.This time, Falcon and I were only there for less than 24 hours, so not much happened.
Or did it?
We were there precisely 20 minutes when we saw a whole load of ambulances and police cars racing down Beach Road.
My sister sent me a message later to tell me that a ferry had sunk off of Pattaya, and at least 6 people had died.
Welcome to Thailand.
Anyway, we travelled light and had no problem finding a hotel room. We stayed at some place run by a former US soldier (marine?) who'd made the place for service personnel (well guys) who wanted some R&R.
Kind of funny to see a NO LADYBOYS sign in reception. Later in the trip I saw a NO ARABS sign in a bar, but I've never seen a NO FARANGS sign!!!
Well anyway it was OK and our chances of finding a Pattaya hotel run by and for geeks was probably remote.
My room was massive and it had a baby gecko in it - that's the cutest thing I've seen for a while.
So I took Falcon for a walk around to see the places I remembered from before. We walked the entire length of Beach Road. The construction works are nearly finished, but goodness knows if they'll ever connect up the light fittings.
We had dinner at a fish and chip shop, except that the food was Indian. That was kind of weird. The food was very much Indian, British style. But for 150 baht for a set menu of 6 different items it was amazing.
After that we hit Walking Street and went our separate ways. I'm not sure where Falcon went. Maybe he went in here:
I heard about a bar with a decent show and it was decent. Think Britney in that MTV performance when she had the snake round her neck. It was sexy, but somewhere you could take a girlfriend who likes to sample some of the wilder things in life.
This bar was also memorable as the dancers could slide down fireman's poles onto the stage. An awesome sight.
After that I went in search of much cheaper beer. So I went to my favourite bar. I was overjoyed to see that the girl I fell in love with last time recognised me. Well it was fun in there but I had to buy a lady drink, then some lady food, and my lady was more interested in the guy next to me who was throwing money on the floor.
So I went to a third bar. This place has a reputation but I've never been hassled by the ladies there. I sat next to a European guy who was celebrating his divorce from his farang wife. I bet he went condo shopping the next day!
I had an awesome night, but most of the beer I bought was 65 baht - contrast that with a minimum of 120 baht in Bangkok.
My bill for the night out must have been around $30. And I saw some things.
As to Pattaya, it's a great place for a legendary night out, whatever your tastes in nightlife are.
More and more people are choosing to live there as well. Most noteably Russians and working class Brits.
I swear the whole time I was in Pattaya that I didn't see a single person from Southern England. Pattaya is for working class Northerners, kind of like Torquay but with less crime.
Well for the Brits they've got their own TV channels, farang food, non-stop sunshine and all the home comforts that you'd find in Blackpool.
We saw loads of German restaurants, but I only saw two Germans. Weird.
After the boat sinking incident, health and safely was very much in my mind. So after being back in Bangkok precisely 20 minutes what do we see but a woman falling off a bus.
If you come here, please be exceedingly careful!
