interesting article I came across in the New York Times
pattaya, thailand - somewhere in the world there may be a city with a more seedy reputation, a place more devoted to the sex industry and more notorious as a haven for criminals on the lam. but probably not.
when dusk comes to this beach resort, a sea of pink neon bulbs casts a pale glow onto the thickly made-up faces of thousands of women (and some men) who sit on bar stools waiting for their patrons.
if las vegas is sin city, pattaya is a bear hug from lucifer himself.
and yet, amid the back alleys jammed with girlie bars and a beachfront peopled with what the thais euphemistically call "service women," there are signs of change.
indian couples, chinese tour groups and vacationing russian families stroll around the city. a dozen luxury hotels cater to the weekend crowd of wealthy thais from bangkok who mingle with tourists at a huge shopping mall. pattaya has a growing number of fancy restaurants, an annual music festival and, perhaps most improbably, regular polo tournaments.
long derided as a city of sleaze, the city is reaching for respectability.
a two-hour drive from bangkok, pattaya was little more than a fishing village four decades ago when u.s. soldiers fighting in the vietnam war discovered a pristine, coral-filled bay. tens of thousands of lonely soldiers armed with dollars sought respite from the war in a country of relative poverty, lax law enforcement and historically tolerant attitudes toward prostitution. the result was predictable.
pattaya survived the departure of the g.i.'s by expanding into sex tourism. visitors to thailand in the 1970s were offered brochures at the bangkok airport showing pictures of available companions. the booth at the airport no longer exists, but the business lives on: for at least the past decade, men have outnumbered women as tourists in thailand. they make up about 60 percent of foreign visitors in thailand compared with 52 percent in nearby, law-abiding singapore.
in recent years the pattaya tourist industry has sought to diversify its client base. hotel managers learned that, despite jokes about recession-proof industries, relying heavily on a western male clientele was unwise at a time when the united states and europe were buffeted by recession.
tourism agencies now actively seek out visitors from the rising economies of china and india.
"there's definitely been a change," said shyam anugonda, a 39-year-old lawyer from bangalore, india, whose first trip to pattaya was eight years ago, when he was single.
"it was more sex oriented before," mr. anugonda said as he shopped for thai fabrics with his wife, kavitha.
this time, mr. anugonda's five-day vacation included an elephant show and parasailing.
the government is encouraging the rebranding of pattaya by developing a master plan for the city, including a monorail to help relieve traffic-clogged streets, a redrawn waterfront and a high-speed rail line from bangkok. the plan is awaiting approval from the thai cabinet.
the police, too, say they are trying to clean up the city's image.
"there are people who say pattaya is the paradise of criminals," said col. atiwit kamolrat, the head of the immigration police. "it's now going to be impossible for them to hide here."
his office's transnational crime data center combs through lists of wanted criminals from foreign governments and cross-references them with hotel registration logs and visa renewal applications. since the beginning of the year, the office has arrested 12 foreign criminals hiding out in pattaya, colonel atiwit said.
somchet thinaphong, a board member charged with the city's redevelopment plan at the designated areas for sustainable tourism administration, a government agency, said pattaya's face-lift would cost 32 billion baht, or about $1 billion. he spoke in generalities about "sustainable development" and making the city more ecologically friendly.
but here in pattaya, officials chuckle derisively at the notion that the city can be totally sanitized. stamping out pattaya's sex industry is fantasy, said niti kongrut, the director of the pattaya branch of the thai government's tourism office.
"you talk about sustainable development, how about prostitutes? they have been around for a very long time," mr. niti said. "we can't close down the go-go bars. it's a free country. besides, it makes money."
for decades, officials have wrestled with the question of what to do about the seedy side of the city, mr. niti said. "now we just ignore them and try to promote other activities."
for visitors who have no intention of partaking in it, the sex industry has become a sort of spectacle, a red-light district that makes its counterparts in other cities seem almost victorian.
olga bidenko, 28, a tourist from ukraine who came to pattaya with a colleague from the marketing company she works for, said she was entertained by walking street, a thoroughfare stretching a kilometer and a half, or about a mile, blocked to motor traffic and packed with bars. typical of the bars is sexy airline, where women dressed in old-fashioned air hostess outfits call out to prospective patrons passing by.
