PATTAYA, Thailand — Nong “Kib” Krasaesom still wants to open a coffee shop. About a year after first discussing her business ambitions, however, she says she has added nothing to her savings and is considering returning to bar work.

In an Oct. 1 interview, Kib described freelance work that gives her control over her schedule but sometimes leaves her with no earnings. Spending and money sent to family, she said, leave little to put aside.

The interview follows Thai Life Chronicles’ Sept. 20 profile, which explored her hopes of opening a coffee shop or laundry business. Although published last month, that story drew on an interview recorded about a year earlier.

Kib now looks for customers in clubs on Walking Street. She prefers the freedom to arrive late and decide when to work. Bar work brought good money, she said, but freelancing allows her to set her own routine.

That freedom comes with expenses. Kib said she buys drinks while looking for customers and sometimes earns nothing during a night out. She described September as a month of low earnings, without providing a total.

She also acknowledged that her own choices affect her income. Sleeping, drinking and spending time with friends can take priority over finding customers, she said. Her explanation for the lack of savings included both spending decisions and family obligations.

When money comes in, Kib said, she uses it for expenses or sends it to family. Asked whether she had saved anything since the earlier interview, she said she had not.

Building financial reserves is a broader challenge in Thailand. The Bank of Thailand’s summary of its 2024 financial survey reported that only 23.7% had emergency savings sufficient for at least six months. Conducted with the National Statistical Office, the survey covered 12,558 people age 15 and older nationwide.

Earlier reporting in Pattaya also documented how living costs and family support can consume money intended for longer-term plans. In a 2021 NPR follow-up by Suchada Phoisaat and Aurora Almendral, a worker identified as M. described using remaining savings for rent and payments to her mother for her sons’ expenses. Before the pandemic, she had hoped to buy farmland and start a rubber plantation. That account concerned pandemic disruption; Kib described a different combination of variable earnings, spending and choices about work.

Kib’s immediate proposal is to return to a bar, possibly in the coming month. She mentioned Pattaya’s LK Metro area, but did not identify an accepted job or a confirmed start date.

The coffee shop remains her longer-term ambition. She did not describe a settled business plan or an opening date. For now, the next decision she identified was whether to return to bar work.