"Disneyland for adults" a Pattaya Travel Page by alvis

I honestly never thought I would ever find myself going to Pattaya because of it's reputation. I always thought of Pattaya to be full of retired army men, and bikers who lie about the beaches all day showing off their fat, sunburnt bellies then sleaze around the brothels on Walking Street at night.

I never chose to go to Pattaya and was forced into it when we took a mate to the beach to cheer her up. The drive to Pattaya took just over an hour with a quick break at a McDonalds. The road into Pattaya took us directly to an average beach, which compared to most beaches in Thailand was fairly crap. There are a number of umbrellas and tables set up along the beach so we parked the car and took a seat.

We ordered some food to our table and a couple of coconuts to drink and had a decent meal at cheap prices. We ordered spicy beef, fried rice, and my favourite kai kapraw (chicken with basil). I also ordered myself a couple of chang beers and sat having some beers while my girlfriend and her buddies went dicking about on the beach taking photos of each other. After a few hours this got boring so we bounced back in the car and took a drive into town. After passing a number of probably Thailands ugliest hotels we came to walking street.

Walking Street is World Famous for it's hookers and brothels. For this reason I thought I should go check the place out. It was still early when we took a walk here so the bustle of the street was just starting. Hookers were beginning to appear outside gogo bars wearing their short skirts and heels. After a quick walk about we decided to leave before the pervs appear so we took a walk back to the Main Road and took a seat at Starbucks. After an hour or so watching the farang (white guys) pile onto the stretch of brothels we decided it's time to make a move, got back in the car and made our way back to Bangkok.

To me my original perception was fairly accurate. People who are interested in Thailand don't bother going near here. People who are interested in paying for sex, hanging out, drinking beer with Aussies and Brits this place is perfect. It has about as much class as a steaming ***, who the hell will travel half way around the world to eat in a restaurant called "Crazy Daves", or "Fatties".

The place is a total embaressment to Thailand. The place feels like it is still stuck in the 70's. It seems to me that those Westerners passing through during the Vietnam war just never bothered leaving. Motorbike clubs, burger bars, terrible music, hells angels. A new development I saw was a Graceland housing estate. Why live in a traditional Thai house when you can live in a lovely pink and white Graceland house and drive to town on your Harley Davidson. Oh and the big event of that night was "Lam Morrison" playing in some seedy Pattaya bar, which i'm guessing is a "Van Morrison" tribute band. I wonder if going back home is a possibility for farang living here, it seems to me they have built up their own fantasy world of crap music, crap food and just an overall crap lifestyle. It's embaressing.

The upside to Pattaya is that everything is so dam cheap. While i'm paying £300+ a month for my apartment in Bangkok I could be living in an identical place in Pattaya, on the beach for £100- a month . I know if my life is ever worthless I can come here and live like a king. Maybe when i'm in my 60's if my kids have moved out and my wife is dead I might consider coming here to perv on the young girls but for now i'm happy to stay as far away as possible.