In Defence of Pattaya and in defiance to the Haters

[Jackson86]

@jackson86, I believe you are taking these guys, particularly Naam, far too seriously. He has a razor-sharp wit and delights in toying with those of us who might not have been admitted to MENSA. I'm just waiting for Easter, when I expect we'll crucify him and he'll ascend into Heaven. I'm preparing some roofing nails but you'd be surprised just how hard it is to find a crown of thorns online.

don't get me wrong, I'm trying to be objective here. I welcome all foreigners in pattaya, just enjoy life there. To me not just pattaya but thailand in general is a nice place.

[Jackson86]

Only Thai people has the rights to say whether Pattaya is good or bad because it's their own country. Foreigners definitely have no say. I'm from Singapore and have only been to Bangkok several times but last month was my first time going to Pattaya. I've heard of news whereby foreigners, especially farangs, got cheated of their money by Pattaya women, but that doesn't mean only Pattaya has crimes. Anywhere can be a potential crime scene.

Although a one day trip, I've visited several places like the Central Festival, the beach, Hollywood Pattaya, Walking Street and agogo bar. Perhaps it's true that Pattaya depends heavily on the sex industry, but personally I still respect the people and country there. Inside an agogo bar, I refrain from looking at the naked girls with sleazy eyes but exited peacefully after the show.

I just hope that all foreigners should be mindful of their manners when in a foreign country.

<Inside an agogo bar, I refrain from looking at the naked girls with sleazy eyes>

Sorry, but I have to ask the obvious question- How do you not have sleazy eyes? Did you put a little sign on your head to say "I respect you, and I have no immoral feeling towards you"? Just wondering.

When I looked at them I just gave a friendly smile.

[Jackson86]

you a thai? relax man ! what's wrong with a farang eating a sandwich ???

bread crumbs were dirtying the boardwalk

woah. you must have some issues with farangs. I've read a lot of news of farangs who got cheated of their money by the locals. However, I don't really see much foreigners of other ethnicity ie Asians getting into trouble. Why?

i can't help it Jackson. i haven't met any other Klingons in Thailand to ask whether they feel the same. perhaps it's a genetic defect?

as already mentioned i hate how farangs misbehave in Thailand. it's not only that they smoke in one-way streets or eat in public.

my blood boils when i see them lusting after some innocent young country girl which eeks out a meagre living by performing a traditional Thai dance holding on to a pole. some of them are even managing to lure girls from their establishments by promising them money to cure the sick family buffalo that works the rice fields but ask for sex in exchange!

yeah I get your point. In fact I do pity these thai girls but of course business is business, just that we should do it in a more amicable way and I think that's fine.

[thaibeachlovers]

bread crumbs were dirtying the boardwalk

woah. you must have some issues with farangs. I've read a lot of news of farangs who got cheated of their money by the locals. However, I don't really see much foreigners of other ethnicity ie Asians getting into trouble. Why?

i can't help it Jackson. i haven't met any other Klingons in Thailand to ask whether they feel the same. perhaps it's a genetic defect?

as already mentioned i hate how farangs misbehave in Thailand. it's not only that they smoke in one-way streets or eat in public.

my blood boils when i see them lusting after some innocent young country girl which eeks out a meagre living by performing a traditional Thai dance holding on to a pole. some of them are even managing to lure girls from their establishments by promising them money to cure the sick family buffalo that works the rice fields but ask for sex in exchange!

yeah I get your point. In fact I do pity these thai girls but of course business is business, just that we should do it in a more amicable way and I think that's fine.

I pity Thai girls that get exploited in sweatshops, or get old before their time working in the rice fields for a pittance. I don't pity rich bargirls. It was their choice.

Post modified as too many quotes.

[mjj]

Thailand has something for nearly everyone. I have stayed in Pattaya for 3 days with wife in tow and was not that keen, but I felt the reputation has been over exaggerated to class the whole place a sleaze town, even though I nickname it Sin City. I didn't go down Walking Street - because i had no reason to - so maybe I didn't get the full impact.

