Our final destination to complete our mini tour of Thailand is Pattaya, on the coast of the Gulf of Thailand. It started as a small fishing village for beachside relaxation that has become a big travel hotspot for its incredible beaches and other... Perks I guess you could say. Ill start with our stops that were on our way to pattaya, like the Spiracha Tiger Zoo.
The tiger zoo we visited is apparently the largest in Thailand. This fact only further depressed me because it being the largest and being a stop on our tour means its probably the nicest, and I would prefer to not even imagine how the smaller less funded tiger zoos are maintained. It started out promising, walking in and immediately getting the opportunity to feed baby tigers. Incredibly adorable and soft fur! Then we went further in and you see many baby tigers in individual cages, and other animals chained to the wall for photo opportunities, like deer, horses. And an arangatang which had to be sedated as he sat on a bench free of any restraints to take photos. We had tickets to see the crocodile, elephant, and tiger show. The crocodile show was nerve racking, heads placed within crocodile mouths and everything. Then the tiger show had about 10 200lb tigers sedated and cowering in fear of a 100lb female Thai trainer with a simple metal switch.. Ears drawn back in fear throughout the show.. It was awful. Jumped through fire hoops and made different formations. I've never seen a tiger show in the states, but I want to know if there's any difference, or if they truly always are that depressing. After this show we all felt ready to get out of there, we still had the elephant show though. Which was a little better, only some of the trainers used their hooks. The elephants walked on tight ropes, threw darts, skipped, and other feats. After this we all pretty much bolted out of there, and needles to say it was on all of our recommendation cards to not include this stop in future tours, and I'll be doing more research on these zoos, and the elephant camps while I'm at it!
Next stop was to the Gem Discovery Exhibit, which I joked about and was dreading. However it was awesome! We started with a ride that went through an interactive exhibit of how gems and stones are formed, then got to see actual workers working and constructing and cleaning the stones to jewelry, then to the massive showroom. I never understood much about gems and jewelry but now can say I appreciate them and the different carats, cuts, etc. Many people bought jewelry there, pretty cheap prices when it's in the Thai baht!
Then we checked into our hotel. Again, ridiculously nice. Of course they publicize that Brad and Angelina Jolie stayed there while vacationing. It's just outside the downtown city, right on the ocean, with numerous pools, spa, etc. I got a manicure and pedicure for 500 baht, which is $15, crazy!
Once we checked in we went outside the hotel and first off got a Thai massage. They advertise for them everywhere, 1 hour for $200 baht! Which is about 6.50.. Soo we go in, order two massages, and wouldn't you know it, Nick gets a Thai ladyboy as his masseuse!
I should preface this with the knowledge that Pattaya is known for their ladyboy population, men that cross dress and are either surgically or non surgically changed to ladies. Sometimes they are hard to distinguish, our tour guide Audi gave us some pointers, such as since Thai people do not have large Adams apples so this is not a good indicator, their indicators are their hands, fake boobs (Thai and Asians do not usually get implants, so implants indicate a ladyboy) and their id's say Mr. (There is actually some debate in Thailand regarding ladyboy rights currently, they are striving to have the ability to change their id's to say "ms." instead of "mr." but no success yet)
So we lay down for our massages, and nick looks at me nervously. I hear our masseuses laugh and there is definitely a deeper tone laugh. I take a second look and can tell immediately now by his jaw line and body shape that yes, this is in fact a ladyboy. Very very funny. I almost cry im laughing so hard, I can't face nick throughout the massage to see this go down. But it was an amazing massage, they can be pretty rough! They contort your body and force stretches, I actually just discovered a bruise on my triceps from it. So after this, we head back to the hotel to meet up with some friends before hopping a cab to the city center to go down "Walking Street".
We knew from our research before leaving that Pattaya is a city known for its prostitution. Specifically "walking street". So we were expecting something like a red light district, similar to some places in Europe. Over the next 2 nights we discovered how unavoidable and blatant the sex trade is in this city. It become popular for prostitution from war veterans after Vietnam, as a site for veterans to travel for some r&r and has exploded since then. The crazy thing is, it's solely based on tourism. If the city did not have the tourism, it simply wouldn't not be occurring. The road along the beach where there is usually food sales, and other small beachside shopping is lined with women and ladyboys lined up. Literally ages 14 or so to 55. The only difference between the regular city and walking street is how aggressive the prostitutes are, cat calling and soliciting buyers. Absolutely incredible. I won't go into it much more, but unlike anything I've ever seen or will see. The following day we went shopping in the city, and even during the day you see people with their hired company, one or multiple, out at malls restaurants or wherever. It's disconcerting, you can't pin who are real couples, who are just biracial couples traveling, if its a man with their younger daughter or relative, and what gender is what at times. Many of the blatant obvious are the older white men (strangely mostly Australian) with their young ladies (and I mean young, sometimes appearing 14-15). As it was explained to us, many of these women are Thai girls who travel to the city to make money to send back to their poorer family, sometimes lying about where they are and their profession. Many return home after years of work and live out their life as a normal woman raising a family and marrying. Just a means to an end. A job so profitable that men will become ladyboys to work in this way. Crazy. I will stop here. Important to never forget and appreciate opportunities given to you. The things we take as basic rights in the US can really be privileges we have been given.
