HOW LOCAL STREET FOOD VENDORS RESPONDED TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: A STORY FROM PHUKET

Abstract

Thailand is known as a renowned tourist destination. Some destinations in Thailand, such as Bangkok and Phuket, are well-known for their local street food. Street food provides convenient, delicious, and cheap meals. In addition, it is a traditional way to experience local culture. Beginning in late 2019, the world experienced the respiratory disease COVID-19. Local street food is one of the important service industries affected by COVID-19. Further, due to the lockdown policy and the closure of the country, local street food vendors were inevitably impacted. This research aims to address key impacts to food vendors and their responses to the health pandemic. The current research utilized a qualitative research approach involving in-depth interviews. The snowball sampling technique was used and ten Phuket street food stall owners were contacted for one-on-one interviews. Each interview took approximately 30 to 45 minutes. Content analysis was applied to the interviews for data analysis. The iterative interview analysis highlighted the impacts and street food vendors’ responses to the COVID-19 situation. As expected, the most important impact was the economic aspect. In order to respond to the crisis, three key concepts of marketing were utilized. Recommendations to local government include that the street food vendors should be required to be educated on relevant information about health and hygiene.