Sin City

Tim's last day before returning to work -we decided to venture down Beach Road.  This route is always an assault on the senses - people and their wares squeezed into every nook and cranny, a cacophony of music from various bars blasting out into the street, and the smells, the smells, I don't know if I will ever get used to the smells - food, garbage, bodies, and the occasional sweet smell of flowers or incense from the spirit houses along the way.  The spirit houses are mini shrines erected wherever the "spirit" moves, with offerings of food, flowers and incense piled on each.  I saw one shrine that had three pop(?) bottles lined up with straws angled toward the Buddha in case he should become thirsty.  These shrines appear to be permanent fixtures, and the locations are not just on private property, but on many business and public properties as well.   One stands at the entrance of our hotel.  They are all quite elaborate and are even lit up at night.  From Wikipedia:

• spirit house or san phra phum (Thai: ศาลพระภูมิ) is a shrine to the protective spirit of a place that is found in the Southeast Asian countries of Burma, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand. Most houses and businesses have a spirit house placed in an auspicious spot, most often in a corner of the property. The location may be chosen after consultation with a Brahmin priest. The spirit house is normally in the form of a miniature house or temple, and is mounted on a pillar or on a dais.
• The house is intended to provide a shelter for spirits that could cause problems for the people if not appeased. The shrines often include images of people and animals. Votive offerings are left at the house to propitiate the spirits. More elaborate installations include an altar for this purpose.

courtesy of examiner.com

We walked to Central Festival, a large, six-story mall in the center of Pattaya, intending to see the movie, "Interstellar."   When we entered the mall, a large crowd had gathered in the center, and loud, bass-thumping music was playing.  A Victoria's Secret-style fashion show was taking place right there in the middle of everything!  On all six levels of the mall, men were craning their necks to get a view of the sexy models in their various states of undress.  Little children were playing and dancing in front of the stage - definitely not in Kansas anymore!

When we finally made our way to the theater, "Interstellar" was only showing in the "first class" theater, where, for the equivalent of about $20, you can arrive an hour early and enjoy free drinks and snacks.  Since we missed that window, we decided to see "Gone Girl" instead.  When we bought our tickets, the girl presented us with a seating chart and asked us to select our seats.  It was funny because the theater was only about 20% full, but we dutifully found our assigned seats and waited for the movie to begin.  After about twenty minutes of trailers, we were commanded to rise for the King's Anthem, which included a lovely montage of pictures of the beloved king over the years.  We dutifully stood, happy to respect the local customs, but I wonder what would happen if someone didn't stand?

"Gone Girl" was a psychological thriller with some good plot twists which still surprised me, as it had been a while since I read the book.  On our way out of the theater, we ran into Tim's new boss and his wife.  I couldn't have imagined running into anyone we knew here - that never even happens when we go to the movies in Michigan!

Next up, we decided to finally go and check out "Walking Street," a street in the south end of Pattaya that is closed to traffic every evening, and becomes a red light district/entertainment venue.  Even before reaching the street, the working girls were out in great numbers - there seemed to be one every five feet, and this is not an exaggeration!  I know Thai culture has very different views on the trade, but I found it very dispiriting to see so many young girls sacrificing themselves - hard for this Polyanna to process.  Walking Street is basically bar after bar with girls out front trying to coax people to come inside (I say "people" because they didn't seem to discriminate between men and women).  Many had clever themes to distinguish themselves - one had all the girls dressed as stewardesses, for example.  Occasionally there was a place selling something other than women - one bar had a boxing match going on inside, and crowds gathered along the street to watch.  Needless to say, it was quite a heady experience.  (Double entendres not intended but recognized!)

After all that walking, we decided to give the baht buses a try - these are basically pick-up trucks that have been retrofitted with seats and roofs in the back.  They make constant circuits of the streets in Pattaya, tooting their horn at foreigners to coax them aboard.  For ten baht (about thirty cents) you can ride from one end of town to the other, pushing a buzzer when you want to get off.  They cram 15 or so people in these things, including 3 or 4 that just stand on a platform on the back.

courtesy of inpattayanow.com

We wound up eating at the restaurant in our hotel, where several people were salsa dancing!  (Mike, where are you when I need you?)  The dancers were many different nationalities and ages, and it seemed like many of them knew each other, from a class perhaps?  It was quite entertaining to watch; then we danced ourselves back to the room...