"Good guys go to heaven, bad guys go to Pattaya"

The above quote was written on a shirt that a man in Pattaya was wearing. Here are a few more.

“I have sex on the first date.”
“I buy drinks for sex.”

Saturday morning we woke ourselves up at 8 and packed for our weekend away in Pattaya. We took a bus which took about two hours to get here. We had some expectations of what the place would look like from what we read but the place was nothing like we expected.

Our room looked like a dorm room. Even though it had a shower, it was not that glamorous. It is located upstairs off of one of the backrooms, which looks like a storage room. After coming back from a walk, I opened the door to the other room before you enter our room and there were a bunch of fat old westerners smoking and gambling. Very nice.
The beach was crowded and the water was quite dirty. It was also not that deep. I also felt like we were shopping, just this time the shops came to you instead of you go to them. I was getting quite annoyed by all of the traveling vendors.

I just got out of the shower. As much as I was complaining about Pattaya, that shower just made the whole trip worthwhile. It was the first hot shower we had since leaving Nova Scotia. It was so hot that I actually had to turn it down. I wonder if it was actually that hot, or if it just felt hot in comparison to all of cold showers we have been having. Also the water pressure was out of this world! The water came straight out of the shower head with moderate pressure, as opposed to a few twinkling streams.

Sunday in Pattaya

After sleeping in a little this morning we decided we are going to leave Pattaya and venture by boat to one of the smaller islands to seek out more sun and a little more privacy. While walked to the pier we stopped for breakfast at a tiny restaurant that claimed great food, small prices. Well the food was not that great and the prices were okay. I ordered a boiled egg. She asked me how long I wanted it boiled for, 1 minute or 2. I told her 2 minutes and my egg came back with the white as runny as the yolk. I was going to give them a few tips on how to boil eggs but I decided against it. The toast was okay so that held me over.

We boarded the local ferry for 20 Baht and within about 45 minutes we found ourselves on beautiful Koh Larn This place was more what we were looking for, white sand beaches, clear water and hot hot hot! There was a bit more to do here including sailing, tubing, boating or seadooing. We were just happy relaxing on the beach. We rented a chair for 20 baht a day and moved it into the sun for some sun bathing. Don’t worry, this time we applied plenty of sunscreen numerous times. I think we used so much that it wouldn’t even rub in anymore. The temperature of the water was amazing, way warmer than any beach or pool water in Canada, and even warmer than our “shower” water back in Bangkok. This is to be expected as the temperature of the air was in the high 30’s without factoring in the humidity. Every once in a while we took a dip in the water to cool off as it was just too hot. We also treated ourselves to a Heiniken in the late afternoon. The day passed by at a nice pace as we sat back and read our books, thinking of how nice it is to be sitting on a beach on the other side of the world when we normally would have been at home preparing for a day of teaching. (We made sure to prepare as much as we could before we left).

We caught the last boat back at 4 pm. From what we could tell, people do not actually live on the island and there are no places for people to stay, so if you miss the last boat you are out of luck. The boat ride back was not as smooth as the ride there and I got a little sea sick. After moving in the shade and having a few sips of warm water I made it to shore and was mostly fine from then on.

We walked past all of the go go bars to our room on Soi 13. After having a cold shower (I know, all this time I wanted a warm shower and now that I have one I am taking cold showers..) we decided to grab some supper at Pizza Hut. I know, not really Thai but a girl needs a nice break from Thai food, so these weekends away are our treats. The serving sizes were much smaller than what you would get at home, again not surprising. It was quite good thankfully. During our meal there was a table beside us of three American men with Thai women and 2 gay men. They were discussing where they thought we were from, and they finally decided on Germany. As we were leaving we made sure they knew we were not German, but in fact were from Canada. I think they were pleasantly surprised.

We did a little shopping around the streets and in the mall, I guess I should call this browsing as I am on a no buying record for some reason. Misty got a new pair of sandals, quite nice.

That sums up our day, so I’ll tell you a little about Pattaya. Our overall impression of Pattaya itself is not good. The books are right, people come here for the sex industry as there is not much else here to do. Walking along the street as dusk sets there are far too many young Thai girls wearing far not enough. I watched one of them approach an older male yesterday, starting off with the “Hey, where are you from?” and it went from there. Walking further down walking street everything is go go bars and bars and show girls. Literally, every door is another entrance to a bar. Some bars are open where women sit around doing their make up, wearing next to nothing and waiting for their prey. The look on men’s faces is absolutely disgusting. They look at women as if they are a piece of meat, offering no respect what so ever. Older men just gawk at women as they walk by. I think our experience in the slums has helped me look at this whole scene differently. I understand that for some women this is simply a way of life and a way of surviving. Misty and I wonder what happens when you do not like the person you are paid to be with, or when you cannot really make conversation. I wouldn’t say it is an easy job, and I do not want to find out. No thank you.

The main beach of Pattaya is crowded with chairs and is a common ground for walking vendors. This makes the whole experience rather annoying and not at all relaxing. The water is quite dirty and the sand between your toes feels more like slimy mud. I do not even want to know what all goes in there. We only went in the water once as we were quite disgusted but really needed to cool off. I would suggest that if you want to visit a close beach to Thailand, venture out this way but sail off to one of the Islands during the day and go to bed early to avoid the sex industry. (or bring some movies you can watch in your room).

Tomorrow we are checking out of here in the early morning and then heading back to our little island of Koh Larn for our last few hours of rest and relaxation before we catch the bus back to the city for a full work week. This week is going to be extra busy as the seagypsies are coming so our afternoons are going to be full once again. I was enjoying our little break.

Monday – We woke up a little earlier this morning to enjoy our last showers, pack and then head out to paradise island. We had a wonderful western breakfast at our hotel and then walked to the ferry. We just relaxed in the sun and shade and went swimming for the day. I some how managed to get something in my eye so my afternoon was not that enjoyable, even after trying numerous times to flush it out. We just arrived back in Bangkok and are at one of the McCafe’s attempting to steal wifi. No plans for the evening besides wash off and sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day as the seagypsies are coming.

Good night all, or should I say good morning!
Jodie

I'll post pictures as soon as I can, we are at a McCafe now and only have 30 minutes