Through circumstance, appointment, or coincidence. Because of passion, lust, or money. Surviving on wits, labor, or fortune. We all have our own story, however bizarre it might be. Why, when and how we came to stay in Pattaya? Below is my story, the story of a failed backpacker, a career changer, a guy who fell in love.
Before I even heard of Pattaya, I was a bored, dogmatic factory worker, back living with my parents after a failed relationship. Life in sunny England had lost its appeal.
The daily 8 to 5 work routine, the Friday and Saturday night blowouts, followed by the inevitable Monday morning blues had become repetitive and boring. Summer was waning fast; another cold and miserable British winter loomed on the horizon, promising nothing more than cold feet, dark nights, and seemingly eternal greyness.
Preparing to Backpack Round The World
It was time to break this cycle of monotony, to seek, and to find. I wasn’t alone; a good friend and work colleague also had the wanderlust, so we saved as much money as we could, set a date to quit our jobs, bought all the gear a backpacker would ever need, rucksacks, tent, walking boots, mosquito nets, and lonely planet guides.
We had all the jabs, and like most novice backpackers and first-time visitors to Thailand, we wholeheartedly took our doctor’s advice, got inoculated against rabies, and invested in doxycycline anti-malaria tablets.
So, on the 5th of October 1999, we would be saying goodbye to England and her cold, miserable winter, and the first destination of our adventure would be Pattaya.
Why Pattaya? Simple really. We had a friend living there, and he had a spare room we could use free of charge. Pattaya also happens to be a beautiful tropical place in Thailand, backpackers can eat and sleep cheap in Pattaya, and it’s far removed from the cold and frosty England.
So, you can imagine, Pattaya had a lot to offer to these 2 novice backpackers. It would be an ideal place to start. A good base from which to explore the rest of Thailand’s sun-kissed beaches before taking on the more serious task of working our way around the world.
The Pattaya Shock
The first few days in Pattaya could easily be explained by the following metaphors: “rabbits in the headlights,” followed by “lambs to the slaughter,” and finally, “kids in a candy store.”
You arrive in Thailand and experience a culture shock. You come to Pattaya, and the shock is not so cultural; it’s a shock to your senses.
Pattaya’s remote streets, shanty towns, and outdoor fresh food markets would be the closest we came to the Sumatran jungle, tribal villages of Borneo, and fruit-picking in Australia.
The tent we bought to shelter us from the elements never saw the light of day. The walking boots were replaced by flip-flops. The mosquito net and mosquito repellent still proved to be wise investments. The rest of the backpacking gear, like our best-laid plans, would remain tightly zipped in the rucksacks.
Pattaya Grows On You
Was it my new status as a sexy man, the pampering, the famous Pattaya nightlife, and the famously beautiful Thai women, or was it the vibrancy of Pattaya that grew on me? No, it was probably most and a thousand other things that made Pattaya so appealing.
Found It In Pattaya
The whole idea behind our backpacking expedition was to see if there was something else out there for us, to escape the mundane factory life, the bureaucracy, the cold, and the greyness of England.
Circumstance, chance, and coincidence all played their part in the premature end of our backpacking adventure. The friend we stayed with in Pattaya was from our hometown. In fact, he lived just 3 or 4 doors away from me when I was a child, but I had not seen him for many years; he was a close friend of my backpacking buddy, though.
It’s a small world, and there are times when you wonder if there is really a destiny awaiting you. I traveled to Pattaya, almost halfway around the world, to stay with someone I had not seen since childhood, someone who lived literally a stone’s throw away from me. The same someone I must also credit for my new career as a commercial diver, without which I probably would never have had the opportunity to stay in Pattaya.
3 Months in Pattaya Changed My Life
It’s fair to say that a backpacking trip to Pattaya and a guy from my hometown changed my life. After 3 months, I left Pattaya on a life mission which would involve a career change, if I could become a commercial diver I could work almost anywhere in the world, I could make Thailand my home.