Pattaya is, however, a surprisingly inoffensive haven for the love-dispossessed - wrinklies, plug uglies & handicapped mix it with arabs, military personnel & stressed love refugees who have three things in common: they have money to spend, they are hot for sleek young Asians & they have all the fashion sense of a third-degree burn. Interestingly Thai men mostly don't seem bothered that many of their prettiest girls/boys are running around with butt-ugly foreigners. The hired hands too appear relaxed & tolerant & often spend a couple of weeks travelling around Thailand - especially to proper beach resorts - with men who treat them like princesses & pay them enough to support their families for a year. Love & /or marriage are not uncommon results of these liaisons.

With its murky sea, streets packed with highrise hotels, & touts on every corner, PATTAYA is the epitome of exploitative tourism gone mad. The town swarms with male & female prostitutes, & plane-loads of Western men flock here to enjoy their services in the rash of go-go bars for which "Patpong-on-Sea" is notorious. Yet watersports facilities here are among the best in the country, & it's not a bad place to learn to dive, though the reefs off the Andaman Coast are more spectacular.