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.
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.
"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.
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.
“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.
