Frank Georgalis – Writer

Thailand—Culture From Far-Away Places Part I

PATTAYA, THAILAND

By

.              Frank Georgalis

Pattya, Thailand officially mapped out as Pattaya-Chon Buri with a combined population of 1,120,000 is the second largest city and is a very popular spot for sun-loving tourists. Tourism Authority of Thailand, TAT for short, boasts over 5 million visitors to Pattaya each year. Pattaya became famous  for its red light district during the Vietnam War era, after the Americans built a military base at what is today U-Tapao International Airport. The U.S. Military used Pattaya for (R and R) or rest and recreation for soldiers on leave. This led to the growth of the hetero-sexual Walking Street and later Boyztown and Sunee Plaza. The first gay bar in Sunee Plaza to open was Crazy Pub in1996, closely followed by what is today called the “Sunee Plaza bar”. Topman Nightclub (today known as Wonderland) started shortly after and was the first go-go bar in the area. It later became renowned for its cabaret shows, which it still hosts. All the buildings in the Plaza are owned by Madame Sunee a Thai national, and are leased to the various businesses. ^[2] Pattaya has subtitled itself “The extreme city” and Sunee Plaza has adopted this in its styling as “The heart of the extreme city

Walking Street! What an amazing piece of earth. If God has made anything better for men he kept it for himself. It is a famous and vibrant part of the city of Pattaya Thailand. It is a location that is well known to many tourists visiting Thailand, as well as Thai people from many parts of the country. Walking Street runs from the south end of Beach Road to the Bali Hai Pier. A huge sign at the Beach Road entrance was erected in March 2010, and a small arch adorns the Bali Hai entrance. The street is free of vehicles at night from 6:00 pm to 2 am, and car parking is at the Bali Hai end. It is carefully patrolled by tourist police during those hours.

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Boy meets Girl?

It is probably the only place on earth where one can see a sixty plus year old man weighing over 300 lbs walking and holding hands with a girl slightly over twenty, weighing 105 lbs. This is the only place on earth where you see the beauty and the beast walking hand-in-hand. This also seems to be “A man’s world”. Of all the places I have been, lived or visited I have found that the ladies in Pattaya are unique in many ways. These mostly beautiful young ladies who are literally hanging from the arms of the big aged men, one cannot tell whether they are maids, escorts, prostitutes or lovers to the men. Whether they are sitting with their man or standing around idling or walking, one will seldom see them flirting or simply looking at another man. Their smiles are so bright that will make one eye man see from the bad eye. It is that most of them have beautiful white teeth that are why Thailand is called “The country of smile”. Most of them have slim bodies, with long shaped legs to perfection. Their jet black hair reaches and settles way below their shoulders. They are all friendly and greet you by placing their hands together in a prayer shape, bow and touch with the tip of their hands the upper portion of the forehead, becoming serious at that moment and then they look again with that famous smile. They speak very little English and some keep it that way being proud of their own language. Less than 1% of them smoke or drink. They all avoid sweets to preserve their teeth and smile. Many of them avoid being seen with foreigners called fallans not to be branded as prostitutes. The majority of them co co-live in  one large room with two other females paying their portion of their rent which is about $50.00 to $70.00 per month. Men are not allowed in their rooms, but I, as a journalist, visited many of their rooms.

These ladies of the night still possess the integrity of being ladies that chose their subjects. They, mostly dressed in moderate attire as if they are giong to work in a office, display themselves on several -places around the area. They mostly stand on the side of the street in silence looking straight ahead without ever eyeing a subject  or a costumer as they refer to their subjects. A number of them are sitting on bar stools and are waiting for the men to make the first move. Their prices are known to be more or less the same throughout the town: They are based on short time or long time. Short time is an hour’s stay in an inexpensive hotel room and long time is the entire night in the costumer’s choice of staying. The common price for a short time is about $16 in American money ans about double that for the long time activity. There are many sad stories to be told by these girls who have traveled over 600 miles to come here, not looking for fortune, but enough money ti live and send some back home to their parents.  These girls did not come from rough neighborhoods, but most came from rural areas where crime is unheard. They are Buddhists and very religious and between 22 and 26 years old, who don’t smoke or drink. What becomes of them later on is another sad story.

There are sea-food restaurants, beer bars, discotheques go-go bars, and night clubs. The street is also known for the large amount of glowing colored neon signs which illuminate the street at night. In the earlier part of the evening one can also find live bands and fine dining. The legal closing time is 2:00 am.  culture