Looking after yourself in the streets of Pattaya

[tim bar]

yeah i dont look at thai blokes they scare me its as simple as that. how would we like it if the poles started fucking all our english girls

[bibzo]

Cary a crash helmet a gun a knife a baseball bat a chip on your shoulder

And hopefully the bib will put you on the plane out

[Bruce Mangosteen]

Serious reply: Observe the other passengers on the baht bus carefully. If they look suspicious, such as an unlikely group of middle-aged Thai women any one of which is carrying a large bag, MAKE SURE you put your hand over your wallet and other valuables. Also, look for groups of older Thai women getting on the bus in strange places. Any suspicion at all, get off and pay. 10 baht for the bus is better than having to replace your camera.

[sinclair1969]

I have never had a problem in Pattaya and only take the usual precautions. I would never carry any kind of weapon since that would be used as evidence against you in a court or by the police. Carrying two wallets is good, and wearing reasonably good shoes etc is a must.

 

Most of the guys who get robbed are too drunk to defend themselves anyhow.

 

How can Walking Street be dangerous with scores of policemen and guards all over the place? The Sois are much more likely for an attack, and even there it's rare that a sober guy gets attacked. It's mostly those guys who are so drunk that they almost fall asleep in the middle of the road who have the problems. They set themselves up as targets by their own behavior.

[noidea]

I have not read the whole thread so pardon me if this is repeated...I have been in plenty of 3rd world countries in my short life so far and really the only advice that I have is don't be stupid. That's it really. We are animals at heart...and when the hair stands up on the back of your neck get out of there as quickly as possible. Now maybe with copious amounts of alcohol your thought process might be a little different...but you know when you are in a bad situation.

 

I would think that bringing a knife etc. with you would just lead to more trouble. Chances are if you are going to get jumped it is by a group of people; not one. And don't think for a second that if you take that blade out...it won't be used on you once the guy from behind knocks you out.

 

Chances are you are getting jumped because they want you money...just hand it over and never walk around with more than you need.

[ruk hoy]

I ve been coming to LOS for 4 yrs now and never had a problem.....i just keep myself to myself.

 

 

As for them old ladies on baht buses....make my day.

[yorkie]

Is pattaya safe ?

[tim bar]

How about these:

 

Don't be an asshole, you will almost never be in danger

 

Have a Thai girl at your side at all times

yeah ive said it before myself never forget how lucky we are to have patts treat every single thai person with respect and you will be fine

[bigchris]

Knife in Patts? A helmet? Haha.. WTF????? Yes Yorkie, Patts is safe. I'm not sure where this is coming from. Of course with any city there is bad elements but it's usually pretty obvious long before you could get into any trouble. Just don't be an ass and you will not have any problems. Pay the girls their due, don't smack them around (unless that was part of the deal :-)), and don't mess with the Thai men. I've walked around at all hours all over the city without an issue but still use some common sense.. I agree with the touts, they seem to cause the most trouble. Not fighting or anything stupid, they just like to make a scene if you won't pay them to see their F'ing snake or whatever. I just ignore them completely. Tell Mamason to get rid of them or you are going to leave the bar and go else where. That will usually do the trick. They are much more scared of her then you. haha BC

[payoff]

Unless you are a complete asshole the only people to fear in Pattaya are other farang. I've seen several fights/altercations in Pats and 90% of them have been farang on farang. IMHO the British are the worst by far.

[Angelo]

I've never had problems with Thai guys but I've had more than a few crazy ass Thai girls get physical. Maybe I should start to wear helmets and steel toed boots when I go out. I know it would help for sure when going to JP Bar.

[gregkai]

Seems like the good thread to ask: what would more experienced members do if you witness a thai girls beeing beaten by a thai man (motorbike taxi driver probably). Is there police phone number to call, where they speak reasonable english, are likely to come fast and not bother you afterward?

 

I cut & past what I have posted in a fetish thread (I know, wrong place, but it was an answering another poster mentioning the condition of women in thailand), here is what I saw 3 weeks ago in Patt...

 

Regarding healthy attitudes about gender and sex among Thais...hum, I would disagree about this one. I appreciate that over-the-top feminism seems absent in Thailand, but the more I go there the more I think they could do with a little of good "old fashioned" equal rights feminism: Many thai men (at least in the social environment I know best, the people you interract with in pattaya/patong/... which is low-class by thai standard I guess) have an unacceptable behavior towards women: the amount of domestic violence or just violence against women is huge and disgusting.

