Saturday April 17th….Day 4
Well, I slept well last night, saw Mod off after a breakfast at Das Berliner, a couple of doors down from the hotel. This is a fairly good German Restaurant. As a raving fan of Schnitzel (both Jaeger and Wein Style), I really enjoyed the food here. It is not at all a fancy place, and has not view at all, but for a good meal, it is a nice stop.
Called Bahtman, and we met to go to the Mall. I think it was called the Royal Garden. It fills a block between Beach Road and 2nd Road. Nice, modern full coverage mall. Air conditioning was a bit of a shock coming in out of the oppressive heat soaking wet from Songkran. Bahtman and I intentionally stayed out of a lot of air conditioned places during Songkran as you are generally soaked from Head to toe and the A/C freezes you solid when you walk into it.
Mall pics:
I was able to procure a cell phone here and the appropriate Sym chip. At last, I had a phone and could communicate with friends over here from somewhere other than the hotel!
We parted ways for a while, and I went back over to Lólita's for the daily BJ. Today I only took Rin Held off to the last and really unloaded on the poor girl. Got another stamp (it is actually a manager’s initials) on my FCC.
Early afternoon, Bahtman and I went down to walk the Soi 6-8 area. Songkran was in full force here. Also there seemed to be an incredible number of Lady Boy’s here. I was a little bit paranoid about this. Someone on this board made the observation that the most beautiful women in Thailand are men. I found that in many cases this was true. They have definitely refined the process to an art form here.
Here are some of the sights on the Soi’s:
Everyone had giant 55 gal. Barrels full of water. Water trucks came by every once and a while to fill them for those who did not have a hose running into theirs. Other trucks came by selling huge blocks of Ice. These were the worst as the water they were shooting at you was freezing and most unpleasant.
A little side note here. I was talking to a local Falong, who explained that the government is finally trying to reign in the Songkran activities as the holiday was causing several serious problems. One is that it happens during the dry season, and several times during Songkran, the towns will run out of water pressure as the partiers use it all at a speed that exceeds the water departments ability to supply it. The second, more serious problem is that although it is against the law to shoot water into the face of a bike rider, approximately 150 people die every year from having a bucket of water hit them in the face and causing fatal accidents. I did notice that the worst offenders of this were the Falong. These people really angered me as they were not celebrating the Thai new year, but rather were using Songkran as an excuse to be unmitigated assholes. I saw many of them shooting old ladies, children, even a guy in a wheelchair.
This was infuriating and I had more than one confrontation with these lowlifes.
Anyway, I digress….back to the story J
After Bahtman and I went our ways, I stopped off for a bite to eat and headed down to Walking Street. Checked out Peppermint Patty’s. A bit slow, some lookers, but it was still early. Went over to The Dollhouse. There were mixed quality girls in here. A couple 7 -8, but mostly 4-5’s. I did notice however, that this place had a really nice clean and pleasant smelling restroom, something I found uncommon there. Also noticed that the girls really liked chasing after the 20bt ping pong balls. You would think they were made of gold they worked so hard to get them. It was funny.
Went to Soi 8 again and stumbled onto Bahtman charming yet another fresh flower of Asia (naughty man). While we were sitting there entertaining the girls with the silliest of humors, I saw an absolutely smoking’ babe playing pool in the back. She was nearly flawless……too flawless. I looked at Bahtman. Lady Boy, I asked? Yes, he replied. Major bummer.
As the bars began to close, Bahtman made his way off with his little hottie. The gal I had been entertaining, was really nice, but just didn’t turn my crank, so, much to the Mamasan’s dismay, I did not BF her, but instead headed to a Bar called The Bodega. Here I found that things were still going! I struck up a conversation with a gal named Noi. She was about a 7, and had a great smile. She also was a great kisses, which is big on my scale, so I paid the 300 bt BF and we headed back to the Dynasty. It was a most enjoyable session. Pretty good BBBJ, and although I have to be in the mood for it, turned out to be a great 3 holer, tight in all places! We sessioned only once that night as I was fairly tired, sat in the smallish bath tub together for a nice caressing massage (I had a couple of candles and we put some music on the TV since my laptop went poof). It was great. I was awakened in the morning to another BBBJ, with CIM. We showered, had a 95 bt breakfast at the hotel across the street and she was on her way. This is the lame part. I was enjoying myself so much I completely forgot to even try for pics. She is one of the few that would probably have allowed me to take some…..arghh!
A couple of observations about Thailand at his point in the trip. I am a man who is virtually never intimidated by anyone or anything. However, I found myself quite intimidated by my complete inability to communicate here. This has never caused my a problem in any other country. I think it is that SEA is so completely different than any place I have ever been before. The people are very friendly, the cities are modern and although they have some unusual modes of transportation, I found that given the layout in Pattaya, for example, the systems for transportation are actually quite logical and provide exemplary service to the people. I did notice, that the Transportation systems are skewed toward the major arterials, and that if you are going more than a couple of blocks off a main track, you had to negotiate a fee with a Tuk Tuk or find a cab who would actually use their meter.
I have found the Tai people to a culture steeped in tradition. Every time a girl would step on the stage in an a-go-go for example, they would turn ever so slightly to face the ever present Buddha shrine in the corner, up near the ceiling and Wei the shrine. It struck me as a little funny to go through this ritual as you step on stage to attempt to get a man to take you away and pay you for sex. I read that there are over 13,000 Wats in Thailand, a country barely twice the size of the state of Wyoming. It has along and illustrious history. “A unified Thai kingdom was established in the mid-14th century. Known as Siam until 1939, Thailand is the only Southeast Asian country never to have been taken over by a European power. A bloodless revolution in 1932 led to a constitutional monarchy. In alliance with Japan during World War II, Thailand became a US ally following the conflict. Thailand is currently facing armed violence in its three Muslim-majority southernmost provinces“ (CIA fact book).
At the end of World War two, the office of the OSS (the precursor to the CIA), sent an American by the name of Jim Thompson over to BKK. After leaving the service, he opened a silk manufacturing company. The Thai’s tribute him with single handedly reviving the Silk industry in Thailand, and opening Thailand back up to the western world. He became a social celebrity in Thailand, and was elevated to almost mystical status when he suddenly disappeared on a hiking trip up north somewhere. Neither he nor any of his personal effect have ever been found. It is one of Thailand’s most popular conspiracy stories as they seem to feel that the CIA was responsible. His estate was left to the State and is now a fabulous museum. I will post picks later in the report when it is chronologically accurate.
Unlike his portrayal in the movie “The King and I”, this King of old Siam was actually responsible for opening trade to Europe while remaining completely free of Foreign rule. This is completely unique for countries in the region. As I sat on this morning sipping coffee at Starbucks and looking out over the beach, I reflected on these points. I began to see how the people of this region had evolved into the culture they are, and I found a great deal of respect growing within me for such a sturdy culture, that has not lost all of it’s roots, as so many that I have traveled to have.
Gratuitous pic of the daily Starbucks session J
The Beach at Pattaya
More to follow as I get it compiled…
