Hookers

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Day 50 - Monday 19 November

Even though its not far away on the map having to get a combination of taxis, buses and the ferry it took most of the day to get to Pattaya. The sun was already beginning to set by the time I arrived. Immediately the place reminded of Blackpool its a sh*ithole but if you want you can probably have a great time.

The place is also teaming with prostitutes. As well as lining the seafront every bar with their red lights and packed full of girls leaves you in no doubt whats for sale here. I was curious to find out more so headed out for the night.

I have to admit that after talking to the girls in the bars my opinion on the subject has changed. They really were great to talk to and even though you can never be certain there telling the whole truth they seemed genuine and open enough.

The majority didn't like what they did but were poor and wanted the money either for their family or so they could study. They were mostly single mums, divorced, had been orphans or just sold into it by their own family. (Remember there is not a welfare system in Thailand like there is back home). But rather than moan about it they tried to put a positive outlook on things.

The girl I spent most of the night talking to had been working as a prostitiute for 3 months so that she could pay for a cookery course she was taking. She hoped to be able to give it up in a month or so and become a chef in one of the resturants.

She also told me how it all worked. This particular bar was owned by a Frenchman and the girls all worked here free of charge. If a guy wanted to take a girl home and she was hapy to go (they are under no obligation and I witnessed on several occasions where a girl would decline to go off with a guy because she didn't like the look of him), then first of all he had to pay the bar 300 B (about 4 pounds fifty) then would have to come to an arrangement with the girl usually between 500 B and 1000 B (7 - 15 pounds) for a night. Having said all this a lot of men just come to the bars for a drink and a chat nothing more.

Before I got too drunk and succumbed to their feminine charms I thought I'd better call it a night. Even though I offered a small tip as compensation for taking up this girls time for a couple of hours and maybe costing her the chance to earn tonight she stubonly refused. She said that she'd enjoyed talking to me as it gave her the chance to improve her english then maybe one day if she keeps improving she'll get an even better job than her ambition of being a chef.

You cant help but feel a little pity for them.

Day 51 - Tuesday 20 November

I was interested to see how this place compares in the daytime so the next morning went for a walk around town. As Pattaya is mainly a night time place the streets were deserted until lunchtime. I was amazed at how many Russians there were, thousands of couples walking around on a 2 week package holiday. Of all the places in Thailand to visit why come here? Its not even any cheaper than the rest of Thailand. Unbelievable.

Theres also evidence that the place is changing and trying to clean itself up. Already there are 3 ultra modern shopping centres and another large shopping and entertainment complex is currently under construction.

As the beach didn't look very clean I spent the afternoon having a couple of beers in one of the bars (By daylight most of them operate like normal bars). Sitting in a bar all afternoon I noticed that even though I'm 29 years old I was pretty much the youngest bloke in town. Apart from a few Russian families it would often be a couple of hours before somebody my age or younger walked by. I'd even go as far to say the average age is probably about 55-60.

Again as there was nothing else to do I went out and spent the evening talking to a lovely girl called Can (pronounced Khan). Incase your beginning to question why I would choose to frequent a bar full of prostitutes I should tell you that all the bars here provide live entertainment whether in the form of a caberet show or live music. The particular bar I was in had a bloke singing Frank Sinatra songs and he sounded very alike. Several of the Russian couples were also enjoying the performance.

You can also play various board games with the girls so I spent the next 4/5 hours playing Jenga or connect 4 with Can before I made my excuss and left.

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