February 22 -- Exploring Thailand: Pattaya

Today was our first day in port in Thailand. The port we are docked in is called Laem Chabang, and it is clearly a major freight port; cruise ships are an appendage. Here were our first looks at Laem Chabang.

After a leisurely breakfast and morning, about noontime, we decided to go inland and discover a part of Thailand. Our excursion to Bangkok was planned for tomorrow, so essentially today was a free day. We did not want to push ourselves too much, knowing that tomorrow was scheduled to be a long, full day; therefore, we thought we would hire a taxi to take us to a nearby town.

Easier said than done. Turns out the nearest city was called Pattaya ("Pah-TEE-yaah") and it was one way, about an hour and one-half. There were several preset rides -- eight hours sightseeing tour to Pattaya, round trip ride to see the Temple of Truth, and others -- but it was appearing to be impossible to explain that we only wanted to go on a three-hour excursion, we didn't want to walk around a lot, and we needed someone to speak passable English. After several minutes of trying to negotiate this, a woman stepped up and said she would drive us, Her name was Neena, and clearly her use of and understanding of English was much better than that of the other taxis drivers. So off we went with Neena.

She was very engaging, explaining so many things about Pattaya, Thailand, and Thai people. Pattaya is south and east of the port and therefore about four hours from Bangkok. Not that we were tempted to go there, but this difference in distance certainly cured us of any second thoughts we might have entertained. Take a look...

Pattaya has three general areas, South Pattaya, Central Pattaya, and North Pattaya. Once she explained this and drove us through each one, you could clearly see the subtle but noticeable differences. However, I am getting ahead of myself.

Along the way from the port to Pattaya, we were getting our first look at Thailand, and here are some of the views we saw. (I apologize in advance that many of the pictures are not particularly good, as I was trying to capture snippets of scenes while we travelled about 90-110 kph (55-65 mph) down the highway.

(To be continued tomorrow. Time called due to sleep!)

Continuing....

As I said, Pattaya has three neighborhoods -- South, Central, and North. Neena actually began in the north are, but she taking to see general sites in Pattaya, not focusing on neighborhood features. We rode past hotels and shopping areas; Terminal 21 is the major outlet mall. We rode through sections of town, including part of the beach area. She took us up into the hills, first to see the Giant Buddha (below), then to get an overlook of the entire city. Pattaya is definitely a city, not a small town (see also below).

(Approaching the Giant Buddha that is 18 m or 60 ft tall)

(The overlook point of view of Pattaya in panorama)

(The overlook point of view of Pattaya from left to right in three photos)

After the visits to the Giant Buddha and overlook points, we made our way back down to sea level and proceeded through the city from south to north, eventually to head back to the port and ship.

South Pattaya: the prominence of Indian and Muslim businesses is evident. Neena told us that this part of town is inhabited mainly by Indians and those of other south central Asia nations.

Central Pattaya: a mix of Indian, Indonesian, Muslim, Malaysian, Thai and Chinese businesses and residents.

North Pattaya: Overwhelmingly Chinese businesses and residents, including Little Chinatown.

Other things about all of Pattaya that are glaringly obvious: the presence of Westerners young and old (Neena says a lot of German men come here (and Thailand) looking for Thai wives); the prevalence of cannabis shops (marijuana is legal and many other recreational drugs are tolerated, as long as you are not possessing large quantities to distribute; the availability of massage parlors, strip clubs, and strip clubs masquerading as sports bars (perhaps every fourth or fifth establishment); and the large numbers of ATM and currency exchange places. Basically, Thailand is place to casually and openly exercise your many vices or desires and it provides access to cash to make those possible. Here is a (very) small sampling of the many such businesses we saw.

After a visit into Pattaya, we made out way back to the ship. Here are some of the views seen (and a couple visited).

(Although is not head of the government, pictures of the king are seen throughout the country.)

(Saying good-bye to Neena)

We took a long nap after returning to the ship, later had dinner and got ready for Friday, which would be a long day into and touring Bangkok.