Heaven was Hell

After leaving the the bizarre temple’s grounds and embarking upon the dirt road path back to Bang Saen’s main road, I walked passed a pack of stray dogs basking in the hazy sun. Most ignored me but one of them must have read what I said in my previous post about him and his friends being mentally retarded. He began to follow me, growling behind me with a growing intensity. I feared any moment my bright white shin, which he must have seen as an anomaly, would feel the pop and tear from his dirty fangs. I began shouting “No!” loudly without turning around, as if he were a bear pacing my tent. Luckily at that moment a motorcycle taxi driver pulled over and asked if I needed a ride. I jumped on the back of the bike immediately.

Ok, I’ve never ridden on a motorcycle before and what better time than to escape the rabid gatekeeper of hell. The ride was 40 Baht (a little more than $1US), exhilarating and sans helmet, which, given the pumping adrenalin, I didn’t even notice. I was delivered to the bus stop unharmed and was quickly swept onto a bus, my destination as obvious as the color of my skin. The 2 hour ride further East was 60 Baht. (Here I am pictured on the bike of motorcycle ride numero 2.)

I was on my way to Pattaya, another beach town along the East coast of the Gulf of Siam. Pattaya has the reputation of drawing many, many tourists. It encompasses the best and worst of Thailand. The best being an island beach with plenty of modern developments, abundant shopping and a variety of restaurants, clubs and pubs. The worst being a ton of garbage, harassing soliciting locals, sex trade workers, “massage” brothels and go-go bars (see picture.) I regretted making the stop here at this tourist heaven very quickly. The place was oozing with trash, many of the human kind. I quickly learned that the destination was for older Western men to tout their young Thai girlfriends, for older Western men to pay for young Thai women’s services and for them to walk red-faced drunk through the dirty streets.

There was also a strong transvestite/gay male presence in Pattaya. Although the gender barriers are more skewed here in Thailand (Straight Thai men often wear make-up when they go out.) Boys’ Town seemed to be for anybody but.

Not wanting to partake in any of these scenes and feeling the weight of my heavy backpack, I headed South via motorbike to Jomtien Beach to try to find adequate but cheap accommodations to hold me over until I can skip town early the next morning. Billed as quieter and away from Pattaya City’s thriving bar scene, Jomtien Beach was no paradise either. After being solicited by the motorcycle rider for lord knows what (mentioning something in broken English about “taking care of me”, I quickly fled), then came the quest for a room. Given the late hour and my intentions of jumping ship early, I left at least 12 guest houses unsatisfied with the rate. I eventually settled on 300 Baht for the evening for a single with a fan. Good enough for less than 12 hours.

Once settled, I decided that I may have judged Pattaya too harshly and that I would give Jomtien Beach a chance to win me over by waking up early and finishing my slumber in the sand. However, the shoreline, which was a mere 10 feet or so was disgusting, littered with overflowing garbage cans and more stray dogs. Every inch of it had been claimed by locals charging for umbrellas and lounge chairs. Naturally, they want to cram as many people in their space to make maximum profit. The water was also sectioned off with rope and buoys. This type of tourist beach does more to turn my stomach then say the current condition of Coney Island Beach.

I did take some redeeming shots during my morning walk of Jomtien Beach however, I decided to find transport to the bus station early to make it to Trat by afternoon. Goodbye Pattaya!