|
Pattaya
|
| Q |
The Lonely
Planet guidebook says......? |
| A |
Overweight westerners with
their tiny pay-by-the-week-or-month Thai companions’ is, I believe, the
quotation. |
| Q |
In general, what are the
pickings like for an EFL teacher? |
| A |
Not as bad as some people
would have you believe. The pay is low, no question about that, but there
are quite a few local schools which hire as well as language schools (AUA,
Pattaya School of Languages and Computers etc). There are some reasonable
bilingual schools and some good international schools plus some really
dodgy places (Wuttichot Bilingual, International School of Pattaya) that
should not be touched with a bargepole….. |
| Q |
How far from Bangkok or
civilization? |
| A |
Just an hour and a half by
car, 2 hours on the bus or three and half hours on the very cheap train. |
| Q |
Is there any
entertainment or do you invite friends round for Scrabble? |
| A |
WaHHahhhaha. Wahhahahhaa.
Wahahhaa.
Oh dear me, this IS Pattaya we’re talking about here.
The biggest question is when do you STOP entertaining yourself. I
entertained myself half to death before slowing down and making it a weekend
type thing. There are some great bars and restaurants to visit, the disco’s
are huge and, although a bit camp, can be great fun and, of course there’s
the bar scene……..
How much entertainment would you like Sir? |
| Q |
How much to rent a house
or basic apartment? |
| A |
I’ve got a lovely little
place. It’s a two bedroom town house with a/c, two bathrooms, kitchen,
lounge and diner plus a nice front garden with room for the car and that
costs 5,000 a month. You can get studio apartments from 1,500 a month up. I
wouldn’t like to live in one though. |
| Q |
Shopping malls,
department stores? |
| A |
Royal Garden, Mike’s Shopping
Mall, Big C, Lotus, Central Festival Centre, a new Carefour, Tops…its got
the lot, and, unlike Bangers, is small enough to get around easily whilst
big enough to not stand out. Hmmm…a westerner standing out in Pattaya…..you’d
have to be naked with yellow head-feathers! |
| Q |
Internet cafes?
(snail-speed Hotmail default page or fatties playing Ragnarok?) |
| A |
The full gamete.
Plush broadbanded ISDN’ed (whatever the buggery that all means) expensive
tourist places to small cheap Thai shophouses with coin operated computers
at 15-20 baht an hour. Loads of kids playing games and bar-girls writing
love letters with the odd merchant banker checking the financial times. |
| Q |
Will you be stared at?
and what's the likelihood of a good beating? |
| A |
Naaa…no staring. People in
Pattaya have seen the lot (after all, there was that naked guy last week
with the yellow feathers on his head).
As for beatings………I’ve read that it happens, I’ve been told that it happens
but, in the 5 years I’ve been around it ain't never happened to me or
mine….and I’m a total twat after a beer or twelve. The biggest danger is
either the drunk arsehole tourists, normally German, who can get a tad
aggressive late at night or the really masculine whizzed-up lady-boys who do
tend to mug the unwary on Beach Road if pickings on the dating front are
slim. |
| Q |
Taxis, buses....or horse
and cart? |
| A |
Songthew or Motorcye.
The songthew drivers come in for a lot of flack in the Pattaya Mail (the
local newspaper) but I’ve never been ripped off by them. I’ve seen them
fleece the unexpecting newbie tourist though and have on occasion
intervened…..with no resulting beating so they can’t be ALL bad. |
| Q |
Main advantages of living
there? |
| A |
Umm…let me think……Wahhahhahha..Wahhhahhaa….Wahhaaa….it’s
Pattaya innit?
I’d like to say the food, the sunshine and the people but I’m afraid I’d be
lying through my teeth. It’s close to Bangkok. It has great restaurants. It
is perfectly set up for Westerners with shops catering for your every need
from imported food to imported tobacco. You’ll always find someone who can
speak your language and, because of the testosterone release, most people
are pretty friendly! Still, it’s the girls really! I remember when my school
sent a class out to run a survey on why single male tourists chose Pattaya
as a holiday destination. Bloody hell, the food, sunshine and local culture
must be good here! |
| Q |
And what are the
downsides? |
| A |
It can all get a bit wearing.
The constant flood of tourists, the American fleet when it’s in town. The
constant hassles from bar-girls. Yup, it can get ya down but better to be in
Pattaya than Minehead or Pwllheli any bloody day. |
| Q |
Any local attractions? |
| A |
Quite a few.
There are the tourist orientated theme park/activity park such as Mini-Siam,
Croccoile Farm, Tiger Zoo type place (expensive, but you will get the Thai
price of you can show them a work-permit or tax card) and there are some
rather beautiful wats in the surrounding area. There are also the islands,
great fishing and diving and some truly excellent golf. |
