A First Solo Night in Pattaya
I began my story after splitting up with my girlfriend in the UK and not really doing anything exciting for the next three years. Then one afternoon in May 2017, I decided to go back to Thailand. I’d been with an old girlfriend in 2003, and I always wanted to go back. I’d only been in Bangkok and Koh Samui, but I’d heard so much about Pattaya I just had to go there.
I booked my holiday online and spent the next five months thinking of my upcoming trip with excitement. I spent hours looking online at videos about Pattaya, and the more I watched, the more excited I became. I knew exactly where I was going to go when I got there even though I’d never been there before.
Well, the five months dragged on, but eventually I was on the way to the airport. I just couldn’t wait to get to Thailand. By the way, I was 46 back then in 2017.
So there I was, sitting at the departure lounge. Eventually, after a long flight, I arrived in Bangkok. I knew I was just hours from my first night out alone. I got on the coach from Bangkok to Pattaya, and suddenly I became a bit nervous as the coach was just full of groups of guys and I was alone. I really needed to just get out and pat around now for a couple of cold beers to relax me.
Finally, I arrived in the outskirts of Pattaya and was transferred into a much smaller bus. I knew I was very close to starting my Thailand adventure. As the small bus traveled through the streets to get me to my hotel on Soi 10 or 11, I was getting more and more excited. The nearer to the beach the bus got, there were lots and lots of beautiful Thai ladies walking around everywhere. I knew I’d taken the right decision to come to Pattaya.
Pattaya’s First Beer Bar
I arrived at my hotel which was called the Sawasdee Sunshine and soon I was in my room: aircon on, bags opened, shower on, change clothes. I couldn’t wait to get out there. As I left my room with a grin on my face, I was greeted with cries of “You want massage, handsome man?”
Two minutes later, I arrived at a big bar complex with about 15 bars. All the girls looked great and were shouting at me to come into their particular bar. It was the bar at the back where the girls seemed to be the loudest, so I went to that bar. There were around six or nine pretty ladies in the bar, of which four came and stood right in front of me after asking me what I wanted to drink. The four girls were all bidding for my attention and trying to speak with me all at the same time.
One girl in particular stood out as very pretty. She was wearing a very short black dress. I had several drinks with this girl, and she seemed really nice. As I remember, she was younger than me being 35, although that’s what she told me. But she was real cute. I decided at this point that I had only just arrived in town I was not going to hook up with the first girl I’d met. Anyway, the night was still young. After downing my beer, I told her that she was lovely and said I would be back later.
Exploring Pattaya Beach Road
I then proceeded to walk down the short road to the beach. The sights and smells of Pattaya were captivating me, and I was truly loving life. I grabbed a quick bit of barbecue food from a street vendor. Everybody looked happy, and the atmosphere seemed to be great.
Then I was on Beach Road. I walked over so I could get a better view of the ladies on their phones next to the beach. As I walked down Beach Road heading towards Walking Street, I remember my smile just getting bigger and bigger as all the ladies smiled at me and some said that famous bar girl phrase that you’ll always hear in Pattaya “I go with you.”
I was now approaching a bar just before Walking Street on the left called Bamboo Bar. I went in and had a beer. I felt I was now probably getting into the swing of things. As I sat in Bamboo Bar, the music was playing, and I noticed about five or six girls kept smiling at me every time I looked their way. I knew I was going to have a good night even though I was alone in Pattaya.
After about 20 minutes and a beer or three later, one lady came over and introduced herself. She was about 40 but very attractive for her age. Again, I had a drink but then moved on to explore what the night had to offer.
A Go-Go Bar and an 80-Minute Foot Massage
Off I went on my merry way. As the night was really moving on now, I decided to have a few drinks in a go go bar and bought a girl a drink. This particular lady came across and jumped on my lap. By this time, I was now drinking doubles of Thai whiskey and Coke. I was told that girls who work in go go bars are very expensive to spend time with, so once again I left on my own.
As I left the go go bar, I looked at my watch it was now around midnight. I was feeling quite drunk now. I decided at this point I was on the verge of making a bad drunk decision, so I spent an amazing 80 minutes having a foot massage in a place on Beach Road. As I left the shop, I gave the lady who had given me the massage a 200 baht tip. She thanked me with a big smile that went from ear to ear.
