Thai restaurant sits customers next to stuffed pandas to stop them feeling alone during social distancing

Customers are eating their food next to stuffed pandas
Reuters
Ellena Cruse14 May 2020

A restaurant is sitting diners next to cuddly toys to stop then feeling lonely while eating under lockdown restrictions.

Customers at an eatery in Bangkok, Thailand, can enjoy their dinner next to a stuffed panda if they cannot "bear" to eat alone.

Owner of Maison Saigon, Natthwut Rodchanapanthkul, came up with the idea as a way of providing company for customers while adhering to social distancing rules.

Thailand relaxed some of its lockdown restrictions for businesses earlier this month as the number of Covid-19 cases slowed.

Restaurants have reopened but with strict rules in place to reduce the risk of the virus spreading.

An employee puts a hat on a stuffed panda used as part of social distancing measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19
REUTERS

Speaking about how he came up with the idea, Mr Rodchanapanthkul said his venue looked peculiar in post-lockdown light.

“Earlier we had only one chair for the tables where the customer came alone," he explained.

A stuffed panda doll and a plastic barrier are used as part of social distancing measures in one Thai restaurant
REUTERS

"But for me, it felt strange, so I thought I’d give them some company.”

So far the pandas have gone down well with diners. Customer Sawit Chaiphuek said he was happy to have some company as he stepped out to eat for the first time in months.

People have dinner next to stuffed pandas at the Maison Saigon restaurant
REUTERS

Sitting opposite one of the bears, the 25-year-old said: “The doll makes me feel less lonely eating by myself."

Another customer, Siriporn Assavakarint, said the new seating rules often bamboozled diners, and the army of plush pandas made things much clearer.

The Maison Saigon restaurant has incorporated novel ideas to comply with social distancing against novel coronavirus
REUTERS

“It’s a lot easier to understand compared to other restaurants where people always get confused about where to sit and end up sitting too close to each other,” he said.

Thailand reported one new coronavirus case on Thursday and no new deaths, bringing the total to 3,018 cases and 56 deaths since the outbreak started.

On Wednesday, it reported zero new cases for the first time since early March, before the lockdown began.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in