After my first night out in Pattaya, Thailand, when I met a woman on a blind date organized by one of my best friends, I sat up in bed and I recalled the details of the evening before. We had started in The Pig and Whistle, where I was staying on Soi 7. The Pig is a nice, calm, sedate, air-conditioned oasis of tranquility in a street, which is one of the liveliest, noisiest and busiest streets in Pattaya.
We went outside into the soi and into a stream of people not unlike that of a queue heading for a football match, except that all the women were dressed in bikinis. We had called into one of those outdoor bars, where my friend had a surprise waiting for me. His girlfriend of a while, whom I knew nothing about and a friend of hers who wanted to meet me. The four of us had dallied there an hour before walking the thirty metres to Beach Road. The traffic is one-way on Beach Road, so we took a Baht Taxi North going with the flow and got off two or three kilometres further on just before Walking Street, which is the most well-known street in Pattaya.
We had entered a complex of bars and sat at one at random. It was only then that I realized that the bars were all set out around a Muay Thai boxing ring, where the fighting was continuous and free, although foreigners are expected to contribute a prize to the winner of each bout; 20-100 Baht suffices.
We stayed there an hour and moved on to Walking Street to eat. We ate at a seafood specialist restaurant which has a pier or jetty as its dining area. The food was fantastic and the mood was romantic with the moon reflecting on the sea and the atmospheric lighting.
I don't believe I had had a chance really, I fell for my gorgeous date that night and I saw her every day for the rest of my 30 days holiday. We had a wonderful time and when I had to go, I resolved to find out if I could live in Thailand. I went home and worked out, that if I was careful and a few things fell in my favour, I would most likely have enough money to live there for ten years.
Six weeks later, I returned to Thailand and Joy was waiting for me at the airport. Nothing had altered between us and we caught a bus to go to see her family in northern Thailand. We slept in a room that her brother had given up for us and everyone made me feel very welcome. Joy's family live in a traditional teak house built on stilts and everybody lived and slept in one room in the traditional way, except for Joy's brother, who had built an extension, because he was hoping to get married soon.
I love that village and still live there now, five years later. Joy and I are married and have our own home - a traditional, European, concrete-block bungalow not five metres from Joy's mum, who is a brilliant mother-in-law. Her family appear to realize what a big step it was for me to come here alone and are determined to be there for me, if I need assistance, like my own family in Britain would be. The task at hand is learning Thai as no one else in the village, except for my wife, speaks English.
We went outside into the soi and into a stream of people not unlike that of a queue heading for a football match, except that all the women were dressed in bikinis. We had called into one of those outdoor bars, where my friend had a surprise waiting for me. His girlfriend of a while, whom I knew nothing about and a friend of hers who wanted to meet me. The four of us had dallied there an hour before walking the thirty metres to Beach Road. The traffic is one-way on Beach Road, so we took a Baht Taxi North going with the flow and got off two or three kilometres further on just before Walking Street, which is the most well-known street in Pattaya.
We had entered a complex of bars and sat at one at random. It was only then that I realized that the bars were all set out around a Muay Thai boxing ring, where the fighting was continuous and free, although foreigners are expected to contribute a prize to the winner of each bout; 20-100 Baht suffices.
We stayed there an hour and moved on to Walking Street to eat. We ate at a seafood specialist restaurant which has a pier or jetty as its dining area. The food was fantastic and the mood was romantic with the moon reflecting on the sea and the atmospheric lighting.
I don't believe I had had a chance really, I fell for my gorgeous date that night and I saw her every day for the rest of my 30 days holiday. We had a wonderful time and when I had to go, I resolved to find out if I could live in Thailand. I went home and worked out, that if I was careful and a few things fell in my favour, I would most likely have enough money to live there for ten years.
Six weeks later, I returned to Thailand and Joy was waiting for me at the airport. Nothing had altered between us and we caught a bus to go to see her family in northern Thailand. We slept in a room that her brother had given up for us and everyone made me feel very welcome. Joy's family live in a traditional teak house built on stilts and everybody lived and slept in one room in the traditional way, except for Joy's brother, who had built an extension, because he was hoping to get married soon.
I love that village and still live there now, five years later. Joy and I are married and have our own home - a traditional, European, concrete-block bungalow not five metres from Joy's mum, who is a brilliant mother-in-law. Her family appear to realize what a big step it was for me to come here alone and are determined to be there for me, if I need assistance, like my own family in Britain would be. The task at hand is learning Thai as no one else in the village, except for my wife, speaks English.
About the Author:
Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on several subjects, but is now involved with Khao Phansa - The Candle Festival. If you would like to know more, please visit our web site at Package Holidays to Thailand.
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