Pattaya

This is one of the most overwhelming places I have ever been in my life. The contrast of conservatism and overtly lewd sexuality is just not something I am able to grasp, at all. There are children sleeping on the streets. There are so, so many foreigners... Most of the old white men here are accompanied by a young Thai woman. The water of the beach is as warm as the air. There's beautiful brown skin everywhere and a wall of "beauty"/whitening agents at every 7-11. If you meet one of the hundreds of women lounging at a bar, craning her neck to see you, you can pay to take her to your hotel. There is Indian, Chinese, every food imaginable in this small square radius. Massage parlors, tattoo parlors, piercings, women walking the streets. You can buy t-shirts, knives, and dildos on the sidewalk. I walked into an alley that was the polar opposite of the rest of my experience -- men were trying to get me, not Samuel to come into their bar with shirtless men in them. Along with flyers for virtual reality, people shove pictures of women with spread legs into your face advertising ping pong ("pussy writing/razors") shows. There are foreign families with their children in tow, exposed to it all. I could go on and on, but... Everyone is grinding to keep their head above water. Is anyone that lives here not hustling?

Tonight I spent 500 baht at a go-go bar. Not even $15. I bought myself a crappy canned cocktail to assure myself nothing was in my drink. I bought one for a nervous dancer that was sitting in the corner with her legs shaking. I bought balls to throw at the dancers onstage so they could accept the tips (it's extremely rude to crumple up baht). And still I spent only $14.38. These women are dancing half-nude (and more) in a place you shouldn't show your knees or shoulders. 

How is this fair? 

I don't like being a "stupid foreigner" and being screwed over, and I have a lot of pride... but I am completely re-examining that mindset. 

Tomorrow we go to Koh Lan.