For me Pattaya is just too big/busy in the same way Phuket is. I've tried the boonies also, too quiet, Bangkok, no just no and a Thai town (Trang), found that too boring also. Now I live on Samui and for me it is perfect...........well almost.

[Jackson86]

Not sure about bar girls but I've heard from others that they tend to cheat foreigners. I've been to walking street, very happening. Well u can say pattaya is a sin city. Luckily the girl I like is not a bar girl, she's a good pattaya girl and that's why I will embrace the place.

[paz]

The poster TheSpade is the perfect liberal troll. Only sadly for him, he believes it. A classic case of narcissism.

...

That being said, Pattaya is still a shithole, mostly because it attracts low class people from all over the world.

I'm pretty liberal and I don't agree with a single thing that TheSpade wrote.

Regarding Pattaya, the OP has a point, the hate is largely pointless. Not long I was thinking I should be ashamed to be here, but then got over it and nothing is forever. It just works for me now, I had better and had worste.

[beautifulthailand99]

@jackson86, I believe you are taking these guys, particularly Naam, far too seriously. He has a razor-sharp wit and delights in toying with those of us who might not have been admitted to MENSA. I'm just waiting for Easter, when I expect we'll crucify him and he'll ascend into Heaven. I'm preparing some roofing nails but you'd be surprised just how hard it is to find a crown of thorns online.

Sir I like the cut of your jib and your industrial strength Asian compliant (Thai module) advanced BS detector - which is in fact some gold-ball finder sourced from Ebay.

[StreetCowboy]

Only Thai people has the rights to say whether Pattaya is good or bad because it's their own country. Foreigners definitely have no say. I'm from Singapore and have only been to Bangkok several times but last month was my first time going to Pattaya. I've heard of news whereby foreigners, especially farangs, got cheated of their money by Pattaya women, but that doesn't mean only Pattaya has crimes. Anywhere can be a potential crime scene.

Although a one day trip, I've visited several places like the Central Festival, the beach, Hollywood Pattaya, Walking Street and agogo bar. Perhaps it's true that Pattaya depends heavily on the sex industry, but personally I still respect the people and country there. Inside an agogo bar, I refrain from looking at the naked girls with sleazy eyes but exited peacefully after the show.

I just hope that all foreigners should be mindful of their manners when in a foreign country.

<Inside an agogo bar, I refrain from looking at the naked girls with sleazy eyes>

Sorry, but I have to ask the obvious question- How do you not have sleazy eyes? Did you put a little sign on your head to say "I respect you, and I have no immoral feeling towards you"? Just wondering.

When I looked at them I just gave a friendly smile.

I think it's more appropriate to stand to attention.

Edited October 14, 2013 by StreetCowboy

[Jackson86]

I think I'm referring to 'in defence of pattaya girls'.

[MrWorldwide]

@jackson86, I believe you are taking these guys, particularly Naam, far too seriously. He has a razor-sharp wit and delights in toying with those of us who might not have been admitted to MENSA. I'm just waiting for Easter, when I expect we'll crucify him and he'll ascend into Heaven. I'm preparing some roofing nails but you'd be surprised just how hard it is to find a crown of thorns online.

Sir I like the cut of your jib and your industrial strength Asian compliant (Thai module) advanced BS detector - which is in fact some gold-ball finder sourced from Ebay.

Nah - I'm a weekend warrior with much to learn, but TV helped me narrow down my choice of retirement destinations to one

(FWIW, I dont know if Naam has gold balls or not !)

[Somtamnication]

I am happy for the OP. In 13 years in Thailand, I have NEVER gone to Pattaya. And I am very happy about that.

[asiamaster]

The sex industry in Pattaya is hardly confined to "the strip" as you refer to it , unless you mean everywhere from Naklua to Jomtien and beyond .

I live in Krabi ,so I'm not one of the "BKK brigade ".

