Side-effects of COVID-19

There have been several medical side-effects of COVID 19 noted, but I want to talk about social side-effects.

Every Cloud has a silver lining…

There have been several medical side-effects of COVID-19 noted, but I want to talk about social side-effects.

There is no social security in Thailand. So basically, if you don’t work and your family or friends don’t help you, you only have three options: to innovate, to steal or to die.

Poor Thais are not prone to stealing, and they have no fear of death (because of a belief in reincarnation). However, there have been some amazing changes in our little village and the nearest town.

Side-Effects of Covid-19

Our village consists mostly of farmers and farm labourers. Covid has hit the sales of produce because of the restrictions on travel.. This means that there is a glut of food in the local vicinity.

Well, one solution has been to instigate take-away services. At least three café/restaurants have sprung up with a take-away option in our village. This is amazing! Before Covid there were no delivery services, and there were no food websites or telephone contact numbers.

Social Change

I should think that there will be no going back. Covid-19 has speeded up progress in our remote, sleepy village by necessity. People are coming here from all around to buy food, since delivery is usually not available if the client live more than a kilometre away.

Other people, especially in the younger generation have started blogging and monetising their blogs, or selling products via Facebook. Some are even writing seriously for the first time ever!

Side jobs

Older women have always made baskets and craft items like that. However, now they are beginning to think about setting up a village or personal website. What I can really say about the Covid-19 crisis locally is that it has sharpened many people’s wits out of necessity. Nevertheless, I can’t see people going back to their old ways. Not even when the threat of death from Covid becomes just a part of life. In fact, in a way, it already is in our village. Even though we have had only two cases here and no deaths.

In my opinion, the side-effects ofCovid-19 have accelerated social change in rural Thailand, and if here, why not in similar locations worldwide?

Best wishes,

Chalita

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Chalita Majang

Chalita took over from Owen Jones as the owner of this blog, because Mr. Jones wanted to devote more time to writing, while Chalita wanted to get into blogging and help readers and writers to follow their passion for books.
Chalita is new to blogging and reviewing books, but she is learning quickly and is eager to help.
'If I cannot help directly, I know that I can always call on Owen', she says. 'Owen has vast experience in reading and writing books, and has more than a thousand books registered in his name at the British Library'.
The dog, Angun, which means Grape or Grapes in Thai, was an eighteenth birthday present from a friend. She was a lovely dog in every way imaginable, but was killed shortly after giving birth to and raising her first brood of puppies. She is sadly missed, and hasn't been replaced.
'A new dog just wouldn't be the same', she said sadly.
Anyway, times have changed, and Chalita now has a demanding job in Bangkok.
'I will be devoting as much time as I can to running the blog though', she said earnestly. 'And, if I see that people like my style of blogging, then I will rearrange my life a little in order to devote more time to it. I love reading and interacting with people anyway, so that wouldn't be a hardship. I suppose that I have to wait for the older visitors to get used to my style, and to try to attract new people who will come here for me.
'If you have any ideas about what you would like to see on this blog, please drop me a line' :-)
In the meantime, the format of Megan Publishing Services will remain roughly what it is now - a resource for readers and writers and a showcase for the books of Welsh writer Owen Jones.
Owen Jones has written fifty-odd novels in various genres mostly set in Wales, Spain and Thailand (the three countries where he spends most of his time). Similarly, many of his books have an element of the supernatural or paranormal, but not all of them, since he has a 700,000-word fictional biography, a spy thriller and military drama. Mr. Jones is strong on series. He only has a couple of stand-alone novels.

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