Destinations known | No more prostitutes in Pattaya’s Walking Street, apparently
A recent claim by Thai authorities that there was no evidence of streetwalking in “the sexiest street in Pattaya” has attracted much ridicule, and rightly so
If you think you know Pattaya, the Thai resort city synonymous with sordid sex tourism – think again. It is actually a “world class family destination” with nary a sign of the sex workers who used to solicit in the town’s bars, at least according to a claim by local authorities, news website The Thaiger reported recently.
At 10pm on June 6, a group of more than 20 police officers, soldiers and officials – all in full uniform – conducted an inspection of the city’s Walking Street and “were glad to report there was no prostitution in the area”. The assertion, which was widely repeated in the Thai press, was met with appropriate levels of public ridicule.
As if to show quite how preposterous the insistence that Thailand’s sex capital was now without the industry that first put it on the tourist map was, “special forces” descended on Soi 6, which has been called “the sexiest street in Pattaya”, on June 24 and, lo and behold, found evidence of prostitution.
“The special administrative department of the Pattaya authorities finally showed the police how to find evidence of prostitution,” wrote online news platform ThaiVisa News, which reported that “just a few members of the squad” had busted the fittingly named Coming Bar and found sex for sale from the establishment’s 18 hostesses, one of whom was underage.
Run by an alleged consortium of Chinese, Taiwanese and Thai nationals, the owners were expected to be charged with human trafficking, prostitution and procurement of women for underage sex.