Pattaya Day 1: Ghost Town, Plan B, and I went out in the Daylight hours

[floridarob]

Landed last night from India. I’ll do an India post when I get home, covering the 4 cities there. Flew via Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways, both in business class.

Could’ve stayed all SQ and arrived 2.5 hours earlier, but I’m leaning more toward Thai these days. The staff just feel warmer, more natural, and the catering actually has flavor. SQ has gotten Meh. Not bad, just boring. Thai’s seats and interiors are definitely showing their age (aren't we all)  but I’ll take better service, better food, and Thai culture any day👍

Arrived BKK 5 minutes early, Gate C8… and yeah, the walk. Just kept going. And going. And going.

By the time I got to immigration, I was bracing for the usual mess, especially with  the changes to priority lanes, no Business class… and then:

Empty.

Not “a few people.”

Empty.😳

In 27 years of coming here, I have never seen that. I had the immigration lady laughing so hard because neither of us could believe it. Wanted to take a photo just to prove it existed, but yeah… those “no photos” signs are everywhere, didn't want to ruin a good thing 😉

Hit the ATM, asked the guy to break some 1000 notes into smaller bills, he says he can only do one. I said, no no, it’s fine… you can do two.

He did two.... Jedi mind tricks 😝

Luggage was out in about 30 minutes from door open to belt, thought it would be faster.

The driver from Mike Taxi was waiting at Door 3 with my name. The walk from Exit B to Door 3 was another weird one… barely anyone around. Everything just felt weird/different.

About 1.5 hours later, pulled into Pattaya and you could already see it: slow. Really slow. This was midnight on a Saturday and it looked like a Tuesday afternoon during low season.

Checked into the Venue Hotel, unpacked, got myself together, and headed to Cocka 2. Opened a bottle, had a few drinks… but Bars closing early, low energy, barely any customers.

Definitely quiet season right now.

One of my regular “backup” guys hit me up on Grindr almost immediately. Said he’d be up until 4am, had zero customers all day, and hadn’t cum either… so he was motivated and horny, a good combination 🍆 (that means he was horny, not he has a big one, lol)

And really, sometimes Plan B is the better plan anyway. There’s something to be said for familiarity. No explaining, no training session, he already knows what buttons to push...👉

Then I get a message from a guy I know from Soi 4 in BKK. Lost his job, needed help moving rooms. I told him, I don’t move furniture, not even for my best friends 😝. I knew what he was looking for $$$

But here’s the thing… I’ve known him for years. Never once asked me for anything. Actually he's gone out of his way for me plenty of times. We follow each other on social media, keep in touch. I was the one who reached out first to check on him after I saw his post about losing his job...

He asked for 2000 baht.

I told him the real proof I like him isn’t the money… it’s me going out in daylight, at the ungodly hour of 12pm, to a 7/11 to deposit it 🥺

Yes, I went outside at noon... I'll have to document this somewhere....

While I was out in that unnatural daylight, figured I’d try Sophia’s across from Dick’s.

100 baht for chicken basil with two fried eggs. Really good, and way better than Dick’s, by a mile.... And yes, that’s about 1.6 km for the non-Americans.

Day 1.

Slow city, empty airport, Plan B still reliable, and apparently I’m now the guy giving money and flying people between countries.

Getting older… and clearly not getting smarter.... can't even follow my own advice, maybe I'll become a Top again 😳

Anyone in Pattaya who wants to meet me or avoid me , I’m heading to Bangkok Thursday. Bringing someone I met in Bali for a few days, WTF?

 What could possibly go wrong.... 🤷‍♂️

I’ll get to that Bali post eventually  🤞

[Londoner]

My experience of the JC in March was similar.  Oddly though, The Agate was doing well- certainly better than when we were there in November.   The beachfront in the evenings was busy too,  though most the people we saw seemed  to be locals.  Can it be that it's just "our lot" who are staying away?  I watched , over a period of nearly twenty years, the massive decline in the number of visitors to Boyztown; I hope the same won't become true of Jomtien. 

[vinapu]

7 hours ago, floridarob said:

. Thai’s seats and interiors are definitely showing their age (aren't we all)

talk about yourself

[vinapu]

7 hours ago, floridarob said:

 

He asked for 2000 baht.

I told him the real proof I like him isn’t the money… it’s me going out in daylight, at the ungodly hour of 12pm, to a 7/11 to deposit it 🥺

 

I wonder is your good heart finally showed off or it's first sign of senility. Whatever it is, it's good deed and good karma will follow

[tm_nyc]

 figured I’d try Sophia’s across from Dick’s.

100 baht for chicken basil with two fried eggs. Really good...

Agree...  I like Sophia's a lot!