Pattaya, city of sin? or miss understood playground?

Pattaya, city of sin? Or miss understood playground?

So I'm sure you are all begging to know by know, is Pattaya really as vice ridden as they say? Well no truth is no it is not, it is much more so!
Walking down 'beach road' and the pedestrianised 'Walking Street' you begin to realize Pattaya is not a town overrun with vice. It is a vice that has grown into a full blown town! Every other shop front has beautiful young ladies hollering to you enticing you to spend money in their establishment. You try moving onto other streets and down back alleys for respite but there is none. Pattaya is one big adult playground, or should I say boys’ playground. Once the sun sets everything is for sale here.

But if that was the full story of Pattaya then this would be a very short blog entry, especially as my nan reads this stuff.... ;-)

While strolling down 'Walking Street', just when I was about to give up hope of my reputation ever recovering from being linked to this town for 5 whole nights, something happened....
A shop appeared, on the left hand side of the street, with works of art hanging in it. We are not talking medioca landscapes here; we are talking the finest works from the world’s greatest grand masters, with a row of painters inside faithfully reproducing every brush stroke of the originals, on new canvases. That’s right an art knockoff shop; but these artists were good! Very good!!! behind them they have catalogs of every noteworthy picture ever painted and you can just go in and select one, then 4 days latter come by and pick up you masterpiece, one that is indistinguishable from the original and all for a mear 2000 - 12000 baht! That’s 30 - 170 pounds.
And as I kept walking there were more such shops, everyone with greater artists that the one before! As someone that has been desperately looking for a picture to go over my fireplace for nearly 2 years now I was like a kid in a candy store!

Eventually I was talking to one of the artists discussing what I wanted and we found a work made up of 2 vertical canvases, hanging side by side. Unfortunately even together they were just not wide enough to fit my mantle piece, no problem! the guy says, we can just make up a third matching canvas to go with them! This will make it a true piece of original art, all for just 8,500 baht! 120 pounds. That is less that you would pay for a print in the UK!

Then there is the ornament shops with great figurines carved out of whale bone. Even a grand sailing galleon carved out of the stuff. Only about a meter square in size!

To top things off 'Walking Street' was not finished revealing its treasures to me yet.... On the far southern end of the round, just as the bright lights are beginning to dim, there is an authentic traditional designer Thai furniture shop. Inside are huge armchairs, made out of the stumps of great trees, that just envelope you. Wall hangings intricate carved out of wood that span meters in width and height. Chests and chairs made of the finest Thai woods, all lovingly varnished until they glowed.

Every one of these shops a pearl hidden amongst the red neon glow that is Pattaya's public face.

Pattaya People

While still incredibly sociable by western standards the everyday people in the streets of Pattaya are not as friendly as in Bangkok. I think this is mostly to do with the fact that so many people only visit Pattaya for the sex scene that they have been put off being so friendly to tourists. To be honest who can blame them.
There seems to be almost no hustlers on in this town for some unknown reason; however in annoyance factor they have been replaced many times over by the tailor shops. These offer made to measure silk suits etc, that are almost exclusively run by Indians that will not take no for an answer! To their credit the suits do look very nice; but it is not like they just try to sell you a suite from their shop entrances, these guys will actually step out into the street directly in front of you, blocking your path and then try to shack you hand. Don't let them do so! As if they get a hold of you they do not let go and almost drag you into their shops!!! I swear by the end of my 5 night in Pattaya I was looking for a baseball bat with which to bludgeon them over the head with. I would not be surprised if, during the high season, you do not get some good old fashioned British larger louts walking down the street decking them one by one. I would certainly cheer then on!

A cautionary note:
I met a Canadian, Jake, in one of the bars and he had just had ALL of his luggage stolen from his budget hotel room. Fortunately he was with mates so he was going to be ok. But this serves as a reminder that Thailand is still a poor country and some people live on less money each month that you paid for your designer jeans!

As a final note to any female tourists thinking of going to Pattaya my simple advice it do not stay in central or south Pattaya. The vice is so pervasive that, unless you are very broad minded, you will not like it and will feel virtually confined to your hotel resort. However if you do venture out you will be totally safe. This is as although the vice here is all pervasive, it has, unlike similar areas elsewhere in the world, managed to restrict itself exclusively to sex for sale and there is no drugs, pimps or street crime in evident anywhere. Also due to Thai attitudes the sexually explicit side of things is kept out of sight so all you will see is lots of big signs for gogo bars and many young ladies in hot outfits trying, to entice men into their establishments.

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