Thailand
Intimacy & Healthy (Adult) Sexuality Research Report
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Daves Pattaya
Explorations
As a first time tourist
Days 1 & 2
Pictures I took of
Baht buses along Beach Road near hotel on Soi 8.
In 2 days I have done lots of walking around. I am
becoming familiar with riding the Baht buses all over (only 5 baht!). But it
seems if they are parked the convert to taxis and yell taxi? as you walk by.
I asked one the price back to Soi 8 that was at about Soi Post office, and he
quoted 50 baht. I declined and got a moving one for 5.
Regarding this report and the Taxi situation
Khun
Bill in BKK nicely added:
Dave, you have done very well in your exporations of Pattaya ! By now you
probably know that the baht buses that act as "taxi's' are just that. They
are dedicated to just taking you to your destination, rather than follow a sort
of route, picking up and dropping off all along the way. They are the way to
get
directly to say the "Tiffany Show" or some other spot - Jomtien Beach.
I do very little walking at home or any kind of exercising. Im
the typical paunchy, overweight, older American man. But I enjoy walking and
people watching in new cities. I surprise myself on how much I can walk without
getting tired. My huge problem however, is that I tend to perspire very easily.
So even at night when it is cooler, I dont get tired from walking but get
very hot and sweat like a wet rag. Therefore, I have to stop in a cool gogo once
in a while. The outside beer bars are just not cool enough for me, besides not
liking beer, and not being able to socialize much with the bar girls since I dont
know a word of Thai. I also brought lots of clean shirts and change clothes
frequently and shower whenever I return to my hotel.
In response to this, Chanchao
wisely replied:
Just find a place near a fan; With a fan blowing, pretty much any temperature is
tolerable.
I replied:
True. At one of the beer bars in BKK with Long Gun (not Oy's at Soi 2 but up
about Soi 5) I was sitting with a very nice breeze from a fan which did make it
quite comfortable.
Chanchao continues:
I don't like Pattaya gogos; I don't know why but people just ignore me in there,
as opposed to the bars where there's usually a whole group talking to me.
Besides gogo pricing is screwed up: 49 baht for a beer is cool, but order a coke
or coffee and get charged 89. This is not even getting into barfines, which are
quite amusing amounts.
I replied:
I'm glad it isn't just me that is ignored in many of the gogo's. I
noticed that most men were also alone. Yet in others in BKK, as in Manila,
sometimes you had the swarm of them attack you as you walk in. There seems
to be little middle ground, either they ignore you or all attack you.
The only exception so far in Pattaya was at Las Vegas gogo and Mok
joining me (see more below) I enjoyed her but would have also liked to have
met some others since their were so many attractive dancers. But me
obviously not knowing Thai it may have been that since Mok knew some English
and the others didn't that may have been why. Once Mok was with me bargirl
etiquette as I understand it keeps the rest away from me, and (as with
others I met in BKK ) they stay with you until you either barfine them or
leave. There is no nice polite way, for me in something understandable it
seems to say I enjoyed you but scram, I'd like to meet some of the other
girls here.
In PI this seemed a bit less of a problem.. At some gogo bars the girls
invited over all their friends... but they seemed to all hang out with me
even if I wasnt buying them all drinks. Often I could make a choice and
do more playing, hand holding etc with those I choose and eventually the
other "non-chosen ones" would leave.
At some gogos I was only charged 55b for my coke, I recall another at
65b, the highest I think was Happy-A-go-go at 95 and I don't recall all the
rest! (100b is US$2.50)
It seems most bars had signs saying barfine 500b ($US13) but they
may have been negotiable.
I went to a few of the gogo bars on Soi Post Office, Soi
Diamond, Soi Pattayaland and the large Happy A-Go-Go on its own Soi, and had my
one coke at each. Super Baby in Soi Diamond was also nice with attractive
dancers but I didnt meet any. I also noticed a couple large groups of Chinese
tourists being led around by a guide.
It seems that in Pattaya that they dont have my diet cokes
like most bars did in Bangkok. So I have regular cokes. The only significant bar
girl contact I had so far was Mok? at Las Vegas gogo. She spoke sort of
understandable English for the main bar girl questions and of course wanted me
to take her to my hotel. I am being very selective after having my sexual needs
almost over fulfilled in Bangkok but still searching for more intimate
encounters instead of just sex. Sometimes the gogo bar experience is better for
intimacy than barfining them for sex!
After trying to explain to Mok I was a butterfly and wanted
to visit a bunch of bars she started asking if she could go with me. They sure
are desperate to be taken out it seems. However, at some of the gogos none of
the girls approached me, which I sort of prefer rather than trying to select
one. I figure if they come to me, maybe they like old Americans and perhaps the
ones that might know some English (like Mok) would more likely approach me.
But the lack of companionship wasnt a big concern as I
enjoy the people watching and cooling off in the gogos. There seemed to be
more customers in the gogos than in the beer bars which had mostly zillions
of girls trying to get you in and seated in the bar but very few customers.