Returning to the First Pattaya Bar
I was still very drunk, but an idea had formulated in my head. I went back to the first bar, hoping that the pretty girl I had had drinks with was still there. Luckily for me, she was. We had several more drinks together, and I asked her if she’d let me pay the bar fine for her. She agreed, and we walked hand in hand up the beach road a slightly overweight 47 year old guy from the UK and a drop dead gorgeous Thai girl. I felt great.
I think you can guess the rest. It was truly incredible first night in Pattaya and the first night I’ve ever spent alone in Thailand. I’ve been back four or five times since. Needless to say, I absolutely love Thailand and can’t wait to get back.
Story Two: Vancouver, Singapore, and Pattaya in 1998
I was working for a high tech chemical company in Vancouver. My boss and his best friend decided to take advantage of an offer to attend a Canadian Singapore trade mission. Since we were actively exporting services and software in addition to regular jobs, part of our costs were subsidized, and the two other guys were very excited about the trip. I was given the opportunity to attend as long as I gave a speech in Singapore with the idea of picking up some companies to distribute our novel software to.
In addition to the meetings, the Prime Minister of Canada was flying in to do a ribbon cutting ceremony at the newly constructed Canada House in Singapore. This would allow Canadians to travel to Singapore and use office space complete with a secretary who would answer the phone with your company name. This may help lots of smaller companies wanting to export or import from Singapore.
We flew from Vancouver to Singapore with a quick stop in Seoul, Korea. I was told stories of both Singapore and Thailand by the friend of my boss who I knew well. His name is Mark. Mark had been to Singapore several times and to Bangkok and Pattaya 33 times thus far. He travels for work and stops into Thailand before returning home. On the plane, I was taught the do’s and don’ts of Thailand and heard story after story as I sipped my Tiger beer. Flying Singapore Airlines was amazing.
Singapore Trade Mission and Little India
We arrived in Singapore at 10:30 in the evening, got into our rooms, and immediately Mark wanted to go to Little India for some food. That’s an area of Singapore. Close to midnight, we took a taxi to the Little India sector, but the restaurants he wanted to go to were closed. We went through a small red light area with some seedy alleys and saw a few girls hanging around. Unsuccessful at finding a good place to eat, we returned to the hotel and had a good night’s sleep.
We had three days before our meeting, so we played tourists went to Sentosa Island, the aquarium, Raffles Hotel, and had a good look around Little India complete with a good curry from a restaurant. We attended our meetings, gave our speeches, and to my surprise we were graded on the quality of our speeches and were informed of how we placed. My speech ranked high. I just talked loudly and slow to the 80 or so people that were there.
Lunch was included, and I found myself sitting beside the Canadian Foreign Trade Minister, the Canadian Minister of Agriculture, a couple of other ministers. My boss let’s call him Walter was also at the table. Lunch consisted of many small plates, and the dishes just kept coming fantastic lunch. And the Canadian ministers talked a lot about where the best bars were, etc. So it was a lot of fun.
After the meetings were over, we went back to our hotel, changed, and later went for supper. We ended up at a club with good live music, lots of girls, and lots of Aussies and Brits which I enjoyed talking to. The girls were together with friends or escorted, so I did not talk to them very much. We had a good time but retired before midnight.
Canada House Opening in Singapore
The next day we had an invitation to attend the opening of Canada House. We were bussed to the event from our hotel. Next up was the Prime Minister of Canada, and he gave a very good speech of what he hoped Canada House would do for Canada Singapore relations. I was standing quite close during his speech, and I was probably on TV that night.
The Prime Minister was then guided to an escalator to view the offices inside the building. I followed and joined the procession right behind the Prime Minister. As I neared the top of the escalator, I turned around to see Mark and Walter still back where I was standing. They wondered what the hell I was doing. I was under the impression that I was supposed to follow inside the building.
