A walk through Pattaya’s Arab Quarter

• By Peter Lloyd
• Opinion | Opinion Articles | Pete’s Peregrinations
• 91 days ago
• 17

Last night on my way home, I decided to take a detour through Pattaya's Arab Quarter, which now encroaches on Walking Street both through Soi Covent Garden and Soho Square, and through the small beer bar complexes between Walking Street and Marine plaza.

It was around 2am, and I was astonished by the aural and visual assault which greeted me as I walked through Marine Plaza. The music pounding from bars was ear-splittingly loud.

I wondered how patrons could talk to each other. Then I noticed an even greater communication problem. Arab customers were happily chatting to their friends not only over the music, but many also had COTTON WOOL in their ears, to prevent damage caused by the bone-shattering, cacophonous din.

I was also interested to see the style of the Arab oriented bar girls.

Well known for being rather on the “Rubenesque” side of weight gain, many wore their hair piled very high on their heads, and more mascara than Alice Cooper in his heyday,  as they sat in small plump groups relaxing, talking, puffing on their hookas in shisha bars,  draped over beer bar counters or waiting for punters on the sois.

Hookas

I was also struck by how many ugly ladyboys were congregating at that time of night, presumably hoping to snare well-pissed punters who may not really have an eye for a pronounced adam’s apple, or who are actively looking for one at that time of night.

I did enjoy watching the exuberant Arab dancing going on in many of the hooka bars which seem to have proliferated in recent times.

John Al-Travolta busts some moves

These bars play more traditional Arab music than the ear bleed blasting from the beer bars.

As I progressed through the beer bar complex in Marine Plaza, the weird visual of seeing everything bathed in heavy red and pink neon light was a bit disorienting, especially combined with the shock waves fizzing up my body from the blasting music. It was like being on a trip, and I don’t mean to Blackpool.

I was also struck with the amount of money that has gone into creating some of the expensive-looking Arab joints in Marine Plaza, and the money being spent in them.

While many Arabs don’t drink,  when in Pattaya, many do, and good luck to them. It’s not the worst vice here, but I was surprised by how many expensive bottles of high end scotch and brandy were on tables, as people relaxed and talked.

I didn’t see any signs of drunken moronic behaviour, especially of the kind I immediately witnessed as I came back onto Walking Street to be confronted by a group of four Russians, shirtless, too-tight shorts, 7:11 Changs in hand, falling over and shouting in Russian at the top of their voices as they stumbled along Walking Street banging into people as they went.

The thought occurred to me, as I watched the staggering Russians, was that maybe we need to create a "Russian Town" for this kind of behaviour.

Then I realised that we already have.

Unfortunately, it’s called Pattaya.