After traveling through the usa, new zealand and east coast Australia I knew that the next leg of my trip was about to begin and I would be saying farewell for a few months to the western comforts I had become accustomed too. Pattaya, Thailand was to be the start of the next leg of my trip.
I flew to Singapore were I had a 3 hour wait before my connecting flight. How do you while away a few hours here…i found the perfect way…massage…to ease a few knots and aches..i was easily persuaded into an hour work of treatments. My massage was by a deaf Singapore lady, who gave a painful foot massage which felt good once it was over and a firm but relaxing neck and shoulder massage which defiantly did the job.
Nicely relaxed I board the flight to Bangkok were I am met at the gate by my uncles, Jason and Ging. We head straight onto the road towards Pattaya, its night time so its difficult to get a feel for the place. We stop at a service station to pick up a drink, It feels more like a small village, busy with stalls and shops. I grab water and a couple of beer, as recommended by Ging. We chatter, catch up and when we arrive in Pattaya Jason drives through some of the main areas, there are hundreds of mopeds, weaving in and out…a lively place, full of hussle & bustle.
At the condo, they guys had picked out a room for me but when we get there its not available, so reception provide us one on the top floor. I check in and head for bed, as I am drifting off, I hear a noise at the door, then keys in the door! Eekkk! The door opens and a guy walks in. I sit up and tell him I have checked into the room for 2 nights…hes confused and apologises…then leaves! Great…there is no lock on the inside of the door, so I make a half arsed attempt by putting a small chair in front of it! No ones comes back. The so next morning I speak to Jason and Ging and we speak to reception who say it was the guys friend who owns the condo, they don’t know why he was there but he wouldn’t hand in the key. We are unsure if the room was supposed to have been rented out. In any case we ask that I move rooms…I move across the hall from Jason and Ging, this one has an internal lock.. 🙂
With that over, I begin to experience Pattaya, seeing temples, the 1000’s of street dogs (that capture my heart and the lens of my camera), walks along the beach, beautiful floating markets were we sample local food, shopping with Ging introducing me to the many obscure fruits, then into the evenings were I am shown the sights and sounds of the Pattaya gay scene, from Cabaret shows, go go shows, discos and many other colourful corners.
One night after a disco Ging and I got home on a motorbike taxi, three on us on one bike. At 2am in the morning..tipsy, warm breeze as we nip around the streets…giggling, carefree.
The news coverage here is CRAZY…both the local newspaper and TV. They show everything…for example some guy had been stabbed by his girlfriend, they have it all on camera, just after it happened, in there with the police, filming the scene as she is arrested and the ambulance arrived etc. If there has been a car accident, they are filming the people injured and if someone has died, they show you them laid there dead!, with relatives at the scene crying.
There was one were a girl who was filmed at a police drop in centre, whilst reporting she had been raped by 5 guys with the news reporter saying ‘there was evidence of forced sexual intercourse when examined but the police are unsure if there is a case, they are not sure if they believe her’ the girl is shown, no blurring or identity protection, CRAZY no sensitivity at all!
World Foote Steps 
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