Proud in Pattaya

Standing proud in Pattaya ?
Well - I couldn't be more ironic. Apart from Koh Chang, Pattaya is one of the closest beaches to Bangkok - and about 50 years ago it became a favourite holiday destination for wealthy Thai and ex pats for their weekends and annual escapes. I'm not sure what happened.. maybe word spread back home from the ex pats that there were a couple of easy birds in Pattaya to be had. What you see now is a town designed for the 'pumping/pimping' sex industry. It is an insanely busy beach with streets surrounding it like a tight huddle. The population ratio on the streets goes something like this;

38% Russian and British males aged over 60 holding hands with 16 year old Thai girls.
50% Thai girls still looking for that perfect loaded wallet in bars, or openly sitting on the side of the road waiting for business.
10% Tourists couples who are utterly confused about their mistake of stopping over.. why.. why didn't they research it first they think.
2% Tourist girls by themselves hiding in their hotel room crying, rocking back and forward waiting for it all to be over.

At the same time it is utterly amazing - when darkness falls, the city lights up with enough fluorescent energy to compete with Las Vegas. There are whole streets devoted to lady bars. One I noted was called 'Boys Boys Boys lane'.. and inside are huge bars divided up into sections..I think it is really just one bar with different zones and different dressed/themed girls.

Enough! Slap your face - let's get back to something cultural eh?

We only have 24 hours here - and we needed to get around town to buy our ticket onward for the next day. Once sorted, we walked the slow way home through some streets that lead away from the beach. We happened upon a funeral for a monk at the temple here. It all looked pretty standard really, just a box on the temple forecourt and loads of people crowding around the coffin trying to take photos of the deceased (possibly to tag in facebook later ;)



Then something quite amazing happened - Some men leaned into the box and lifted the monk into the air on a piece of sacking (yep - wobbling about, he was there for all to see). They transferred him into a bigger box to be cremated in front of the awaiting crowd. We thought that was pretty crazy -and the smell of monk flesh was soon to emanate - perhaps we should move on - but NO - before lighting him up, they got a pair of scissors and cut the monks clothes off of him in small pieces and threw each one into the screaming waving hands before them. It was remarkably similar to that of throwing the bouquet at the single ladies at a wedding - you know how at that moment they seem to be in a fixated drugged state - and will use their animal survival instincts to retrieve their floral chance to be hitched themselves. Perhaps an inappropriate example - so lets' just say it's like the drummer at a good concert throwing the lucky stick into the boiling mosh before him. Still inappropriate?

The following morning we piled into a 12 seater van for a 300km journey to Trat - and then a ferry to Koh Chang for our last Island holiday in quite some time.Oh - by the way - in our van were 3 Russian men with 3 Thai girlfriends playing footsie for 4 hours. The rest were Pattaya escapees.. run for dem hills ladies (take the heels of first) !!!