 

How many time did I hear from thai bar girls that they were hit by their thai bf/husband before? Even correcting for the BS stories targetted at making the farang feel protective and more generous, it is much too often...

 

I also see it on working girls have food or clothes shops: one day they come back to work with a black eye and numerous bruises: they "fell in the stairs"....yes, sure (in one case, I saw the bf in question: very athletic guy, tall and strong for a thai, the kind of men which exercise hours every day: very easy for him to hit a girl indeed :-/ ). I also had confirmation latter that she indeed did not fell in the stairs, that this guy was hitting her. Thank god she dumped him...

 

And this last time, just 2 weeks ago, I witnessed a scene that really tarnished the mental image I had about thailand, or, more specifically, thai men:

walking in pattaya 2 AM (unsuccesfull mongering :( ;-) ), I saw a thai man (probably motorbike taxi driver) beat the shit out of a thai bar girl. The guy was again big for a thai, about my body size (70-75 kg), and the girl past her prime and thin/small-bodied. So a very fit young man and frail looking middle-aged small lady. He was hitting her full force, having started by a jumping kick on her while she was sitting on a high chair and facing the other way!!!! She just fell, stuned, and started to pray like for buddha (adopting a more submissive posture posture is impossible, this should have stopped red rage violence in anybody), and the guy continued to hit her!!!! Even if the girl had very bad behavior before, insulted him, hitted him, or did not pay for a motorbike lift or whatever, there is no justification for hitting...but such a behavior, hitting like this...He should meet mike tyson under amphetamine, that sound a good punishment to me...

 

I did not intervene, and still feel bad about it, maybe some more experienced member can offer advice on what to do? I always hear to avoid physical conflicts with thai at all costs, which is a sound advice (knives, gun or friends are likely to magically appear very fast), but what else to do? Call the tourist police or a police number when they can undrstand english? I speak a little bit of thai, but not enough to explain something like this...

 

This would be a good thread, advice for this king of situation, police phone numbers...

 

Anyway, now I have a stereotype: when I see a thai man, especially a motorbike taxi driver, I think it is a little scum incapable of honest work, waiting to grab a little bit of what the girls earns with farangs, and happy to hit girls half his weight as hard as he can. They merrit to be tied in front of a feminazi, at her disposal...Sorry for decent motorbike-taxi drivers, if they exists.

Edited June 1, 2008 by gregkai

[LaaMok]

And this last time, just 2 weeks ago, I witnessed a scene that really tarnished the mental image I had about thailand, or, more specifically, thai men:

walking in pattaya 2 AM (unsuccesfull mongering :( ;-) ), I saw a thai man (probably motorbike taxi driver) beat the shit out of a thai bar girl. The guy was again big for a thai, about my body size (70-75 kg), and the girl past her prime and thin/small-bodied. So a very fit young man and frail looking middle-aged small lady. He was hitting her full force, having started by a jumping kick on her while she was sitting on a high chair and facing the other way!!!! She just fell, stuned, and started to pray like for buddha (adopting a more submissive posture posture is impossible, this should have stopped red rage violence in anybody), and the guy continued to hit her!!!! Even if the girl had very bad behavior before, insulted him, hitted him, or did not pay for a motorbike lift or whatever, there is no justification for hitting...but such a behavior, hitting like this...He should meet mike tyson under amphetamine, that sound a good punishment to me...

 

back in England I would be straight in the middle so would many of you lot. I have seen a few alterations happen in Pattaya, and I got involved a fair few times. You cant get in there physically, you have to apply different tactics.

 

One day a girl was attacking a farang, he seemed like a newbie and wasnt handling it well, he never hit her back but he unsurprisingly was getting more aggressive. I knew that this guy was probably more in danger of the nearby motorbike taxi guys, so I told them that he was being nice but she was being the bad one... I didnt stop there arguement, but I helped the best I could.

 

Its so easy for us to understand and talk people out of fighting back at home, but the language barrier stops this, you never know who is wrong. Once there was a fight and me and a freind got in between, one of the guys managed to get out the go go and was on the floor being kicked by some thais, i told them to get off him and i helped him up off the floor.... 5 minutes later i found out one of the guys fighting him was the go go owner and that this guy had just assaulted him....... this is just one example when not to get involved, but it all happens in a split second...

