Pattaya
Nov2021. Before my arrival, I had only read articles on Pattaya being “the ugliest city in the world” - prostitution, alcoholism and old white men: that’s what I was taught to expect from this place.
I arrived in Pattaya on November 19 2021. As a voluntary teacher at Father Ray Foundation, a network of institutions spread all over Pattaya helping children and youths in need, I would stay there for a year.
Beforehand, I had only read articles on Pattaya being “the ugliest city in the world” - prostitution, alcoholism and old white men, that’s what I was taught to expect from this place.
Having spent a year there, I got to know the city a little: Yes, you can see that city’s face. If you visit Pattaya expecting of it “the world capital of sex tourism” and only being able to see the ugly sides, yeah, you will see them.
Having lived there however, I automatically began looking for places to feel comfortable at, places I to find beauty within all that ugliness, places to calm down. And I realised that even in ugly-seeming cities like Pattaya, you only need to seek spots you like if you want to find them.
For this whole year there, I did not even walk through any of these sois (thai word for street) where you could get yourself a cheap lover. I only visited massage shops with “no sex” signs outside. I did not attend the night live of Pattaya (mostly). I therefore cannot say, I know “that” Pattaya well (I’m happy about it). I saw these sides but I still learned to create my own Pattaya where I wanted to spend a year.