That probably explains those rape cases in Krabi...

[beautifulthailand99]

The Telegraph comes out in support of good ol' Pats even though you are a 'sex haven' !

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatlife/10361650/Our-happy-retirement-in-a-Thai-sex-haven.html

[MrWorldwide]

If the retirees in that article settled in Phuket or Bali, would the paper even bother dispatching a reporter ? Most realise that there is more to Phuket than Patong and more to Bali than Kuta, but for many in this thread Pattaya IS Central Pattaya, and that's all it ever will be. I found Kuta such a turnoff that I'll never go back to Bali, but I did see enough outside of Kuta to understand why some see it as 'paradise' : its not my paradise, but I don't let it ruin my day whenever someone mentions Bali.

Patts just seems to evoke some serious knee-jerk responses - particularly odd for a strip that few have to even drive through on their way to somewhere else. Stark contrast to a certain section of Sukhumvit Road in Bangkok, where office workers are confronted with the day shift each morning. They've learnt to ignore it - perhaps its time some of us developed the same attitude to Pattaya ?

[bellboy]

A well written OP, but one comment..

Pattaya has a beach ?....

It did have a beach. But it got washed away last week. "When it rained".

[crumpled]

Is Pattaya a dump? Is it sleazy? Yes to both of those but it can also be a great place to visit or to live in. There are many places away from the sex, sin, robbery and bars too if that is what you want with the occasional trip into the sex scene.

Pattaya can be vibrant and also a haven of peace and tranquility. It all depends where you look and where you live. Many Thai people speak English. Then there are the different nationalities residing there from Europe, America, Canada, Australia nd other places. Bring them all together and it can be a great place. a friendly place too.

Yet, when I first moved to Thailand a week or so after the coup, I started in Bangkok and that city to me is far worse than Pattaya in many respects. A couple of months later I moved north to Nakhonsawan itself and then out to a village on the outskirts.

To me, Nakhonsawan was a great place once you got to know it, with plenty of nightlife and very friendly people and police officers. Yet it too has its drawbacks. It is very hot and dusty. No pavements to speak of in the main. Black dust in the burning season. That dust covered most of the town. But you have a great park in the centre, a huge lake not far from town. Bat mountain with millions of bats coming out to feed every evening some kilometers down the road.

The small village was friendly yet flooded badly in the rainy season. No bars. Frequently the electric was off for hours. Yet that village too had its benefits.

Pattaya? I love it as a part of Thailand in the same way I loved aspects of the village and of Nakhonsawan itself - a place many slag off as yet another Nakhon nowhere. Life is what you make it in these places.

[Jackson86]

I apologise to all but since I love a pattaya girl, I have to defend pattaya. It's a nice place !

[MrWorldwide]

I apologise to all but since I love a pattaya girl, I have to defend pattaya. It's a nice place !

Your dedication will not go unpunished

[Jackson86]

I apologise to all but since I love a pattaya girl, I have to defend pattaya. It's a nice place !

Your dedication will not go unpunished

haha I don't get your point. But it's true that I love her.

[yoshiwara]

One of the plus points of Pattaya is the absence of back-packers.

[sms747]

One of the plus points of Pattaya is the absence of back-packers.

I'd rather mingle with them than the sad sack sex tourists and pathetic old shuffling pervs in you see in Pattaya slobbering over issan girls young enough to be their granddaughters,

[yoshiwara]

This thread reminds me of that movie Taxi Driver with Robert Deniro. He has mental issues and asks a young woman to a first date and when she agrees he takes her to a pornographic movie theater and does not understand why she gets upset and then he precedes to stalk her and attempt to murder the politician she works for.

Sybill Shepherd.

Edited October 18, 2013 by yoshiwara

[Jackson86]

I definitely will help pattaya girls and not bully them. I don't take advantage of them just because they are poor or what.

