On arrival at the guest house mid evening, this young man kindly showed me around, pointing out the various clubs, which are all concentrated in one area, appropriately called "Paradise".
We took a motor cycle ride up the hill overlooking Patong Beach, so steep it was almost scary, but a wonderful view.
Turned out it was his birthday, so we went for a birthday meal at a restaurant of his choice. To his credit the menu was diverse with a good selection of Western and Thai food.
But Patang while widely advertised as socially on a par with Pattaya, for me anyway it didn't work out that way. I am not suggesting this is an accurate assessment of Patong Beach, but rather my observations from a very brief visit. I am sure there are some excellent features in the area I just did not have time to discover.
There are only three male go go bars, which under some circumstances would be fine. One was primarily muscle guys and a second one all ladyboys. I have nothing against muscle guys or ladyboys, but sadly they do not appeal to me. Some guys really get turned on to ladyboys, as anyone that may have seen the "Ladyboys" series on British T.V. may be aware. The third bar was kind of small and not too interesting, maybe I was there at the wrong time. Oh Well !! so....
After recent enlightenment in Pattaya (see previous post "Straight Attack") I donned my "Straight" hat and sought out the area where the female go go bars are located.
But the scenario is completely different than Pattaya. There all the go go bars are enclosed and behind closed doors and photography is strictly not allowed. In Patong the female bars that I saw are huge kind of outdoor bars, with small roofs. Under every second roof or so a girl will be doing her thing pole dancing. The crowd that I observed, appear to be - back slapping - beer guzzling - good 'ole boys (who would be called red necks in U.S.) taking selfies with a girl pole dancing in the back ground to show their friends when they get home how straight they are. Buy a girl a "lady drink" and she will come and stand by you for a couple of minutes. Quite a contrast from the ambience of the Pattaya clubs, with their tactile entertainers.
Unlike Amsterdam, prostitution of course is illegal throughout Thailand, which is surprising to some, given the proliferation of Go Go Clubs and their scantily attired dancers enticing enervated patrons. Fortunately the authorities enforce strict age restrictions to avoid under age personal working in the bars. Hotels fortify this requisite by asking and holding I.D. from all visitors of guests.
So with the club scene in Patong not meeting my expectations, I need to re assess my plans. Other than an exciting two weeks in Thailand, the rest of the year is quite barren for me, so I attempt to make the most of every evening in this glorious wonderland while I have the opportunity. I have already just lost two nights off my social calendar, am I prepared to lose 3 more by staying the allotted period.? I think not.
But the lure of the waiting possibilities in Pattaya proved to be too cogent, so I wrote out a directive giving the sail tour to my friend whom had been so helpful and he also helped me with the language challenge to change my flight back to Pattaya for that day. Bangkok Airways where very good and did not charge me any extra for the change, and the owner of Sundowners was most reasonable in refunding my unused nights.