Pattaya Tour 2011

Thailand is one of the most popular tourist destination in the world and asia-pacific in particular. Thailand is known for beaches, temples and sex tourism. Pattaya and Phuket, the cities of Thailand, are highly rated and enjoys millions of visitors every year.

I decided to visit Pattaya and spend some memorable days there. Landed at the Suvarnabhumi airport, Bangkok early morning mid Dec-this being the nearest airport to Pattaya. The airport is quite large & good architecturally and buzzing with travellers. Pattaya is around 120kms from the airport and bus is the cheapest mode of transportation. Booked a bus online from http://www.belltravelservice.com/ - no payment required. One is required to visit their office at Level 1 Gate no 8 at the airport to pay and board the bus. They have luxury bus service running every 2 hours from airport to Pattaya starting at 6 am in the morning, costs 200 Bhat. The buses are airconditioned and very comfortable.

The road from airport to Pattaya is wide and very good throughout, built with concrete on most parts. No point paying over 1000 Bhat for taxis if not a big family. It took less than 2 hrs to reach Pattaya- airconditioned bus station at the northeren end. Bell services will drop you to your hotel in mini-vans free of cost from the bus stand which is located on the outskirts. They will pick you from the hotel for the return journey as well.

Pattaya thrives on tourism. The first glimpse of Pattaya - tourist, tourist and tourist everywhere. The sea waves sound and pleasant breeze greets you the moment one enters the town. Plenty of hotels on every street and corner. The December weather in Pattaya is very comfortable- no humidity, cool breeze and convenient temperature. Only during the afternoon, 1-3 pm, can one experience some kind of heat. Soi 6,7 and 8 are the places to find hotels in as they are at the edge of Walking Street- the epicentre of all the buzz.

After 6pm the entire Pattaya resembles like one Big bar. Hundreds of bars with hundreds of girls seeking your attention for a round of drink at every inch of Pattaya. These bar girls mostly look for older european tourist- who enjoys the younger girls company, spends money on buying their drinks and picks up the girl later on as well. They dont spend too much time on tourist who just comes and drinks 60 Bhat beer and disappears. Their skin is not for them. Older white men with pension money are the most sought after. These bar girls double up as escorts and one can take them out. Some of these bars have live bands playing english music, the others have LCD playing football matches, the rest playing loud english music. Kind of surprising that they haven't yet started playing russian music, they dominate Pattaya from sheer numbers perspective.

Go go bars are also in plenty with entry rates of 100-300 Bhat(one free beer). Nude pole dancing by girls starting at age 13. One can buy them a drink which costs 100 Bhat and enjoy their company for sometime, people are seen doing all kind of activities with these girls possible in public. They also double up as escorts, one can take them out or go upstairs for quick pleasure. Everything is possible with money there.
                My heart goes out for teenage girls working over there, not sure how they become part of this business, by force or by wish. For me it was painful to witness them doing what they were doing in a age when they should be playing in schools. Everyone of these girls was smoking and drinking. Sex has become a commodity for people in Pattaya.

Pattaya beach is narrow but clean. This is the first stop in the morning for any tourist for sun bathing, relaxing or just lazing around enjoying the magnifient view. Jet skiing, banana rides and parasailing are some of the sporting activities found in plenty on the beach. One has to be careful while hiring these Jet ski bikes, its a scam and the Thai mafia can make you pay for as much as 50000 Bhat for damages to the bike. Its better to avoid, police is involved as well.

Koi Larn beach is 9 kms from Pattaya beach. One can club the Parasailing andseawalking with the Koi Larn tour- the entire return trip with activities will cost 2000 Bhat. Pattaya sea is bit rough, the speed boat really gives you tough time during the 20 mts ride. The view from Parasailing deck is really nice- good photo oppurtunity. For me Koi is about privacy, the beach is not yet popular, so few tourist there. The beach has got just one bar and restaurant. One can hire bikes to discover the island, will cost you 600 bhat/hr (very steep and the owners very rude). One can do snorkelling there apart from lazing around on the beach. Filled with Russian tourists, the beach didn't excite me much.

For me the the Pattaya beach pathways was like heaven- full of coconut trees, shady and cool breeze. Lot of concrete benches to sit and the area very clean. One can laze around on the pathways throughout the day and thats what most of the long term tourists do. Fruit vendors will ensure you always have something to eat and the view and sound of the vast sea is just amazing.

Pattaya beaches are narrow and sea a bit rough. There is lot of concern on the beaches disappearing because of sand erosion, which can have a huge impact on the tourism industry there. The wave on the shore are bit strong as well, one has to careful while swimming. Moreover, the sea water is not clean, of late it has become a dumping ground for city waste.
                  The scenes, feel and atmosphere at the beach is very pleasant. Sounds of waves crashing at the shore is music and one can order drinks and food at the stalls on the beach. The settings on the beach is good enough to let you relax and unwind for longer hours.

Pattaya at night looks very interesting as well. The beaches are well lit and one can find tourists strolling on the beach even late night. And its absolutely safe. The fun of having beer and enjoying the silence of night only broken by the sound of waves and nice feeling cool breeze is just awesome.

 The Pattaya beach pathways becomes a never ending queue of prostitutes at night. It seems like each and every girl working on bars, massage parlours, shops convert into prostitutes seeking your attention and money. They come in all shapes, sizes, colour and sexuality with price tag starting at as low as 200 Bhat. They wont disturb you, touch you or mess with you, they will keep standing silently waiting for their next prospective customer.

There are lot of sightseeing places to see in Pattaya, like ecojungle(not the exact name), aquarium, tiffany show(cabaret), temples, etc. For me taking in the feel of the place, the culture and atmosphere is more important that sightseeing places and thats what I did.

Pattaya is now attracting lot of visitors from Russia and India. One can find beautiful russian girls all over the place. I think the bar girls should now start learning another language- Russian. Infact russian tourists dominate the entire Pattaya, coming in big numbers. India new found economic progress has brought in a new culture of travelling abroad and the nearest tourism country is Thailand and Singapore, both these countries are attracting plenty of tourists from there. Soap massage parlours in Pattaya have 80% customers from India.

Shopping malls don't fit into culture of tourist destination like Pattaya and in fact kills the makeup. Central, shopping mall, has comeup on the edge of Pattaya beach and it ruining the earnings of localites. The food court over there is cheap and has lot of variety, no wonder its filled with tourists who end up shopping there as well. I think the govt over there has committed a blunder. Sophistication kills tourism, infact people go on a vacation to places like Pattaya to run away from sophisticated city life. Local restaurants, local food, local made souveneirs, local shops should be encouraged over malls to ensure the livelihood of people associated directly with tourism.

The 'Land of Smiles' is really a land of smiles. The bar and massage girls lead a tough life but never short of smiles. Wake up in the morning , put-on makeup, invite customers to bars, play with them, drink with them, have some food and its evening, put the makeup again, invite customers, drink with them, dance for them, play with them, seduce and go to the hotel with one of them, have sex , wakeup, go back to your bar, makeup and start all over again with a big Smile ! Its Tragic.