The land of smiles

Earlier this year when I was walking to work in the harsh January wind I felt good because I knew I was going to the land of smiles in February. The land of smiles is of course Thailand. I’ve been to the Far East for the last three years, initially starting with Hong Kong, China and Macau until a friend recommended Thailand.

So I guess this year I’m feeling sorry for myself knowing I have nothing planned for early in the new year. I have to put my money to more material use this year and besides none of my friends are going either, so it’s a big boo hoo from me (all say awwwww).

I’ll miss Thailand and more importantly the people there that always seem to have a permanent smile super glued to their faces. It’s the silly things I’ll miss like stepping out of Bangkok airport into the heat when you’ve been used to our freezing winter, it feels so nice. I’ll miss Pattaya and it's beach swathed in sparkling sea. I’ll miss the bustling streets of Pattaya, always congested with traffic but always teeming with life. I’ll miss the neon filled alley's at night, overcrowded with beer bars and clubs, Thai girls shouting encouragement for you to visit their bars as they eddy and sway to Thai fast disco beats, eagerly touting for trade. Its Soi 7 and 8 (that’s streets 7 & 8) that I’ll miss most, that’s where my usual hotel is and those two streets have so much character and variety. Usually I sit at a bar called Tom’s bar and chit chat with the Thai owner called Tom (obviously), we laugh and joke as he tries to coax me to drink more Heineken, Thai’s are ever the sales people!

There’s nothing glamorous about Pattaya though, it’s been dubbed as the ultimate sex tourist place other than Bangkok. Sure enough there is a heavy presence of prostitutes in Pattaya, thousands of them in fact, there’s also a large gay scene. It’s fair to say some people just would not find Pattaya a nice place at all, hell on earth even – sin central. For me that’s the beauty of it, Pattaya is a place were anything goes (though I didn’t see much evidence of drugs or would want to), it’s a fusion of east meets west and, where cultures happily collide. I like Pattaya because I can be myself, drink till I want, do some cheap shopping in the day and maybe visit some place of interest nearby. It’s a place where real people go, all walks of life, from the darker variety to the open minded, there’s no tabboo’s – just tattoo parlours. It’s not a place where you’d take the family though! Talking of all people I met a lovely old couple from Yorkshire that love Pattaya, mainly because of the friendly Thai people and the fact it’s so cheap there, how can you blame them? Europe is fast becoming very pricey.

There’s a lot to be learned from a place like Pattaya, you learn about other cultures, you see poverty, you see people finding love but most of all despite everything you see a Thai smile and for me that makes it all worth it.