Love is Blind

I think most of us would agree that Thai women are amongst the most beautiful in the world. This is regardless of profession or class, because attractive Thai women can be spotted in a beer bar, a bank, a brasserie, or Big C…anywhere, in fact. So can someone please explain to me why a number of foreign men opt for the ugly ones to parade to the world on their arm?

Let me put this in context before my comment sparks a cascade of m acho complaints. I have recently been having my New Year holiday and have therefore not been tied to my desk all day, and so I have had time on my hands enough to stop and smell the roses. As the weather has been so cool, breezy and breathtakingly perfect, I decided to take a long and leisurely walk from Royal Garden to the Dusit along the beach path. I did this one lunchtime, so I was in broad daylight and visibility was startlingly clear. While I was walking along, minding my own business, a couple of things struck me. One was that I was the only farang woman wandering along the path at this time of day. So where were all the other women like me? It was holiday time for most of the people on the planet so surely I couldn’t have been the only foreign female who fancied a healthy stroll along the strand. Another thing that soon smacked me in the face was that the only other walkers were foreign men, many of whom were of a certain age. There were other women along the path, but they were all young, stationary and unmistakably Thai, and it soon became apparent that there was an alternative agenda attached to their presence. Needless to say they were not there to smell the roses! So was I mistaken in thinking that wherever you get foreign men, either single or in small groups, along with seemingly unbusy Thai girls shouting, ‘Where you go mister?’ then some hanky panky is afoot? Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought the police were stamping out this sort of thing along Beach Road, or is it only at night and only the ladyboy scallywags who are targets of the crackdown on soliciting? But I digress. The final thing that became oh so obvious during my innocent wandering was that the majority of these girls, far from being local lovelies, were in fact downright dogs! I hate to say this about my own fair sex, but I regard myself as reasonably normal in what I consider attractive or dodgy in the looks department. For example, I think Angelina Jolie is gorgeous, Beyonce has a great bum and Madonna is fit but a bit sinewy these days. I think that most Thai girls, whether they have dark skin or light skin, hail from Isan or Chiang Mai, are generally very pretty and knock the spots off us pasty, pudding shaped western women. However, the Pattaya girls I spotted at this particular time and in this particular place were scabby, unkempt, greasy haired and not at all well dressed, even by ‘entertainment industry’ standards; old t-shirts and trackie bottoms seemed to be the main sartorial choice. And yet, and here’s what I don’t quite understand, a number of them were on the arms of ardent farangs and had been quite clearly very successful in their attempts to bag a big white boy! So what on earth is going on? Now it occurs to me that, if an ugly woman were to stop a man on the beach at Morecambe and attempt to flirt with him, then she would get very short shrift indeed and he would soon tell her where to go in no uncertain terms. However, when the same scenario is shifted to Pattaya, the man seems to undergo some sort of mental metamorphosis and instantly falls in love – even when the woman is more dog than angel! He then proceeds to proudly show off his new found friend by walking up and down Beach Road with her on his arm whilst gazing into her eyes and speaking words of love. Would a western woman be caught doing this? If asked by an ugly Thai man, ‘where you go, ladeee?’ I think most of us would walk a bit faster, avoid eye contact and cross the road as soon as possible. It might be a different scenario if the man were drop dead gorgeous and of an acceptable height, but generally we ladies do not react positively to being chatted up by strange men while shopping or power-walking. So can anyone offer me any rational explanation as to why, in this land of smiling and welcoming gorgeous girls, a farang man would choose one from the very bottom of the barrel? It is definitely not a case of low self-esteem because both you and I have seen a lot of ugly farang mugs out there who are holding the hands of genuine beauties. Are these sad males that drunk by lunchtime that they can’t tell the difference? Do they come from a country where all the women are so grotesque that even an ugly Thai girl can look like Miss World? Or is love truly blind? And is it actually possible to fall in love in the time it takes to be chatted up under a palm tree on Beach Road? Answers on a postcard please to … Pattaya Today!

Pattaya Improvements:
- It’s great to see that the toilets in Big C, North Pattaya, now provide free toilet paper in the cubicles. No need to keep a supply of tissues in your handbag any more!
- More shops keep appearing on the third floor at Royal Garden, so extend your walking workout to include this extra circuit before heading for the top floor food court!
- Real grass has been laid along the Beach Road path and the statues of children are all absolutely delightful (and offer an alternative sight to old men being picked up by ‘ugly Bettys’!)

By Bee McConville