Norwegian Seamen’s Church in Pattaya gives back to the people of Pattaya
S
Text and photos by Sofia Flittner
jømannskirken i Pattaya – the Norwegian Seamen’s Church in Pattaya – has been giving away free basic food packages every Thursday since the closing of the city created economic hardship for thousands of local Thais whose income used to depend on the now banned tourists. ScandAsia visited the church on Thursday 23rd of April to witness this amazing humanitarian initiative. “People in Pattaya are so friendly and welcoming, so we are happy and proud to give something back to them,” says Camilla Myhre, a volunteer at Sjømannskirken. “Nobody would stand in this heat for an unknown amount of time if they didn’t really need our help.” The amount of people coming to receive food has exploded over the last weeks. When the first hand-out was hosted the Norwegian Church had prepared 200 packages of food – but 400 people came. Then the number of packages increased to 700 – but around 1.500 appeared. On 23 April 2020 the Norwegian Seamen’s Church has prepared between 1500 to 2000 packages. 32 ScandAsia • May 2020
