Grocery trucks plying the streets of various communities with fresh agricultural produce are part of a decades-old practice in Thailand.

The savvy merchants who operate these old-fashioned pick-up trucks with all kinds of fruit and vegetables dangling from the sides are now turning to tech to reach more customers amid the coronavirus outbreak, which has seen many businesses in dire straits.

Simummuang Market, Thailand's biggest vegetable and fruit distribution centre located in Pathum Thani province just outside Bangkok, late last month started offering to put up as many as 1,000 such trucks it supplies on Google Maps, complete with their licence plate numbers and phone numbers. Some 200 trucks have so far registered.

"That way, customers who may have missed the trucks can track their locations and call them up," said the market's assistant director Panalee Phataraprasit.

"We want to help our vendors reach out to more customers in this difficult period."

As he arranged his inventory of vegetables bought from the market early in the morning before he started his daily round to camps of construction workers on Bangkok's outskirts, Mr Den Bannasri, 32, said his sales have dropped by more than half as many construction projects have been suspended.

"I used to make 20,000 baht (S$870) a day. Now with the virus, I only get 8,000 to 9,000 baht... But I need to keep selling as I have to keep paying loan instalments for my truck and my house.

"I believe this (initiative) will boost my sales as it makes things easier for customers. They can just use their phones and track my truck and find me easily," he added.

Mrs Pitchanat Somanawat, 58, who sells premium fruit to middle-class people and foreign residents in Bangkok's city centre, said the market's initiative will boost the reputation of her business, as the trucks would now come under the market's brand.

"This could give us more credibility when customers know we come from Simummuang Market. Maybe foreign customers would know more about the food trucks so they won't shop only at supermarkets," she said. "Sales have been down gradually since the coup," she added, referring to the 2014 military takeover. "But now with this situation, it has been critical."

MORE PUBLICITY This could give us more credibility when customers know we come from Simummuang Market. Maybe foreign customers would know more about the food trucks so they won't shop only at supermarkets. MRS PITCHANAT SOMANAWAT, who sells premium fruit to middle-class people and foreign residents in Bangkok's city centre.

To further boost sales, Simummuang Market - whose 640,000 sq m expanse is rented out to more than 3,000 vendors - also launched a grocery delivery service last week.

Orders are made through the Line chat app and paid in advance via mobile banking. Groceries are delivered the next day in two rounds by taxi drivers with whom the market has partnered to help boost their earnings during this economic downturn.

"This is to increase the purchasing channels for our customers and also help local businesses in the light of lower demand," said Ms Panalee, the market executive spearheading the project.

Because the project has just started, fewer than 20 deliveries are being made a day. But the market plans to scale up the operation and launch a public relations drive.

Other sectors are getting creative too. A new project supports medical staff working day in, day out as Thailand sees new cases of Covid-19 infections each day, while helping struggling food businesses.

Up to 70 restaurants in Bangkok and other parts of the country have joined the Food for Fighters initiative that provides free, freshly prepared meals to medical staff at about a dozen hospitals. Funds are raised through donations from the public and corporations.

The person behind the idea is Ms Panchana Vatanasathien, owner of Pen Lao restaurant in the mountainous resort town of Khao Yai.

"There's a clear demand for food among medical staff as a large number of them are working each day. We want to provide them with good food, not just frozen food," said the 49-year-old.

Since last week, more than 700,000 baht has been raised and over 1,000 food boxes have been delivered to hospitals, with each restaurant in the project taking turns to provide breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Many restaurants across the country have been ordered shut by the government since the middle of last month to curb the spread of the coronavirus, with operations allowed only for takeaway orders, forcing them to shift their focus to food delivery.

Although the money received by each participating Food for Fighters restaurant can only "cover the costs", according to Ms Panchana, it can help struggling businesses stay afloat without having to lay off workers.

"This project is like a jigsaw piece that connects everyone. It responds to the need of struggling businesses so they can keep getting work," Ms Panchana said.

Bharani, a restaurant in the heart of Bangkok, has joined the programme. The closure of its dine-in space, the first such closure since it began operating in 1949, has forced it to adapt.

Now, its waiters handle delivery orders instead.

"Our staff are like family. We need to adjust ourselves to survive," said the restaurant's third-generation owner Paniti Vasuratua.

"We also want to do something for society. We have a kitchen, so this is what we can do best to help," he added.