Bangkok, Thailand

Friday 15 January 2021

I remembered that in December 2019 I had first heard and worrried about a new mysterious  disease that started spreading in Wuhan, China.  Shortly after that, the scary disease landed in my country Thailand through a Chinese tourist and the first local infection case was announced later following the illness of a taxi driver.  Ever since there have been a lot of changes in our living not just in Thailand but around the globe. 

At the moment I am writing, Covid-19 has taken more than two millions of  lives of people around the world, including nearly 70 here inThailand, and has infected alomost 94 million humans, around 7,000 of whom are in Thailand. Unfortunately until now no one has known when this spread will end and how many lives will lose because of this viral infection. 

Now when I look back, I think it's unbelievable that within one year this very disease has caused a huge impact on the lives of humans and other creatures on this planet Earth. I have to change my way of living with hope for life safety although not much compared with many others whom I knew. Still, change means change--I cannot do many things as I used to, and I can't complain. 

Like people in other countries, people inThailand take a new-normal lifestyle.  we wear a mask when going outside, wash our hands more often with soap or alchohol gel, avoid staying in the crowd, keep distance from others, etc.  During the period of high spreading, like the second round spread currently, schools and offices are closed while students and workers have to do their job online from home. And gathering together in a big crowd is not allowed. 

Eating out is no longer a happy moment, for eaters must sit separately at different tables. Worse, some times only take-away service is available for restaurant businesses. As a result, many restaurants went out of their business. Meanwhile, seating in public transports is also changed. Passengers who once stood packed in the bus or could take every seat available can not do that; distancing is the key. Those are just some of the new-normal practices we must follow. 

Despite many undesirable impacts on our lives, Covid-19 did bring to the world some near-miracles that many humans have tried so hard to achieve for decades or even centuries but mostly failed. It has driven millions of humans away from the street and quarantined themselves inside their own home--called lockdown.  Every nation self-regulates their own people for no travel to other countries if no speicial permission. Curfew policy is applied in many countries.  With all of these, transportation by car, plane and ship all over the world has decreased tremendously. In effect, man-made pollution that has been destroying the whole world and environments for years drops sharply.  

In several months of lockdowns, I could see more of clear blue skies in the city downtown often. I could take a deep breathe while traveling on the streets. I saw more great news about the recovery of animals and plants that hardly showed up or never appeared in several areas especially tourist sites in the provinces. I enjoyed walking peacefully in many areas where in the past were too crowded with people especially tourists. I wonder if there were no Covid-19, would it be possible for us humans to experience such refreshing changes?  

No matter what will happen, I wish we humans will learn from this situation and rethink how we should do to live more humbly with other creatures and appreciate the world we live more than ever.

Gigi