Pt 17 – Prostitutes, Neons & Muay Thai

Wednesday, February 10th, 2016

It was time to escape Bangkok. We took the metro to the bus station, bought our tickets, then loaded up on the minivan with a woman carrying dried fish in a bag. I was a little hungover, so I was incredibly grateful that she didn’t decide to snack on them during the ride!

Everyone was kicked off the van at a random location. We had no clue where we were in Pattaya, but we were told to walk down the street to get a taxi. The guy driving the songthaew was asking for a lot (by Thailand standards), but we found a motorcycle taxi at a reasonable rate. Let’s be real, everything is reasonably priced; everything is cheap. It feels silly turning down the offers that are proposed just because you know you can get it for less. But we were by no means in the position to throw money around, so we kept a tight budget.

The ride on the motorcycle taxi was pretty uncomfortable, and the guy got lost several times, asking others for directions. He eventually found his way to “Dao Hotel” where we’d be staying, and cut us a deal on our already cheap transport since he got lost. Our room wasn’t ready yet, but there was a poolside bar and restaurant where we grubbed out on some green curry and beers. “Dao Hotel” was very nice, but it was on the outskirts of downtown, so we booked a stay at a different hotel for the following night.

After unloading our bags in our room, we took a long walk to the beach. I start noticing that there were old men, EVERYWHERE! It would take my feeble mind a little too long to figure out why. As we enjoyed the sunset, it dawned on me that there was prostitution occurring all around us, and lots of it.

We took a stroll down the Walking Street which was lit up with neons beckoning everyone to enter their slimy strip clubs and themed bars. We passed a Muay Thai match after grabbing a couple beers at the liquor store, and then a peddler performing some weird ice cream show on the street.

We made a stop at “The Stones House” where we enjoyed a really good cover band before returning to the restaurant we had intended on eating dinner at. It was now overtaken by prostitutes and horny old men, so we chose something else. We ate at a hooker-free place called “Jasmine’s Cafe,” then made the long walk back to the hotel.

Jump Back to Part 16: Lost Causes, A Reclining Buddha & Khao San Road

Jump Ahead to Part 18: The Sanctuary of Truth & Wonders of Walking Street

Start from the Beginning at Part 1: Mumbai to Chiang Mai