I followed the Prime Minister down a long hallway, and at the end, the Prime Minister abruptly turned around and we collided. He was taller than me, and he looked down at me and saw my Singapore Canada pin on the lapel of my suit. He did not speak but looked at me and gave me a nod of his head. I did not know what to say, so I returned the nod. We then left Canada House, and I imagine the communication has gone on amongst all the security people since no one knew who I was.
Back outside, we got the bus and went to the lunch of roughly 600 people. I ended up sitting beside the former Canadian Ambassador to Singapore, a beautiful lady from Singapore head of the Singapore Research Council and a couple of other guys from Canada who I did not know, but they mentioned they liked my speech on the previous day. The former Ambassador ordered up several bottles of a very good wine, and it started to flow. Mark and Walter were placed at a different table from me.
We had previously checked out of the hotel and had our luggage with us. At 1:30 or so, we grabbed a cab and made it to the airport. Three hours later, we had landed in Bangkok and made it through customs without delays.
Bangkok: Nana Plaza and the First Night
I had no idea where we were going or what was about to happen, but we had a scheduled 10 days in Thailand and for me, it was all expenses paid except for personal spending. The taxi took about an hour, and we were delivered to the Nana Plaza Hotel (I think it’s the Nana Hotel opposite Nana Plaza maybe it was called the Nana Plaza Hotel back then). We got our rooms, and a young man carried my suitcase to the room even though I did not want him to. Upon arrival, he asked me if I would like a girl. My mind said, “Huh, what?” But my lips said, “No.”
Back in 1998, there was not the mass of girls outside the hotel as you see today, but Nana Plaza across the street was up and running. We decided to go there before having a meal, and I followed along. We went up a floor, and the first go go bar was called American Strip. Two girls outside were aggressively pushing Mark and Walter inside. I hung back and watched them proceed. Then I proceeded in last. One of the girls ran her finger quite hard up my back on the outside of my shirt. This shocked me, and I jumped forward a few feet. Then I turned around, shook my index finger at the girl, and told her she was naughty. The two girls laughed at me for a few seconds.
Once inside, we sat at the bar. There were only a couple of other tourists in the place. Immediately we sat down, received a beer, and I looked around. There were four or five dancing in front of us, and a larger plump lady started to massage my neck. She was quite strong, and I enjoyed it for a short duration. A very beautiful girl wearing shorts made from old jeans sat beside me and started to chat me up. Her English was perfect. The more we talked, the more I was enjoying myself. I bought lady drinks for her and for the girl who was massaging my neck. I had been told what a lady drink was on the flight over.
We had two beers at that place over a 45 minute period, and then my buddy said, “We’re going.” My brain said, “No, no, no,” but I had to follow my buddies. We left American Strip and went into the next bar along. We had one beer at that place which was similar to American Strip, but the girls were not as pretty and less talkative to us.
We then went to the third bar. Again, the girls were a little pushy. We went in, and I noticed that the floor was a sort of S shaped with several large couches along each wall, each separated by a small stage. On each stage were three or four girls dancing. On each couch was a guy sitting with a multiple of girls around him. My buddies found a table right at the door, but I decided to walk all the way to the back of the room and use the washroom.
Upon leaving the washroom, I saw one of the girls in a long evening dress and she was different. She stood from her leaning position, and she was taller than me much taller. Then in a deep voice, she said, “Would you like to buy me a lady drink?” Okay was she… was she a… I replied, “No.” I rapidly made my way to our table and explained to my friends that I had just been approached by a ladyboy. Mark said, “Okay, how many ladyboys do you think are in here?”
Nana Plaza Discovery in Bangkok
I did a quick total and scrutinized the girls a little more. In the meantime, a beautiful girl came up beside me and leaned against me. She was the most beautiful girl I’d seen thus far, and she could easily be a model. My friends were grinning at me from the other side of the table while she was leaning on me. I answered my friends, “Okay, there are 22 girls in here. I think seven of them are possibly ladyboys.” Mark leaned over, laughed, and said, “They were all ladyboys in this place.”
I was in shock. The beautiful girl leaning against me was so pretty. Mark bought her a lady drink, and I asked her up front if she was a guy. Her voice changed, and she said yes. She stopped leaning on me, and I took my arm from her. I said, “Well, at least you’re pretty.” She said, “Why, thank you,” in the creepiest voice I have ever heard.
