Photographs and writeup by Mustafa Habib Chowdhury
Well, what can I say about this exploration? Much has been already said about this famous or infamous street, the tourist nightlife hub and red-light district in the city of Pattaya, Thailand. The street is a tourist attraction which draws foreigners and Thai nationals in equal measure, primarily for its night life. The Walking Street area includes seafood restaurants, live music venues, beer bars, discothèques, sports bars, go-go bars, nightclubs, weed lounges, tattoo parlors and hotels. To be frank, Pattaya is actually a city which never sleeps and where night is much ‘brighter’ than day. As a result, during daylight hours, Walking Street looks like a dump and is open to one way traffic. It is at night that Walking Street becomes truly alive and is a sea of neon lights advertising restaurants and go-go bars and is quite magical for both the young and the old. To refer to Walking Street as merely a red light district is a gross oversimplification. There is so much more going on on this street that can tickle the gastronomical, musical and whimsical fancy of people from most age groups, specially because at night time the street is closed to vehicular traffic that makes wandering around here safe and secure for all.
It was with a bit of preconceived notion that I first stepped on this street, simultaneously curious and anxious about what I was about to discover. The first thing that shocked me when I entered Walking Street was the sheer number of people passing through. The heavy crowd consisted of mostly younger people (both foreign tourists and Thai nationals) in the age range of 20-30 with a healthy sprinkling of older European/North American middle aged men, which fit the stereotype quite well. I was surprised to see so many authentic Middle Eastern restaurants in the areas in the vicinity of Walking Street serving delicious food across the Middle East spanning from Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and much more. Given my background of growing up in Kuwait during my childhood years, I found the Middle Eastern food served here to be the most authentic and delicious outside the Middle East itself, which was quite a surprise for me! Needless to say, I indulged in a sumptuous Middle Eastern dinner (consisting of different kinds of kebabs, shawarma, hummus, falafel and ful medames – a delicious mashed fava bean stew garnished with olive oil) both the nights I visited Walking Street.
An interesting observation that I had while strolling down Walking Street was the sheer number of tattoo parlors. I noticed tattoos and other forms of body art were quite common with some of the local Thai population and certainly with many of the tourists. Thailand is quite a popular destination for tattoos and other body art, especially for tourists from countries where the practice of body art is not very developed or widely practiced. Hence, it is quite common to see tourists visit Thailand just to get tattoos, body piercings and other forms of body art.
And finally, a topic that is unavoidable in the discussion of night life on the infamous Walking Street are the multitude of ladyboys one comes across. A stereotype that is important to break here would be the status of the ladyboys. Quite incorrectly, ladyboys are often portrayed in the media (both print and online) as primarily involved in the sex trade business in Thailand. This is categorically untrue, especially in a tolerant society like Thailand. It is true that the sex trade has a certain niche demand for ladyboys and many such “ladies of the night” throng the streets in search of such “special” clients. However, quite often in Pattaya and the other major urban areas of Thailand like Bangkok, Phuket, Chiang Mai and others, one can find transsexuals (or ladyboys) employed in many different sectors of society. What I found most impressive was the ease with which society at large accepted ladyboys as part of the “norm,” and thus the rather cavalier attitude of society towards them. One can often find ladyboys working as waitresses, ushers, hotel receptionists, travel agents, bartenders, bar owners, taxi drivers, street food vendors, housekeepers in hotels, etc. This is indeed a commendable achievement in a relatively conservative Asian society like Thailand. The motto of “live and let live” seems to be quite alive and widely practiced particularly in the streets of Pattaya and more generally in the other major urban centers of Thailand. Not bad a motto to live by I would say….
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