Pattaya Roads and Nighttime Danger

Story 1 Pattaya Meeting and Lessons

In 2014, I visited Pattaya for the first time. I had been to other parts of Thailand but had never managed to get to Pattaya. For those who have never been to Pattaya, it is different from the rest of Thailand at least that’s how I view it now.

There is a famous saying in Pattaya: “Good guys go to heaven, but bad guys go to Pattaya.” It is a funny saying, but I think both good guys and bad guys go to Pattaya as do good girls and bad girls. People are a blend of how they were raised, the environment they find themselves in, and the people they spend their time with.

So while I had been to Thailand a few times (as said, never to Pattaya), I booked a whole hotel directly on Walking Street. There was a disco directly across such a dated word now, isn’t it, “disco”? from this hotel, but it was closed, so the noise level was manageable. A few years later I returned the disco had opened. There was no sleeping until 6 a.m. But that is a story for another time.

The Girl from Mix

On one particular night, I made my way down to the end of Walking Street to a club called Mix. I met a girl there and bought her a drink. No words were spoken. We danced. We had a drink. She returned with me to my place.

The next day, she mentioned something about needing money to send back to her family you know the routine.

Later the next evening, I was walking back down to Mix, but I saw this girl with another guy. He was buying her a hat. So I turned around and went into a live music bar. I texted her and said that the hat was quite nice. She texted back about having to send back money to her family you know their script.

I decided that I didn’t want this type of relationship while in Pattaya. I needed to figure out Pattaya a bit better. It took a while to get used to it, and I can’t say that I was ever fully comfortable but I had five weeks to spend.

After the night at Mix, I spent the next two days just walking around and seeing what was going on for myself. My favorite part of that time was listening to the various bands playing in all the clubs. I would often stand outside and look and listen.

Wonder Woman

After another day, I found one place where the bands were very good, and so I decided I would sit on an outside stool, watch the band, and watch the people. Directly across from the live music bar was a gentleman’s club a gentleman’s type bar club. It was all red. I think it may have been called Red Square I do not remember exactly. I don’t even remember the name of the live music bar I was in.

Anyway, one night there was a girl who was carrying a sign and trying to entice people to come in and have a drink. She was stunning. She wore an outfit that I can only describe as a Wonder Woman look alike costume. I told the guy at the music bar, “Look at her she’s Wonder Woman.” He laughed and agreed.

By the fourth or fifth night, the guy at the rock bar knew me and we would chat about Walking Street. I had worked with bands back in my home country, so I suppose I just got along with people at music venues.

Speaking of mini stories from Walking Street: on one occasion, I had gone to an open air beer bar with a go go dancer, and I played the girl in a bar game. I didn’t understand the game, and so I didn’t pay attention. Later, when the bill arrived, I realized I should have been paying more attention, as there were a few more drinks added to the bill because a girl had won every game. To this day, if a girl brings out a little box with dice in them, I run a mile.

Talking with Wonder Woman (Ratner)

Around the fifth day, I decided to go over and try to speak with Wonder Woman. It was early in the evening there weren’t any customers in the club yet, just me. So we went to the back of the room and looked at the sliding doors over the water. She wanted to eat something, so we went through those doors and out to the back of the building. There was a small area with a wooden table it was clearly for employees and not customers.

We talked about everything under the stars. We saw a shooting star and some other lights that we could not explain. We talked for nearly an hour about aliens and whether there was life on other planets.

The bar manager came out and told Ratner (Wonder Woman I knew now knew her name) that she had to come back in. She didn’t want to, so I ordered another drink and that gave us some more time.

This place was kind of odd. It was a very big room, but there were only maybe a dozen girls, and sometimes the girls would dance on small stages. Ratner didn’t like working there. It turns out she had started the night I first saw her in the street trying to get people to come into the venue.

The next evening I returned, and for several nights Ratner and I would go to a small room that was in the back and up half a flight of stairs. This room was somewhat secretive I couldn’t tell which establishment it belonged to. For several nights, no one came there, and we had the table all to ourselves.

The Five Drink Minimum

You may ask yourself: how is this possible that I could take this beautiful girl away from the bar and not have the manager come calling? Well, that is indeed curious, but what I learned on the first night was that Ratner had a five drink minimum for her shift. So when I arrived, I would buy those drinks outright.

Ratner also had a continuous relationship with the bar manager a woman. It would take me a long time to explain, but basically Ratner didn’t like being there and she wouldn’t listen to anyone at the bar.

