The economies of countries dependent on tourism are clearly hurting, with visitor numbers plummeting as a result of the pandemic.
The Thai government estimates a loss of 100 billion Thai baht (over US$3 billion) in the first quarter of 2020 and a loss of about 1.45 million jobs as a result of this slump in tourism.
However, the actual loss cannot be captured in these numbers alone. Many cross-cultural exchange opportunities have been lost as well.
I spent much of the previous decade living in Chiang Mai, a medium-sized city in northern Thailand, which relies heavily on tourism. As a scholar who was studying the relationship between tourism and Buddhist temples in the region before the pandemic started, I am able to assess the impact of COVID-19 on these sites of religious importance.
Asian and African studies blog
Among the literary treasures of Thailand is the famous work
Chindamani, Jewels of Thought . The oldest version of this work is attributed to the seventeenth-century monk and court astrologer Horathibodi of Ayutthaya. It is thought that he compiled it around 1670 in Lopburi for King Narai, but he may have drawn inspiration and knowledge from older texts. Although the original work has not been preserved physically, copies of it are held in numerous archives and libraries in Thailand and abroad.
Chindamani is a treatise about writing , covering vocabulary, orthography, grammar, loan words from Pali, Sanskrit and Khmer, literary styles and poetry conventions.