Needless to say, my mood definitely soured the longer we were out at night in this city, and Pattaya is not on my list of places to return to. But life is full of unpleasant things and you can't just pretend they don't exist. Part of traveling is to see and experience good and bad, to get a better global perspective.
The tiger zoo we visited is apparently the largest in Thailand. This fact only further depressed me because it being the largest and being a stop on our tour means its probably the nicest, and I would prefer to not even imagine how the smaller less funded tiger zoos are maintained. It started out promising, walking in and immediately getting the opportunity to feed baby tigers. Incredibly adorable and soft fur! Then we went further in and you see many baby tigers in individual cages, and other animals chained to the wall for photo opportunities, like deer, horses. And an arangatang which had to be sedated as he sat on a bench free of any restraints to take photos. We had tickets to see the crocodile, elephant, and tiger show. The crocodile show was nerve racking, heads placed within crocodile mouths and everything. Then the tiger show had about 10 200lb tigers sedated and cowering in fear of a 100lb female Thai trainer with a simple metal switch.. Ears drawn back in fear throughout the show.. It was awful. Jumped through fire hoops and made different formations. I've never seen a tiger show in the states, but I want to know if there's any difference, or if they truly always are that depressing. After this show we all felt ready to get out of there, we still had the elephant show though. Which was a little better, only some of the trainers used their hooks. The elephants walked on tight ropes, threw darts, skipped, and other feats. After this we all pretty much bolted out of there, and needles to say it was on all of our recommendation cards to not include this stop in future tours, and I'll be doing more research on these zoos, and the elephant camps while I'm at it!
Next stop was to the Gem Discovery Exhibit, which I joked about and was dreading. However it was awesome! We started with a ride that went through an interactive exhibit of how gems and stones are formed, then got to see actual workers working and constructing and cleaning the stones to jewelry, then to the massive showroom. I never understood much about gems and jewelry but now can say I appreciate them and the different carats, cuts, etc. Many people bought jewelry there, pretty cheap prices when it's in the Thai baht!
Then we checked into our hotel. Again, ridiculously nice. Of course they publicize that Brad and Angelina Jolie stayed there while vacationing. It's just outside the downtown city, right on the ocean, with numerous pools, spa, etc. I got a manicure and pedicure for 500 baht, which is $15, crazy!
Once we checked in we went outside the hotel and first off got a Thai massage. They advertise for them everywhere, 1 hour for $200 baht! Which is about 6.50.. Soo we go in, order two massages, and wouldn't you know it, Nick gets a Thai ladyboy as his masseuse!
I should preface this with the knowledge that Pattaya is known for their ladyboy population, men that cross dress and are either surgically or non surgically changed to ladies. Sometimes they are hard to distinguish, our tour guide Audi gave us some pointers, such as since Thai people do not have large Adams apples so this is not a good indicator, their indicators are their hands, fake boobs (Thai and Asians do not usually get implants, so implants indicate a ladyboy) and their id's say Mr. (There is actually some debate in Thailand regarding ladyboy rights currently, they are striving to have the ability to change their id's to say "ms." instead of "mr." but no success yet)
So we lay down for our massages, and nick looks at me nervously. I hear our masseuses laugh and there is definitely a deeper tone laugh. I take a second look and can tell immediately now by his jaw line and body shape that yes, this is in fact a ladyboy. Very very funny. I almost cry im laughing so hard, I can't face nick throughout the massage to see this go down. But it was an amazing massage, they can be pretty rough! They contort your body and force stretches, I actually just discovered a bruise on my triceps from it. So after this, we head back to the hotel to meet up with some friends before hopping a cab to the city center to go down "Walking Street".
We knew from our research before leaving that Pattaya is a city known for its prostitution. Specifically "walking street". So we were expecting something like a red light district, similar to some places in Europe. Over the next 2 nights we discovered how unavoidable and blatant the sex trade is in this city. It become popular for prostitution from war veterans after Vietnam, as a site for veterans to travel for some r&r and has exploded since then. The crazy thing is, it's solely based on tourism. If the city did not have the tourism, it simply wouldn't not be occurring. The road along the beach where there is usually food sales, and other small beachside shopping is lined with women and ladyboys lined up. Literally ages 14 or so to 55. The only difference between the regular city and walking street is how aggressive the prostitutes are, cat calling and soliciting buyers. Absolutely incredible. I won't go into it much more, but unlike anything I've ever seen or will see. The following day we went shopping in the city, and even during the day you see people with their hired company, one or multiple, out at malls restaurants or wherever. It's disconcerting, you can't pin who are real couples, who are just biracial couples traveling, if its a man with their younger daughter or relative, and what gender is what at times. Many of the blatant obvious are the older white men (strangely mostly Australian) with their young ladies (and I mean young, sometimes appearing 14-15). As it was explained to us, many of these women are Thai girls who travel to the city to make money to send back to their poorer family, sometimes lying about where they are and their profession. Many return home after years of work and live out their life as a normal woman raising a family and marrying. Just a means to an end. A job so profitable that men will become ladyboys to work in this way. Crazy. I will stop here. Important to never forget and appreciate opportunities given to you. The things we take as basic rights in the US can really be privileges we have been given.
Needless to say, my mood definitely soured the longer we were out at night in this city, and Pattaya is not on my list of places to return to. But life is full of unpleasant things and you can't just pretend they don't exist. Part of traveling is to see and experience good and bad, to get a better global perspective.
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