Duncan Stearn - Pattaya, Patpong on Steroids

Pattaya: Patpong on Steroids

Author - Duncan Stearn

Mitraphab Press

Mitraphab Centre Pty Ltd.

24 Davies Street, Kincumber

NSW 2251 Australia

First published by Mitraphab Press March 2002

Reprinted October 2002

Revised and Updated September 2003

Revised and Updated October 2004

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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Copyright Duncan Stearn 2004

ISBN: 978-0-9870902-2-5 eBook Edition

Cover design and layout by Duncan Stearn

Smashwords Edition

eBook published by

Proglen Trading Co., Ltd.

Bangkok, Thailand

February 2011

Website ebooks.dco.co.th

The Ultimate Accolade (New South Wales Greyhound of the Year Title 1965-1985)

Chronology of South-East Asian History 1400-1996

Pattaya Unplugged

Our Man in Pattaya

Pattaya Snaps, A Celebration of the Women of Pattaya (with David Kuri)

Die Nachtwanderung (in German)

Bernborough, Australia's Greatest Racehorse

My thanks to Mike and Janet Sheedy who first brought me to Thailand; little did they realise just what an affect the place would have on such a delicate wallflower as me.

Thank you to Chris Grsic, Gary Morley, Neville Pick, Peter Culpan, Colin Hastings, Peter Noldus, and Rob Norris among others who took the time to read parts of the manuscript and earlier versions of the book and offer their thoughts.

I would also like to thank the many people who purchased the first few editions of the book and made it one of the most popular in Thailand. In particular I would like to thank those who made the effort to contact me with their impressions and comments about the book. I hope this further revised edition will be met with equal favour.

"Do not be afraid of going slowly, only of standing still."

Chinese proverb

PART ONE: In the Beginning

PART TWO: Only the Good Die Young

PART THREE: Here, There, Everywhere

This book was originally compiled and written over a period of five years and deals primarily with the Thai resort city of Pattaya, especially its ubiquitous sex trade.

Much of this book concentrates on specific incidents and events that happened to me, as well as a few friends and acquaintances, while living in Pattaya and travelling around Thailand. Entwined with this I have included what I consider appropriate and relevant statistical and historical information in the hope of putting some of these incidents into perspective. To this end, the book is a combination of travelogue, social commentary, and autobiography.

Thailand and Pattaya in particular, has an alliterative rhapsody of searing sun, sparkling sea and sensual sex whose magnetic allure can prove as irresistible as the legendary Sirens who taunted and tempted a brave Ulysses.

The chapter entitled 'The Ugly Australians' is a behind-the-scenes account of an attempt at character assassination by Australia's leading current affairs program, 60 Minutes . Much of the chapter appeared as an article in the Bangkok-based The Big Chilli magazine in April 2001.

The damage to my reputation and that of many others who come to visit Thailand and particularly the resort centre of Pattaya has been done and, in the closed and narrow minds of many thousands of gullible people, can never be restored no matter what we say or do.

Nevertheless, it is my belief the majority of people want to know the truth and hear both sides of an argument before passing final judgement. That is the aim of the chapter: to provide the truth as I believe it to be and to present an alternative argument to the one presented on Australian and New Zealand nationwide television by 60 Minutes .

Thailand has been described as "the most sensuous spot on earth", and I will readily admit to being seduced by the country and its people, in spite of a few unfortunate occurrences and incidents, including death threats.

The country possesses a soporific charm that transcends logic and it continually lures people from all walks of life into its illusory and idyllic embrace. This is true of so many foreigners who leave behind their past lives and tread a well-worn path to the Land of Smiles. Very few people, and not just the so-called 'sex tourists', visit Thailand just once in their lives. It's that kind of place.

One person who succumbed to Thailand's charms was the now-deceased Jeffrey Bernard. Well known for his columns in the English magazine The Spectator , he wrote, in an April 1995 edition, about his sponsorship- via the Christian Children's Fund of Great Britain- of a young girl in Thailand. " Her name is Sum. Apart from any concern as to her health and safety in the area where she lives, which is at times infested with Cambodian bandits, and whether or not she is by now working in a massage parlour in Bangkok, it would make, I think, a very good story were I to go out there to meet her and see for myself...I would like to see Sum, just to see if the piddling amount of money she gets from me - about two large vodkas a week - has been of any benefit to her...When I was last in Bangkok, I was assured that young Thai women will do anything, but anything, for you if you ask them nicely. If this is true then the temptation to take advantage would be so evil it doesn't bear contemplation."

Despite all good intention those comments would have served to merely reinforce the Western stereotyping of Thai womanhood in the minds of many of his readers. The bulk of tourist experience in Thailand is limited to tours of places like Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket, and Koh Samui as well as Pattaya, Trat or Hat Yai.

The average person will spend a couple of weeks travelling about in hire cars, air-conditioned buses or trains, unable to speak more than a few words of Thai and generally looking at the sights and sounds on the well-worn tourist trail before returning home with an impression of a country of smiling faces, spicy foods, enervating humidity, temples and vibrant nightlife.

Even backpackers rarely experience a true village atmosphere, and as they tend to travel in pairs or larger groups, do not get to interact with the locals on anything more than a desultory basis.

For that matter, many foreigners work on contract in the country, sometimes for lengthy periods, and leave with not much more than a rudimentary knowledge of the nation and its people.

This is not meant as a criticism, merely an observation. After all, our experiences of most countries are always limited to the amount of time and money we have to spend in them and the intercourse- both sexual and otherwise-with the locals.

In this book, I have tried to remain as impartial as possible in my discourse, but there is always a judgement- or bias- implicit in writing what one perceives as the truth. Perhaps some will see my views and attitudes as some form of hidden agenda designed to justify and enhance the international sex industry in Pattaya. Nothing could be further from the truth. I am merely presenting the reality as I have experienced it and hope my comments will be seen as fair and reasonable.