Maybe others like the air conditioning of the gogos like I do or watching the
girls wiggle. Happy A-go-go had the best actual show; instead of just swaying
bored looking dancers.
The real challenge is fighting off all the "Hello
Girls" who at times literally take your arm and try to drag you into their
bar. For people who have never been to Thailand, I kid you not. Those who are
familiar with the scene of course just take it for granted. In Soi Diamond and
Happy A-Go-Go Soi, my only hope was to walk fast in the middle and look down! On
some of the back sois, which were even narrower, it was no use. Some would jump
out so you run into them. I sort of hugged them a bit but try and go on, which
isnt always easy! Actually I prefer the stop and hug you approach more than
the take your hand and try to drag you in technique. Sometimes the Hello Girls
go with you into the bar or gogo and sit with you (if they are not very
attractive) or just get you in and they stay on the street to drag in others (if
they are more attractive it seems).
Just the short walk from Second Road and Soi 8 back to the
Eastiny is a challenge with all the beer bar girls yelling "Hello, come
in" every few feet! A few freelancers I think have jumped in front of me
with a more direct approach like hugging me and begging me to sit with them.
Actually I might try a freelancer some night since they are all over the place
and seem to frequently approach me. I have qualms about it due to all the scams
that they can pull. But since they have to register with ID at the hotel that
does perhaps offer some protection. Seems interesting how much Im approached
on the street but not nearly as often approached in a gogo bar.
An interesting comment after seeing this report:
"If you are not in a hurry, and don't mind having some fun, try dancing
with the girls when they grab you as you walk by their beer bar. I do this most
the time; and I find the girls usually get a laugh out of it, and after 10 or 15
seconds of quick dancing (as I take the lead), they let me go on my way. Another
trick is to say you are going to the toilet, and they will let you go. There are
probably many other fun techniques to keep going. I gave up on looking down and
ignoring them. Too many good looking girls not to see."
Another comment by "Nalak"
"love being kidnapped by the girls on the street. last week i was walking
in the rain on soi 8 and a girl from smiley's came out with an umbrella and
walked with me, eventually turning me around and getting me into the bar. she
only spoke about 8-10 words of english, but we laughed and played games for
about an hour, before finally taking her out. she was great. my logic is that if
they go to the trouble of grabbing and pursuing you, they probably at least like
you a little. nothing worse than spending time with one that doesn't like you
and just wants the cash."
Walking Street is certainly interesting and its so nice
not to have to worry about the cars and motorcycles running you over on the
narrow sois. After midnight however, traffic is allowed back and you play dodge
the cars/trucks again. Cutting through one of the Walking Street sois, I thought
I could find Second Road to catch a baht bus to go back to Eastiny Inn on Soi 8.
Since Beach Road is a one-way going south you have to go to Second Road which is
a one way going north to get back to Soi 8. Somehow I got very lost but finally
backtracked and got back to Walking Street, walked up to Soi Diamond and cut
through to easily find Second Road and a baht bus back.
Found the BoyBars around Soi Pattayaland, I have no interest
and didnt go in any, but it is nice that both options are available for those
who prefer
men instead of just women.
I am confused about when the bars actually close. I
understand they are supposed to close at 2am but often dont until the police
come by? Its now 3:30am and from my room on the top floor of the Eastiny I
have a great view of Soi 8. There are still lots of girls at the beer bars, the
music is still playing and the Welcome to Paradise gogo still has the Hello
Girls out front and its lights all on! Update the lights went out a bit after
4am.
Khun Bill in BKK commented:
You also have figured
out that Patayya does not close at all - until there are no more
"Dave's" wandering around spending money !
I havent visited some of the gogos near me yet. Now
that Ive explored some of the other areas and been in some of the more famous
bars, I may stay closer to "home" and visit the nearby clubs and be
more open to barfining since so close to hotel.
My next agenda is to do "research" on some of the
massage places that are often recommended just as I did in Bangkok since I enjoy
massage (all types) so much. I want to try and find in Pattaya the good laid
back experience at a reasonable cost I reported on at Annies in Bangkok here
in Pattaya. Various people have given me lots of suggestions for massage places,
some of which I look forward to trying starting tomorrow.
For those that might be considering Pattaya and are want to
be connected to the Internet, just like in Bangkok there are a huge number of
Cyber Cafés in Pattaya. Since I have my own notebook I got Webnet by Loxinfo
as an ISP service with 20 hours for 600B. However last night all of a sudden I
got disconnected and it would not take my password. I called technical support
in Bangkok (Pattaya number only works during office hours) and as I suspected I
had used up my time. You cant extend or buy more time by phone but you have
to go to a store that sells there package and buy it again. This was easily done
the next morning at Apple Computer about mid block sharing a building with a
legal office on Soi Post Office. While at home I usually connect at about 50k I
was only getting 26k connections in Bangkok. But in Pattaya I sometimes connect
at about 46k.but then at other times only 26k
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