Thailand

Last time I came to Thailand I spent most of my time in Bangkok and on Ko Toh – a tiny island in the Gulf of Thailand. This time, due to work constraints I couldn’t travel too far from the ship which meant I got to experience the seedier, underbelly side of Thailand. How so might you ask? Well our ship was berthed two hours outside of Bangkok and the closest city to us was Pattaya – a city infamous for prostitution, drugs and sex tourism. What experience it was to see that side of life!

Here is how my time in Thailand played out: I spent the first couple days traveling to Bangkok for meetings for work. On day 3 I traveled back to Bangkok and met up with my dad. Yup – my dad just happened to be in Bangkok! He emailed me just a couple days before we arrived to let me know that he would be there the same time as me. So he and I spent the day in Bangkok – touring through China town and taking the water taxi up and down the river. I stayed in Bangkok with my dad that night and in the morning we headed down to Pattaya. For the next two days we spent time on the beach, eating good food and getting massages – I know, tough life, right? The last two days I spent splitting my time between work and more time in Pattaya on the beach.

So now back to Pattaya – what can I say? No matter what people say sex tourism is alive and well in Thailand. Everywhere you turned there were hords of prostitutes outside of bars trying to lure men inside, signs advertising services of women and services of men, signs advertising strip shows, go-go dancing, bondage bars, leather bars, fetish bars and all kinds of weird shows that I don’t even want to think about what they would entail. Liquor and drugs were widely available and erectile dysfunction drugs were particularly prevalent.

It kind of turned my stomach to see all these European and American men (mostly ugly, fat and obviously not the cream of any society) bargaining for the services of these Thai women and men; taking part in and drooling over all the shows, bars and “services” offered. I was particularly saddened when I walked down one street in Pattaya at 11:30am with bar after bar of women standing outside and there was one bar full of women (if you can call them that) dressed in catholic school-girl kilts. I don’t think any of them could have been older than 15 or 16.

Now I know that this kind of thing exists everywhere but I was just shocked by how open and how publicly all of this was advertised. The other shocker I had in Pattaya was to see how publicly exploited children were. As in many parts of Asia child labor is a big issue and a big concern in Thailand. Usually the issue is swept under the rug, hidden and not discussed openly. In Pattaya I walked down the street at 11:30pm and saw a girl who couldn’t have been more than 6 dressed in a tutu doing contortion moves and tricks with a hoola hoop. There was her mother (I’m guessing) encouraging her to do more tricks to attract more of a crowd and more money. A little further down the road there was a little boy who couldn’t have been more than 8 doing tricks with a soccer ball. Very sad.

Thailand used to be a big draw for pedophiles because pretty much anyone or anything is “for sale”. Now we were told on the ship that there has been a crack down on the child sex trade and that most of that scene has gone underground or forced into Cambodia. After what I witnessed my guess is that, unfortunately, the child sex trade is probably not too far underground and still very much alive and well in Thailand.

Lest you begin to think that all of Thailand is simply a haven for pedophiles, drug addicts, low lifes and sleazy characters I must stress that I was in a city infamously known for catering to this sex market. Thailand is a beautiful country with lovely beaches, majestic jungles and mountains, vibrant indigenous communities, fast paced cities and an interesting culture and history. The sex trade is a sad part of Thailand’s reality and I’m glad I got the chance to see it with my own eyes, but I’m also very much looking forward to coming back someday and exploring more of the positive parts of Thailand.