Edited October 18, 2013 by Jackson86

[Chittychangchang]

In Defence of Pattaya and in defiance to the Haters

has dug it's own grave and buried itself without any help from the "haters"

CCC

[MrWorldwide]

Yep, 9 pages and 5,500 views later, this thread has absolutely nothing new to say

[Sigurris]

I don't think it was ever going to have much new to say but given that I got 30-40 likes its nice to see that others share my view of this city. The myopics, bigots and haters of Pattaya had their day in the sun and generally revealed themselves as people who see one thing and hate all things. Overall an entertaining diversion but, like my learned friend Mr. Worldwide, I agree its time to put this baby to bed until the next time!

As Kris Kristofferson said during an encore, "You might as well go home now, it don't get no better than this."

[thaibeachlovers]

One of the plus points of Pattaya is the absence of back-packers.

I'd rather mingle with them than the sad sack sex tourists and pathetic old shuffling pervs in you see in Pattaya slobbering over issan girls young enough to be their granddaughters,

If you don't like it why do you go there? That's a bit sad!

[Jackson86]

Although I've only been to pattaya once, never mind the crimes there, but I see many people enjoying there. So I guess overall pattaya is still worth visiting.

[kennypowers]

I don't think it was ever going to have much new to say but given that I got 30-40 likes its nice to see that others share my view of this city. The myopics, bigots and haters of Pattaya had their day in the sun and generally revealed themselves as people who see one thing and hate all things. Overall an entertaining diversion but, like my learned friend Mr. Worldwide, I agree its time to put this baby to bed until the next time!

As Kris Kristofferson said during an encore, "You might as well go home now, it don't get no better than this."

I think you are wrong. I have been following this thread from the beginning, and not one Pattaya lover has successfully defended the den of iniquity against the accusation that, for the most part, Pattaya is a place where sad aging men go to take advantage of the abundance of misguided youth selling their souls for what they believe will provide a better like for their parents, kids, themselves, whoever.

I won't debate the whole bar girl-hooker life thing here. But the fact is, seldom does the Pattaya story end well for the vendor or the buyer, thus the huge number of girls hooked on yaba and alcohol, and the number of sociapathic foreigners who end up jumping off a balcony, losing all their cash in one way or another or returning home spouting inaccuracies regarding Thai women and Thailand in general.

Not one person has made a successful case for wanting to live there other than for the 'hookers on tap' lifestyle. I'd go as far as to say that 97% of men who move there do so because they took a holiday there and for the first time in their lives experienced women that apparently didn't find them repulsive or socially inept.

I posted an excerpt from BKK magazine detailing four incidents over four days of naked foreigners going crazy in Pattaya. None of you guys battered an eyelid, as if this was normal. You don't need a debate to ascertain whether Pattaya is a decent place to live. As I said in my very first post, just compare the news stories coming out of Pattaya on a daily basis to anywhere else in the country.

What has been proven beyond doubt in the debate is that Pattaya does not represent Thai culture or the average Thai person's experience of their country on a day-to-day basis. Neither does it represent the experience of the majority of foreigners living in Thailand. It is, by and large, a place where lost souls meet other souls, believing they are taking advantage of each other's misfortune.

I also think using the word 'haters' is misguided. It somewhat implies that people are jealous of those living in Pattaya. In truth, people don't hate, they pity the lost souls. They pity those who will die alone, those who will be bled of all their savings, those who will drown their inner sadness in the bottom of a glass every night for the remainder of their lives, surrounded by women who are happy to pour them another drink and take them one step closer to their maker.

It's also desperately sad for the women. Women who are daughters and sisters and mothers. Women who once had dreams like every other girl in the world; aspirations of a rewarding career and a man who loves and takes proper care of them. No girl dreams of sleeping with men twice or three times her age for a living when she gets older, or living in a town infested by the underbelly of society, for that matter. I salute many of these girls because although entirely misguided in their choice, they are willing to sell their soul, their identity, their culture, their moral compass down the river to try and give their kids a better life and better opportunities than they had. Sadly, that is rarely the case.