"we thought amsterdam was the sex capital of the world," said ms. bidenko, 28. "but now that i've been here, i think amsterdam is a perfectly respectable c
Is Pattaya worth it for just a few days?
I'll be in Thailand for 5 nights in November. Would it be worth it to head down to Pattaya for, say, 3 of those nights? Or would it make more sense to just stay in Bangkok to make the most use of my brief stay?
I've been to Bangkok once before (non-mongering), so I don't need to re-do all of the Temples and other tourist-type stuff. I really just want to relax and bone girls.
Appreciate any suggestions as how to break down five days between Bangkok and/or Pattaya? Thanks.
6 photos
The 180 baht facial and a bottle of water
After reading all of the reports of the wooded area near the end of Walking Street I decided to check it out myself. Now I knew not to expect gogo quality girls. I walked to the end of Walking street until it ends at the 7-11 on the left side. You continue on the main road by making a left and walk a few minutes. The go-kart track is on the left hand side of the road. The small road which you want to walk on is on the right side of the street almost directly across from the go-kart track but it is obscured by the street overpass. Cross the street to the right side of the street and you will see the small road that goes uphill.
It seems like the long distance and holiday bus drivers park here to rest or wait or whatever. I think thats who these gals usually service. Their were atleast 10 buses with guys working on them, washing them etc.
Immediately as you start up the hill you seem some really terrible looking shacks on your left. Their were two gals as I started up the hill but I just said hi and kept walking knowing they would be there when I returned. As I walked I saw two girls at the top of the hill. As I got closer I could tell they were really really ugly and worn out. But they seemed friendly and offered me a BJ for 200 baht. I said ok and walked off of the main road into the woods about 20 years. I expected to find a shack there but she wanted to do it right there on the path. Now no matter how horny I could be there was no way-condom or no condom-that I could even touch this women. So I decided to wack off on her face. I asked her was it ok and she said sure for another 20 baht.
She wanted to be paid first so I said ok what the hell its only 200 baht if she does a bad job. I saw in my wallet I only had 3,180 baht. KNowing she didnt have change I said well another time because I am 20 baht short. She said no problem, got on her knees and took the shot. Rather than wiping it off with the paper towel I had she rubbed it in her face like lotion and literally took off. I remember one poster saying these girls used a lot of drugs and perhaps she went to get her fix.
As I was cleaning up another girl came up the path and approached me offering to give me another bj. I told her I just came and and told her she couldnt get me off again. She said no problem take your time. I said I only had 1000 baht notes left and we couldn't do it. I had a unopened bottle of water guys-and she took that as payment. As this was happening I was thinking "I cant wait to tell the ISG Pattaya forum about this".
It took me about five minutes but I shot it on her face as well and she took off running. It was funny they both did the same thing. As I was leaving the woods I saw them both racing on motorbikes going back up the hill past me.
One thing guys-it is hot in those woods and the mosquitoes are furious. All in all I did it for the experience-for 180 baht and a bottle of water.
Real quick holiday + inquiry
After working like a dog for the past few months I suddenly found myself with a block of free time. I don't normally book foreign trips on a few days' notice, but I decided what the hell, as I'll be back to the grind in just a week. I managed to get to Pattaya just the other day. Today's my last day, and though I wanted to have at least 1 or 2 more days, at least I got to get back here.
Anyway, question I'd like to ask the residents here: went back to My Friend You Bar yesterday at Soi 6, and wound up being charged 1K baht for a beer (midafternoon) + BBBJ in the bar. This surprised me since I've been to this place several times in the past, and usually paid less than that for a BJ.
I'd like to think I wasn't fleeced. I don't want to avoid the place as it's one of the spots I practically always end up in each time I'm in Pattaya, but I may have to if they're going to charge me more than the market rate.