Now I was a little mad and wanted to return to American Strip where I’d had so much fun. My buddy said no, and they mentioned that we will not be going to the same bars we will be going to multiple bars, some may have ladyboys, and we won’t be going back to any bars we’ve already visited. They explained a little more in depth as to how to tell if the person I was speaking to was a ladyboy or a real girl.
A High-Class Thai Restaurant
We departed that club and left in a taxi to a high class Thai restaurant with amazing food and a show of Thai people dancing to Thai music on unusual instruments beautiful costumes and a wonderful meal. We then took a taxi back to Nana Plaza and ended up in a bar on the ground floor I think with an array of counters with girls dancing on counters and full of people. We got beers and watched what was happening. It seemed to be a lot of chaos going on.
I was sitting next to the cash register, and the girls kept pinching me and bothering me on purpose. Two of the girls grabbed Walter, pulled him off his stool, then laughed and walked away. Walter said, “What the heck was that all about?” We had a good laugh about it. Anyway, the girls were relentless, but it was fun interacting with them.
I noticed that a tourist had likely lost his glasses and was wearing swim goggles presumably prescription. He took off his shirt wearing only a pair of shorts, jumped up on the bar with the ladies, and started dancing with them. He lasted about two minutes as he was drunk before he fell off which was hugely funny because the girls all swarmed him then helped him up. Some of the girls were not happy that he was on the counter, but you could see them shrug it off. Two minutes later, some guy comes over to me and starts complaining and whining about the dude on the bar. I told him I had nothing to do with it and told him to relax. He thought I was the owner or manager since the girls were continually chatting with me and I was sat near the cash register. He then apologized and promptly left the bar.
I had a good time at this bar, but it was very busy. After a couple of beers, my buddies were yet again heading out.
Meeting Noy at a Bangkok Freelancer Venue
We got into a taxi and drove a short while to a large facility with a live band and lots of young guys from all over the world and girls everywhere all dressed up very nicely. Most must have been some sort of freelancer place. We got beers and sat for a while. Mark and Walter left the table in search of the perfect girl. I didn’t know what to do exactly, so I went to the main bar and grabbed another beer for myself.
Waiting for my beer, a young Thai girl asked where I was from. She was nice looking, and I would guess that she was going to college because she spoke perfect English. Some Aussies joined us, and a couple of guys from England, and we all started to chat. We had some great conversations. Then the girl told me she had to go back because she had to work the next day. She said she could not come back to my room I hadn’t asked her anyway. She took my hand, and we went over to a table, and she introduced me to her friend. Her name was Noy. She reminded me of an office worker dressed smartly, short black hair, perfect skin, and teeth. She was very, very beautiful.
We chatted for a few minutes, and I told her I should really return to my table since I had not seen my friends for a while. She said she would come along I didn’t ask her. When we got back to our table, Mark and Walter had girls of their own. Mark said that I hit the jackpot with Noy since he liked her appearance.
After about 30 minutes or so, we all crammed into a cab and went back to the Nana Plaza Hotel and to our rooms. Noy and I were tired, and we fooled around a little bit but did not finish anything, preferring to just sleep for a while. In the morning 8:30 or so I woke up with her initiating an aerobic session with me. That got my attention. She quickly proceeded to get her morning exercise.
Just about this time, the bloody phone rings my friends are having breakfast and want me to come downstairs. I showered and said my goodbyes to Noy. She was a little grumpy as she had wanted to tag along with me that day. I joined my friends at the breakfast table and was still shaking a little bit from the morning’s aerobics. We then went to the Empress Palace, a boat ride through the canals back to the Oriental Hotel, and another fantastic supper meal. That night, I took it easy with some quiet drinks in the hotel bar.
Arriving in Pattaya at Dolphin Roundabout
The next day was an early trip to Pattaya, where we stayed at the Palm Garden Hotel at the Dolphin Roundabout great food, only about 20 baht a night. We settled in for another nine days of fun and craziness, but I will save all that for the next time as this story is already a little long.