One time a few days in, the manager got her to start dancing. Afterwards, a guy came up, pulled her onto his lap, and started getting fresh touching her up. She pushed the guy into the sofa, grabbed her stuff, and went to a back room (which I guess was a dressing room).

At this point, one of the other girls from the bar and the manager came to me and kind of told me that Ratner was having difficulty adjusting to life in Pattaya. Ratner came out and sat with me for the rest of the night. She refused to go with anyone else.

Based on what I had seen, I understood why. Ratner gave me her LINE app number and thanked me for being there that night.

Spending Time with Ratner

The next day, Ratner and I started hanging out. She would send money to her family from what she’d made on previous nights. Ratner’s English was improving, but she didn’t like it when we walked around. She liked to be in one place and not move around.

I was quite a few years older than Ratner, which embarrassed her a little when walking around the stares we got from other people, especially Western foreign women with their foreign husbands. They always seemed to have a disapproving look about them when they saw us together. It did not bother me, but it did Ratner even though this is common in Pattaya to see an older guy with a younger girl. (I should mention that I look young for my age our age gap wasn’t a massive difference, as is sometimes seen in Pattaya.)

I did everything with Ratner, and in time she became much more relaxed when we were together. This may sound odd, but we protected each other from Pattaya.

One day she went for Thai kickboxing lessons because she wanted to learn how to defend herself. She never forgot the night the guy manhandled her and tried to drag her onto the sofa. I thought this was all very funny because, after all, this was a gentleman’s club and this is what happens. Thinking back, I probably wasn’t helping the situation because I gave Ratner an excuse to spend her nights shooting pool and drinking rather than dancing for customers and earning money.

At one of the boxing lessons, there were two farangs (foreigners) there. One asked me if she was my girlfriend. I said no we were just friends. And that was true. I’d never spent the night with Ratner we just hung out like old friends.

I could kick myself today, but this is how things carried on with us, and I had to believe it was the way things were supposed to be. Sometimes when you try to push for something, it doesn’t work out and so I never pushed. I was having a good time with Ratner.

From everything that I witnessed, Ratner was taking care of herself. Remember this part of the story, because it will play a role later on.

Ratner was gorgeous when she dressed up. No other girl came close to her. I know people may have a tough time deciding because beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but let me just say this: she was a 10 out of 10. She also had the feistiness of a village girl and so never carried herself in the way that a stunning 10 who had been in the game for a few years might do.

Ratner has a small scar. She told me how she got that scar, along with many other stories. In the period of a week, I knew all about Ratner’s life. She knew some of mine also.

The Rooftop Bar

There was an opening for a job at a rooftop bar called CMCM. Ratner was hired, along with some other girls, to show up and mingle with the customers. I went along and met Ratner there, and while I was busy chatting with some other partygoers, I saw one of the guys who had been at the gym when Ratner and I were at the gym.

It made sense any guy who could get a few minutes to talk to Ratner would have been smitten from the offset. I didn’t think she would have spoken to that guy if I hadn’t been with her at the gym. My presence allowed her to let her guard down a bit. It’s hard to explain, but remember that Ratner didn’t like Pattaya and all the guys she met only wanted one thing.

I spent my remaining time in Pattaya with Ratner.

Luang: The Afternoon Girl

But after the fourth week, I met another girl while walking outside the mall one morning. She was called Luang. As Ratner liked to sleep late I wouldn’t hear from her until 7 p.m. or so, when we would go out to eat together I was able to meet Luang in the afternoons.

Luang was also a stunner an 8 pushing 9 but she had been in Pattaya for over a year. She had her own scooter, and she worked in a go go bar at night. I never went to the go go bar (or any other, for that matter). Her afternoons were for herself, so it worked out nicely for the both of us.

I tried to get Luang to be my girlfriend, but she laughed and said she enjoyed her life and didn’t want to change a thing. Luang came every time I called her within 20 minutes. I didn’t know it then, but it turns out that this is a rarity. She never asked for anything, but I always compensated her for her time. I had learned from the Mix girl that there is an expectation.

I know people go to Pattaya for different reasons. Some may go to see the sites, others to be a two week millionaire. Some just want to drink and shoot pool. Others may like to go on a boat trip to the islands. For guys, there is always the option of dating a lady. I never bar fined on that first trip I didn’t need to. There was enough going on to keep me entertained that I never had to directly do that.

