Pattaya (one week later)

After a few drinks in Pattaya.

Everyone said ya gotta go to Pattaya. Well, not everyone. It seemed like it though. A couple friends said Why are you going to Pattaya? And well, another said YOU'RE going to Pattaya? Either way you shake it, it had intrigue and so I went. What is Pattaya, exactly? The sin city located a couple hours south of Bangkok. Basically it is street upon street of go-go bars, massage parlors, restaurants, food stalls, souvenir shops, convenience stores and hotels. Dirty, dirty hotels. Best not to carry a UV light into one of those rooms.

I know there is more to Pattaya than the sleaze it is well known for, but I was there for less than 48 hours and didn't have time to check it out. In and out you might say. But not like that. Right, you say. Whatever. Walking down any of the roads, whether it be Beach Road, Second Street or Third Street or any of the roads leading away from the beach, I felt like the new guy and everyone was saying Who is this young lad stealing our thunder? 

To be honest, I barely noticed the men. Too many women calling my name. Or saying something to entice me over. They were mostly charming and pretty convincing. Giggling to each other and hoping you'll stop in and stay for a while. It sounded so real. I thought they meant every word they said. And occasionally I'd look back and they'd be chatting away again or calling out to the next man. What!? I thought you liked meeeeeeeeeeeee!

One of the many massage parlors in Pattaya. I didn't get to feel the lucky finger.

Most of the visitors to Pattaya are older men. I saw men who could barely walk with beautiful young Thai women. Guys probably wearing diapers. Fat dudes. Ugly fuckers. People who had no chance with anyone unless they were locked up in prison. There were some normal dudes too, but I'm trying to tell a story and they just don't fit in. Occasionally I'd see a backpacker and think, did he get on the wrong bus?

The Walking Street was packed with people in the evenings. Guys wandering from bar to bar, women offering cheap thrills, tourist police, ladyboys, Go Go dancers, hot Russian models, street performers and plenty of seemingly normal tourists taking it all in. A lot of ladyboys and surprisingly, a lot of attractive white women. Mostly Russian, I think and some nearly as tall as me. I was impressed. Looked like models, but were probably working girls. I heard they make a lot of money there.

I walked up and down the walking street. I was a little hesitant to just walk into one of the bars as I really hadn't experienced a real Go Go bar. Honest. I ended up going into Alcatraz where you can bail any girl out of 'prison' by paying a bar fine and taking her home for whatever price you negotiated. You didn't have to do this, that was just the concept. I ended up sitting next to another single patron to watch the show.

The 'show' was essentially girls in bikinis modeling their 'goods' to the customers. Some were topless, some wore g-strings and most wore heels. They rotated so all girls had a chance to wiggle and turn on the poles they had up on the stage. And then there was the random naked girl in the back bathing herself in a big barrel. It was all pretty wild. Especially since a draft beer was only $2 and well, the show was seemingly worth more than that. Hmmm a $10 movie or...

Of course, the girls sit next to you and try to encourage you to buy them a drink, valued somewhere near $5. All in the hope of eventually getting you to take them home. I wasn't budging cause I was 'just looking' and wanted to be a fly on the wall. Pretty much impossible in a place like this. But it was alright not to buy a drink, they were just persistent in trying. The guy next to me, was a little more generous. I think he had plenty of money to throw around.

Nice guy, really nice actually. Apparently blew five grand in as many days. Wow. FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS IN FIVE DAYS in Pattaya. I couldn't fathom this. I knew he must have had some pretty swanky digs. And then he told me he took four girls home the previous evening. Ahhhh I thought, that might add up. He went around from bar to bar 'collecting' girls. And this evening he was on the prowl again. This one is pretty hot he whispered to me. She kinda looks like a ladyboy I said. Oh yeah he said. I didn't really look at her face.

And so it went. All in all a crazy place. A place to really fuck up your mind. And thus, I was happy to get back on the bus less than 48 hours after I arrived. I absolutely don't regret going there, I'm not saying that, but there's only so much of that living I can digest at one time. So much to look at whether the people on the street or the hookers lining up on the side. Everywhere you looked there was visual stimulation. I felt sorry for the men on holidays with their families. At least I could look and not piss somebody off.