21 minutes ago, Will B Good said:

We have a few eateries (I wouldn't call them restaurants) near us.

 

I am convinced they are just a front for drug dealing and laundering money........hardly ever see a customer in any of them.

 

The owners seem clueless (maybe drugged up?).....the premises are dark and dingy.....they cook on wood/charcoal, which fills the whole place with smoke......the bins are set out next to the seating.....they have their own kids running around the place like a play park.....clueless.

Same near me. From very small noodle joints to BBQ's to larger places with many seats/tables. All nearly always deserted. Even our favourite coffee shop now no longer sells individual cake/gateaux slices. They said we weren't selling hardly any. 

Things have changed markedly since covid...I suspect people have gotten used to eating in. On the other hand new delivery business (Grab, Food panda etc) has recouped some of that but not all. I notice around my wife's restaurant a lot of the cheaper eateries going well, but not so much the more expensive food. That and it would seem generally people just don't have any money. With everything gone up at least 30% since a year or more ago inflation must be taking its toll on households, even with a decent income as they are usually in debt up to the eyeballs and little extra for luxuries. 

 

Long weekends every other week not helping either. I would hate to own a restaurant where there was a lot of prep and fresh food required everyday. So hit and miss some days you would be throwing most of it out. Have quite a few Thai friends and 4 of them last month, including my missus had suspected food poisoning. I guess maybe they aren't throwing out the fresh stuff at the end of the day and unfortunately food storage habits here not up to par