In a way, I now realize that Ratner saved me a lot of money. But at the same time, Luang was a substitute for Ratner.

After I left Pattaya, I only exchanged one or two messages with Ratner over LINE. I exchanged more with Luang but after two or three years, all communication had ceased.

Six Years Later

Flash forward six years. Luang is married to a farang. She said goodbye to me online just before she changed her number. She remembered me from six years prior we had spent only just a week together in the afternoons but she remembered me asking her to be my girlfriend.

I said, “Wait a minute you said you would never settle down and that you liked your way of life.” Well, six years on, and she’s changed her tune.

I think a lot in life has to do with timing. If I had met Luang three or four years later from when I did, my guess is that we would have had more time together. I would never know for sure.

And what about the girl at the center of the story Ratner? I bet that is what the viewers would like to know. Now, what happened to her?

Ratner is also married to one of the guys who was having a Thai boxing lesson just before her. I only know this because during our time together she had shared with me her social media, and last year before a return trip to Pattaya I looked her up. (I guess she forgot to block me.)

Anyway, she now has two kids. I won’t message her she deserves her new life, and I hope the guy will treat her right. But that is it out of my hands.

I will never forget my vacation, which was essentially spent almost entirely with Ratner all those years ago.

And that’s from Craig (which obviously have changed his name).

Story 2 Motorway Pileup on Sai

Okay, let’s get straight into this second story now. And as I said at the beginning you guys who like the car crash stories, you’re in for a treat. As I said also, this isn’t a car crash it’s a motorway pileup. It really is.

The guy who sent me this email I’ve had a few emails back and forth yesterday and today. When he sent this originally, I know it’s totally true he sent me probably half a dozen photographs of injuries, which I’ve seen in the photographs. I don’t want to give too much of it away. It’s a short story, but this is shocking.

So let me just begin.

I met my ex girlfriend through a friend in 2009. I took trips to Thailand to go and visit her. I went to the UK to work. Then in 2010, I got married and sorted out a settlement visa for my girlfriend. Sai came to the UK and appeared to be content, lived happily while I went out to work.

As time went by, Sai was pregnant with my son, who was born in Worthing Manor Hospital. Everything was looking up. I now had a lovely new family or so it seemed.

Sai had never drunk alcohol before. She never went out partying or bothered with other Thai girls living in the area. I was good at making money I can’t fault her for that. And believe it or not, she even set up a little business buying and selling car trailers, which did quite well.

Eventually, Sai passed all of the exams here to get her UK citizenship, passport, etc.

Her mood then changed towards me. It went from bad to worse. She put so much time and expense into making things work not only for yourself but more importantly for them. It was heartbreaking.

The demands started. She wanted money and big money. She threatened to take my son back to Thailand, and I would never see him again.

I kept all this to myself and didn’t involve my family. I wasn’t about to lose my son under any circumstances. So I started saving money to keep my son with me in the UK.

Sai was extremely cunning. She wanted money sent over to her bank account in Thailand so that she bypassed any problems here in the UK. We flew out to Thailand. She wanted land, gold, cash all the normal things that the girls ask for. She used my son as leverage to scare me into giving her everything she wanted.

As if things couldn’t get any worse I was in our new house, and she wanted me out. I wouldn’t leave without my son. The windows were smashed twice in the middle of the night to try to intimidate me and get me to move out of the house. It didn’t work.

Then the violence came about as you can see in the photos. I stood my ground and did not back down. I was worried with what was to come, as you know they have a pack mentality which carries through to fights.

I still had my pickup truck, so I decided I would sleep in my truck outside our local 7 Eleven for a while as anything was better than returning home to her violence. I’m not the kind of man that would lay a hand on a woman it’s just not right.

I returned home to pick up my son to a barrage of violence and abuse. I did my best for him.

Eventually, I met a girl just by chance through Facebook who is a shift leader in Tesco’s. This fantastic girl helped me as you can imagine, it was a nightmare.

The Family Court

I met an English guy here in Thailand with his wife. I told him my story. He said, “Go to the family court.” I was worried about doing this as I thought it would cost big money. However, I went to the family court in Nakhon Nayok and met a man Mr. Smithy. He was my savior. All the court people were fantastic.

I asked him what it would cost me. His reply was: “Nothing. Not a single baht.” I was dumbfounded at his reply. It cost me 800 baht for paperwork but that’s it.

So the court served Sai with paperwork. She turned up at court I guess she thought, as she was Thai and I was a foreigner, there was no way she could lose the case.