Story Three: Ubon RTAFB in 1971
I was stationed at Ubon RTAFB in 1971. I was 19. Around the base, there were plenty of beer bars. If I remember correctly, it was 50 cents for a beer. You could bring your own bottle of spirits in and just pay for the mixers a very cheap night out indeed. The scene 50 years ago was much different than today, as you can imagine. I’m retired here now, by the way.
Some of the major differences may surprise your viewers. Firstly, there was no such thing as a bar fine. All of the ladies that were in the clubs were freelancers. Secondly, there were no lady drinks. If your friend wanted to drink, you either bought her a beer or she shared your bottle. As there were no hotels at the time around the base, if you wanted company for the night, you would go back to her house sometimes she lived alone, sometimes with a friend. There were no negotiations on the price. It was a flat 100 baht which back then was about five US dollars. Same for a soapy massage, except there were no extra fees for anything. Hard to imagine, I know.
Airmen my age were not making a lot of money anyway. A lovely girl named Pen and I would get together from time to time. The night before I was to fly back to the States, she asked if she could borrow 20 dollars. She said she would meet me at the airport the next day to return the money. I gave it to her and looked forward to seeing her the next day to see me off. To the surprise of no one living at the time, she never showed up. I just let it go a lesson learned.
When I arrived in the USA, I took some R&R time and went to the beaches of sunny Florida. My favorite aunt took me to the horse races. I didn’t know anything about these four legged beauties or how to place a bet. My aunt told me to just pick a number or two, sit back, and keep your fingers crossed. When I approached the betting window, it suddenly hit me Pen‘s number at the bar was 54. I put 20 dollars down on number 5 and number 4. Crazy as it sounds, my horses finished in that order, and I was elated to have won 250 pounds. So thank you, Pen. Karma is good.
I will add that the bar girls then were a different breed than they are today. No cell phones, no internet to distract them. Most were looking for husbands or at least long term boyfriends of a minimum one year. One of my friends married such a lady, and they are still together today.
Story Four: Missing the Flight Home from Thailand
After enjoying a Pattaya holiday a year previously, I decided to indulge in another one. When booking the ticket on a website called Expedia, I decided to change my departure time because my current time would mean being stuck in the Middle East for nine hours. I went for a Friday night at 1:10 a.m. flight.
Anyway, made it to Pattaya okay, enjoyed a brilliant holiday, and two weeks later on the Friday evening, I get a taxi to the airport. I arrived at the check in desk, presented my ticket, and was told that my flight was booked yesterday morning. My face dropped, and I felt not only sick inside but scared as well. I asked if I could be put on another flight using the same ticket, but was told that as my ticket was a cheap “last minute deal,” the airline could not accommodate a change of flight date just their policies. But they could put me on another flight if I purchased another ticket from my own funds.
As this was now the end of my holiday, I had just about spent all the money I had except for a few hundred baht. To make matters worse, I didn’t own a credit card at the time and had no debit card with me, so could not even take cash out of an ATM machine. How bad can it get?
I phoned my parents back home and asked them to buy me a ticket, but when they looked online, prices were now over a thousand pounds for economy. My mother was over 60 at the time, so did not really know what she was doing on the internet. So I purchased a SIM card at the airport which gave me access to the internet on my mobile phone and found a flight leaving for the UK at 8:20 the following morning. I gave the details to my mother she booked the flight for me.
The next few hours were a blur of people coming and going. I felt like Tom Hanks in the movie The Terminal. As soon as I received the confirmation email that my ticket had been booked and I knew I was on a flight, I felt a bit more relaxed.
So it is now time to get on this new flight. I queued and again got to the front desk only to be told to go to the airline office. I was not sure why. Luckily for me, since I now had a valid ticket (which they wanted to check), they seemed a lot more interested to get me on this flight. The McDonald’s I had in the departure lounge felt like the best meal I’d ever had in my life bought with the last 500 baht I had to my name.
Waiting at Bangkok Airport for the Replacement Flight
I spent a total of 26 hours in the airport. I had no one else to blame but myself. The party in Thailand is always great, but make sure you don’t miss that all important flight home like I did. Believe me, you will be in a world of pain like I was.
