Mark’s Vagabonding Blog

Previously, I’d said that I was on my own again, and about to head south to the beautiful beaches of Thailand. Well, I was on my own for about 2 days, but June could still not let go, and I caved. It’s not that I don’t want to be with her, I wish she could travel with me in the other countries, then we’d both be in unfamiliar territory. But she can’t, and I needed to get out of Bangkok and start travelling. I’d been there so long, it felt like home. I was actually teaching June a thing or two about getting around Bangkok. So I was with her in Bangkok all that week. But I am alone again, and have been for close to two weeks now, and I think it will be for the long haul. June is back in her home town of Lampang, and I am no longer in Bangkok.

So where am I?

Well, my Thai visa expires soon, so I am slowly working my way to Cambodia. It was too late to go south, and still make it to Cambodia by land without a marathon bus ride, so I went east. My first stop was a beach resort called Pattaya.

While walking on Pattaya Beach Road, I overheard someone say, “If it wasn’t for Viagra, this place would be a ghost town.” And that pretty much sums up Pattaya. In fact, there are several drug stores and healthcare facilities with signs advertising Viagra and Cialis. And you don’t need a prescription to get it here either. I’ll have to keep that in mind for a couple of years down the road.

Walk down the mile, or so, long walkway between the beach and the road in Pattaya, any time day or night, and you will see the saddest sight you have ever seen, besides extreem poverty. The walkway, which would be kind of nice otherwise, is littered with hookers, young and old. There is a girl, or a group of girls about every 10 to 15 feet. And that doesn’t include the transvestite prostitutes, and the drug dealers.

They’re not the type of street hooker that has been sensationalized by Hollywood, or that you may have picked up on the streets in LA or Vegas. They dress normally, and seem normal in every way. Just some girls enjoying the beautiful beachfront with their friends. You wish that’s what they were doing, but you know that they are there to blow men for a meal.

Some will try to lure you in with a sweet “hello,” and others are more aggressive and might touch you, or grab your arm, while others will just stand, or sit there and wait for you to move in. And there are hundreds of them.

But that’s not all. In front of EVERY bar are about 6-12 more hookers. And there are hundreds of bars and strip clubs in Pattaya. At least I think they are hookers. Either that or they are just bait for the guys, to get them to spend their money at that bar. But I have a feeling they have a duel purpose. And for every girl/guy you see on the street, or at a bar, there’s probably one performing her service at that moment.

The other sad thing you will see on the walkway are the Johns. That’s where the Viagra comes in. They are mostly middle-aged or older white men who look like they could not get a woman the traditional way. At least not any more. These men also make up a very large percentage of the tourist population here.

And there is nothing discreet about the encounter. In America, say, a guy might pull up to a hooker in his car, and she’ll get in and he’ll drive off. All very quickly done. But here it all takes place on a stage, like a play at 46th and Braodway. The guy will pick the girl/guy of his choice, and sit and chat with her for a while before he takes her away. And everyone sees and knows what is going on. That’s the sad part, the guys really seem to think they are wooing the girls, and putting on a show for us to admire. “Look how smooth I am with the ladies.”

There is also a very high percentage of couples, consisting of western men and thai girls, in Pattaya. Some are of the hooker/john variety, but others are straight couples. Many of those are probably mail order, or these days, internet order relationships. Again, middle-aged or older white guys with young attractive thai girls. Also I think that some are expats who now live there who have taken a thai wife. And a small percentage are young white guys with young thai girls. I wonder how those relationships started? I see those as being the most legitimate for some reason.

It’s strange, but seeing all of those couples in one place made me feel uncomfortable. You see it occasionally in Bangkok, but not the numbers you see in Pattaya. And if you don’t know me, or if this is the first post of mine you are reading, then you are unaware that I too am having a relationship with a thai girl. That’s the girl I mentioned at the beginning of the post. In an odd way, even though our relationship is legitimate (It started in America, we both worked together when she was living there, and we began dating), seeing all this makes me feel like our relationship is somehow wrong. I don’t know how to explain it. It’s like, I feel like I don’t want to be like all those other couples. It just seems like the girls are with them for reasons other than love. And the couples seem so opposite, other than their nationalities. All the couples hold hands, but the girls have a look that suggests they are just playing a role. But I could be wrong. However, I think I would feel awkward if I was there with June. Perhaps everyone would think about us the same way I’m thinking about them. Not that any relationship is illegitimate (except certain illegal ones), but I hope you understand what I mean.

There are some normal tourists/travellers scattered about in Pattaya too. Couples and families and singles, perhaps there for the beach, or the bars. But you have to get your microscope out to find them. And when you see them they do stand out. I almost wanted to scream at them, “What are you doing here, you don’t belong! Go to Phuket or Chiang Mai!”

And although I considered myself among the normal travellers (not there for the sex industry), I am middle-aged (40), I was alone, and I’m white. I fit right in with all the other losers. So I figured, what the hell, and I took a couple of hookers myself. I’m still not sure if Jasmine was a real girl though. Her hands were kind of large, but so gentle and smooth. Her voice was sort of deep, but in a sing-songy way. Her breasts were large and soft, but there was hair between them. And her penis, my god her penis!

The beach in Pattaya is very small. There is only about 10-15 yards of beach between the water and the walkway. And that was taken up by beach chairs you had to pay for. So you couldn’t even walk on the beach with your new thai girlfriend, or boyfriend.

The used books were cheaper than on Khao San Road in Bangkok, which is great. But there was enough mold on them to supply Thailand with Penicillin for the next 3 years.

I bought ear plugs earlier, and I had to use them for the first time at my hotel, Sawasdee Mansion. The noise in the bars on the street below never let up, and the walls were thin. Also, this was the first time I ever stayed in a hotel that supplied you with condoms in your room. A 3-pack for 65 baht, payable at check-out.

At around 1:00am there were very young children in the middle of “Walking Street” (That’s what it’s called, Walking Street. they close off the street to cars at night, and you walk on the street to the next bar, or strip club, or hooker), selling flowers or something. These kids were around 6 to 8 years old, and in the midsts of all this debauchery. Very sad.

So Pattaya is not a place for a young single guy to go to pick up a chick (not in the usual sense anyway). All the single girls are hookers, and they’re not single for long . . . but a couple of hours later, they’re single again. Not that I went to pick up chicks. It’s probably not a good idea to bring the kids either. And if you are not into drinking or contacting VD, pass it by and head to Koh Samed, or Koh Chang instead.

So why did I go? It’s a beach town on the way to Cambodia. I’d heard about the sex industry there, but for some reason I didn’t think it would be as prominent, or as sad, as it is. I thought I’d be able to take a walk on the beach, dip my feet in the gulf of Thailand, but it did not work out that way. If I was with some guy friends or something I probably would have went to strip club with them. But I wasn’t into going in by myself. And I’m not a drinker so the multitude of bars did nothing for me. I’m glad I saw it as far as travelling and experience goes, but it did make me sad, kind of like seeing a disturbing movie. Some of you know that I like disturbing movies, but not this one.

But if you go inland just a couple of blocks things are different. It’s just like any other town in Thailand, with a bustling street market, stores, banks, and a school. That Pattaya, I suppose, is not so bad. But for the most part, Buddha would not like what’s going on in Pattaya, Thailand.

Next stop:

Koh Samet: An island . . . . paradise?

This entry was posted on Monday, December 12th, 2005 at 5:58 am and is filed under Thailand. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.