I had photographs taken off Facebook of her drunk, drinking, and partying which did not impress the court. I also proved that she had no contact with her son for months, which she denied.

The court granted 50/50 custody. The court also ruled that I should be allowed to take my son to the UK for family visits.

I am guessing that there are many, many guys out there in a similar situation. Don’t give up, and don’t assume you will automatically lose a court case because you are a foreigner in Thailand. I am proof that it is possible to win your case. So don’t give up go to the family court if you have similar problems in Thailand.

Currently, my son and I are living with my new girlfriend, who works hard, does not drink, and takes good care of my son as if he was her own. She has no kids, and she is younger than me however, she just wanted to help.

The months of abuse from Sai and her family all came to a head back then, and she cleaned me out of most of my money but I still had my son. We flew back into Heathrow in October 2020.

Sai has not attempted to contact our son which is fine by me.

I have since heard that Sai is now a fully fledged alcoholic, living for free in her mom’s house. Apparently, she has sold everything the house, its contents, my truck, and just about everything else she had owned (which I had provided for her) and most of the money has been lost to gambling and heavy drinking.

I spent 10 years with Sai. I’m not a Thai newbie and in fact, I can speak a fairly decent level of Thai. It’s like a bad dream. How can a girl turn your world upside down and ruin your life?

My new girlfriend calls me every day to speak to my son. She works extremely hard as a shift leader. She never asked me for anything. My son is now in school here in the UK he’s doing really well, and he is also fluent in English and Thai.

This experience has affected me greatly. It makes me feel extremely bitter inside. How can a girl who I loved and gave everything to be so cold and try to take my son? Really, she has no heart.

Life is back to normal now, kind of, anyway. I’m sure when my son grows up, he will ask about his mother. What do I tell him? I’m not looking forward to that day.

My Thoughts on This Story

So that’s quite a grisly story, isn’t it? I’ve come across stories like this several times in the past, and they’re not as common as you might think. But I’ve also found that a number of cases have been won in the Thai courts now. It used to be that you had no chance if you’re a foreigner against a Thai very, very slim. But it seems now that there are more and more people winning these kinds of cases.

I’ve been emailing this guy he sent me some emails, and I was asking him some questions. What he didn’t say in this story but he told me in other emails I mean, he got stabbed in the foot. He had a brother or somebody point a gun at his head. And he just ignored everything because his attitude was kind of: if I go without my son, there’s no point in being alive anyway. And he just stood up to it.

I’m really happy it worked out for him. I hope his son does well he’s in school, as he said. Well done to him.

Story 3 Terrifying Night in Pattaya

Okay, let’s lighten up the mood a little bit. That was quite a depressing story it’s important that it’s told just so you can see the sort of thing that goes on with some people. But as I say, let’s lighten the mood a little bit, because I was starting to get a little bit depressed there.

I’ll jump straight into this third story, which is a short story. Again, it’s no highlights it’s just an experience of a guy who went to Pattaya, but quite a nice little story.

Hi Peter,

I come from a middle class family. While growing up, I had many ambitions to achieve in the future. One of my dreams was to visit Thailand because when I was a teenager, I saw a documentary on the Discovery Channel about the lifestyle and the girls in Thailand. I was so amazed by it all.

Anyway, at the age of 20, I was already in a serious relationship which lasted six years. When I broke up, I went straight into another relationship immediately in order not to remember and suffer from my last breakup. It was a big mistake, because I didn’t know at the time that this new girlfriend was suffering from mental depression. I tried my best to support her but realized it’s difficult to handle the situation.

At that time, I was having a hard time at work myself. One day, sitting together with her elder sister, we decided to end it. After this relationship, I was much more mature and I decided to spend some time alone.

One day while having a beer at home, I just remembered that documentary about Thailand. I don’t know why, but I immediately applied for 10 days’ leave from work and booked a ticket to Bangkok.

During my 10 day trip to Bangkok, I really enjoyed it. I spent well over my budget, and I made many rookie mistakes like I didn’t know that some of the girls were actually ladyboys. I was overcharged by drivers, charged for drinks I did not have, etc., etc. But it’s all a learning curve.

I think most people understand that if it’s your first time in Thailand, you are likely to get ripped off. But I never argued with anyone I just put it down to a learning curve and moved on. I am there to have a good time, not to get involved in verbal fights. I understand that before you come to Thailand, everyone should do their research to make their trip much easier and fun.

