Phuket.
Today I only rent 5% of my sites.
It's a thousand times worse than the 2004 tsunami
(which killed 500 people in Phuket, editor's note)
, because the economy had only been impacted for a few months,
adds Sha Treesha, a tourist guide posted nearby.
We have been slowly dying for almost two years. ”
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