 

another time, i seen a Thai guy that was being assaulted or had been assaulted so i drove to a nearby Thai pub and simply asked them to help him and I drove off...

[LaaMok]

Is there police phone number to call, where they speak reasonable english, are likely to come fast and not bother you afterward?

 

1155 but your best bet of a responce is going to the start of Walking Street and ask one of the farang guys there!! Dont have an emergency after 2 am!

[nicko]

Never had a problem in Pattaya or Patong - pissed or sober - but then I don't look for it either. If you get aggressive when you drink then don't drink. If someone else is getting aggressive - leave- fuck them - it ain't worth it . You're there for a good time not to cop the shit you do at home. Swallow your pride and leave (especially if it is Thai guys - you may die).

There's a few thousand places to have a good time in, Go find 1!!

[gregkai]

1155 but your best bet of a responce is going to the start of walking street and ask one of the farang guys there!! Dont have an emergency after 2 am!

Thanks, unfortunately it was not in Walking Street, but in soi 7. Running down to beach road, catching a baht bus, explaining the case and having the Tourist police back even if they hurry up, would take minimum 20 minutes...more likely half an hour or more...I fear too long for the kind of thing I witnessed. In fact I never witnessed any fight or even beginning of fight in walking street: it seems the presence of the tourist police has a strong preventive effect :-)

 

I will remember the 1155 phone number though, better than nothing.

 

There were a few thais and thai bar girls around during the "fight" (I do not call this a fight but a one-sided beat up) - no one seemed to react, but they did not seem to find this normal either, more like the absence of reaction of the crowd you often get during aggression in the west..

Edited June 1, 2008 by gregkai

[Ajay75]

yeah i dont look at thai blokes they scare me its as simple as that. how would we like it if the poles started fucking all our english girls

 

Yeah I tend to give groups of young Thais a wide berth even if they dont look like they would do anything. Why risk it and I just dont trust them to be honest.

 

IMO I dont think Patts is that dangerous really. Theres much more chance of getting killed for getting into a ruck in the UK than in Thailand. And at least in Thailand its usually for a reason rather than just for kicks which it seems to be here in blighty. This country is seriously going to shit.

 

Just treat everyone with respect and dont yak yak too much when pissed and its no problem.

[harryp]

I don't know anyone who has had serious trouble in Pattaya, if people follow the op's advice they're more likely to get seriously hurt, stupid post.

[gregkai]

IMO I dont think Patts is that dangerous really.

Yep, I agree, even with what I witnessed: I never had any problem, not felt really threatened. Sometimes, late at night whan walking in soi with very few people (or nobody in sight), it does feel awkard, but this is exactly the same at home. And like at home, I try to avoid this, certainly for soi outside the main avenue beach road/second road/ Walking Street ... can feel scary late at night, when the very few people you see are a few thai men and no girls...Never good to test your luck too many times ;-)

[boostshakalaka]

u can wear a yellow football helmet, tie some pillows to your body and attach a big orange flag to yourself

[habitual]

You guys are giving him too hard a time. His advice is totally reasonable. Except for this gem...

 

- carry a full sized motorbike helmet around, this is great for self defence, or even attacking someone that is hitting you, its even great to protect your head when you receive a group beating off thais

 

 

That was a joke, right?

[oohyah]

I think it is easier to find yourself in trouble in your own country than in Thailand. Treat people how you expect to be treated and you will do fine.

 

I have seen a few newbies wear the Wrath of LB's by shouting out rude comments. As for Pattaya I find it just as safe as Patong, BKK & Changmai.

[bbkvisitor]

Never had any issue ... I am always polite and friendly and never found the Thai people to be anything other than the same. My advice is if you go looking for trouble then you will always find it. But please start looking in your own home town first

[PagMah]

I have never had a problem with violence anywhere in Thailand, drunk or sober, alone or in a group, in city or country, oh sorry, except for being struck by GF or BGs, but that is a monor thing.

I really take a live & let live approach. In particular I avoid any 'staring down' of idiots (you all know what I mean). I figure, they generally are not hurting anybody anyway.

It is often that 'staring down' that can get you in trouble. Thais usually deal with the idiots anyway as they are not good for business.

Liam

[marnie]

yeah i dont look at thai blokes they scare me its as simple as that. how would we like it if the poles started fucking all our english girls

 

 

??? Thats why she said I well down for UK factory work..NOoo!!!!