Pattaya by Night

From Robin's Travel Blog

From Robin's Travel Blog

Looks as if my hopes of doing some diving are not going to come to anything.  In being forced to switch from Phuket to Pattaya, I had forgotten these locations are subject to different weather systems.  Phuket is good in the winter months during the North East monsoon season, whilst the reverse applies to Pattaya.  End result – there is a tropical storm affecting the Gulf of Thailand which rules out diving for the next few days.

Pattaya is apparently famed for its night life. Having sampled it last night I can see why - I won’t go into details here.  One place of interest I came across was the Blues Factory, off Pattaya’s famed Walking Street (both pictured).  The resident band was headed up by a guy who is apparently Thailand’s number one rock guitarist. I had actually seen him perform once before in Bangkok and can confirm that he is pretty good at what he does.  He is a ‘70s throwback, looking like a Thai version of Richie Blackmore (or more accurately, his grandfather). Anyway, the band gave an entertaining performance.

It’s looking as if Bangkok airport is going to be closed until at least 3 December, so my plan to fly to Cambodia is not going to work. I have been researching overland travel and it seems that I can get a mini bus from Pattaya to Siem Reap easily enough.  Once in Cambodia, I can fly back from Phnom Pen to Bangkok, if open by 6th, or to Singapore if not. Slightly ironic this. There was a time when people tried to escape the killing fields of Cambodia by fleeing into Thailand. Now I find myself doing the reverse!