Deserted beaches, empty bars: Covid-19 devastates Thailand's tourist islands

Visitor numbers expected to plummet by tens of millions in crisis that eclipses the 2004 tsunami, bird flu and Sars

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The streets of Koh Samui, one of Thailand's most popular tourist destinations, are eerily quiet. Along Chaweng's Beach Road, a usually raucous party area, shuttered shops stretch into the distance.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, it was buzzing with traffic. Now, taxi drivers sit on the roadside, with little hope of finding customers. Where bikini-clad sunseekers once browsed souvenir shops and drank at neon-lit bars, a lone street dog stretches on the pavement.