After coming back home, I worked another six months, saved money, and did intense research on the internet. This time I was even more excited to go back to Thailand because I’d learned a lot from the research I had done and one place I should visit was definitely Pattaya.

This time I booked a flight which landed in the day (not at night like the last time). At Bangkok International Airport, I took a bus from Gate 8 to save on the taxi, and I headed to Pattaya. My hotel was booked on Beach Road, close to the action. It was also close to Terminal 21, which I had discovered had a good food court plenty of food and it was cheap.

I also had a phone number of a freelancer who my friend knew and had given to me to share with me in Pattaya. Before arriving in Pattaya, I spoke to this freelancer on the LINE app and asked her if she could show me around Pattaya on my first day. I told her that I would pay her for her time.

When I arrived in Pattaya, she invited me first to her apartment to have some food and later to go out. I took a motorbike taxi in the evening. She gave her address to the motorbike taxi guy over the phone, and off we went to her place. When I reached her apartment, there was another lady there who was constantly talking with someone on the phone. I really enjoyed the food she made and drank some Thai whiskey, which I saw for the first time in my life.

She made my first evening in Pattaya amazing. I found that my research was correct regarding locations. One week passed within the blink of an eye.

The Girl from the Clothing Store

One day I went to Terminal 21 for lunch and decided to buy a t shirt in a clothing store nearby. I met a stunning girl who was working in the store. She was very nice to me while looking around. I just couldn’t stop myself and told her that she’s beautiful and is it possible to ask her to join me one evening for drinks or even dinner?

First off, she just laughed and acted very shy. But then we shared the LINE app, and we both decided to meet up in the evening. When I asked her where we should meet, she said near Ibar (that’s on Walking Street) because she wanted to eat salmon.

When she turned up later that evening in different clothes, I can’t explain how pretty she looked. We had dinner, and later we went to Lucifer’s bar to carry on the evening. After a few drinks, she became so happy, dancing and enjoying herself.

At about 3 a.m., we decided to leave. When we were leaving, I didn’t ask her if she wanted to come to my room, neither did she say that she wanted to go back to her room. We eventually ended up in my hotel room for more drinks.

On the way to the hotel, she told me that she liked a bag in the mall and would I give her 5,000 baht to pay for it? I just ignored the question because she was drunk but in a nice, happy way.

Back at my hotel room, I was smoking on the balcony. She came out and told me she wanted to smoke as well. I wanted to go back in the room because she was talking very loudly, and I thought I would get a complaint from the other rooms.

The time came to eventually go to bed. Although this girl was a stunner, I was totally turned off her as she kept saying over and over, “Do you really like me?” It was totally getting on my nerves. I just kept telling her, “Let’s just sleep now I’m tired.”

I think I only slept for about 30 40 minutes when I woke up and saw she was not in bed. I looked around but didn’t see her. I went out to the balcony and got the shock of my life. She was sitting balancing on the balcony railing drunk and swaying and we were on the third floor.

My mood just went out the window. I got a grip and tried not to panic, as I have had similar experiences with another girlfriend back home. I took it slow, walked over to her, put my arm around her waist so at least if she slipped, I had hold of her. She did not react. I just whispered, “What are you doing out here? It’s not safe. Come back inside with me.”

Then she says again, “Tell me you really like me.” For God’s sake. I said, “Yes, babe, I like you. Now let’s go inside.”

We went back to bed, but I couldn’t sleep again thinking she might try this again. I had visions of me being led off in handcuffs and the headline in the local newspaper saying, “Foreigner pushes young Thai girl off balcony.”

At around 7 a.m., she started hugging me and touching me. Honestly, I was not expecting any physical contact from her I just wanted her to leave. But at the end of the day, I’m a man, right? We had a good “aerobic session,” and we both fell asleep.

We woke up again at about 1 p.m. She started to get dressed in a hurry because she said she would be late for work. I was relieved when she left because she seemed slightly unstable to me. I don’t know how to explain it but if you don’t know how to handle and deal with and take care of people with mental depression or any other issues, stay away, as you can actually cause them more emotional pain.

She kept messaging me, so I avoided her by telling her that I have another friend in Pattaya with whom I have plans.

Just before leaving Pattaya on my last day, I went to Terminal 21, bought her a nice leather handbag, went to her shop, and gave it to her. She wasn’t too impressed with the bag and showed no emotion at all. To be fair, I think I had disappointed her by not meeting her again either that, or she was disappointed as it was not an expensive designer handbag.