Red Light, Green Light

The title of this blog post sounds like a children's game. But this is not about a game, and it is not meant for children. Because this isn't about the game Red Light, Green Light. This is about Pattaya's redlight district.

Alrica and I watched the second night of the fireworks festival. It was again very beautiful, artistically put together. Then afterwards, we walked along the beach road, heading south. If you head south far enough, like 1.5 km, you reach Pattaya Walking Street.

You might think that this is a pedestrian only area. You'd be right, cars are blocked from entering. You might imagine it was a pedestrian shopping district with cute clothing and cozy cafes. Well, it's not that kind of shopping. There are a few clothing shops and restaurants. But the majority of Pattaya Walking Street are businesses that open up at 10 PM.

I'm talking about clubs, some of which feature live music. Some feature go go girls and pole dancers. And some feature a lot more explicit things than that. As we walked through the district, people came up to us with signs that had pictures of people having sex in various positions. They were selling live sex shows. You could choose what positions you wanted to go see.

All the nudity you could desire, and you can get kebabs! Win win!

Honestly, it was fascinating to see. I found it a bit overwhelming, very crowded, lots of flashing lights, different songs blaring out of different locales. But it was interesting to see. And one part that interested me, and Alrica too, is the Thai people's simultaneous tolerance and intolerance of moral questions. Pattaya Walking Street is not surreptitious. It is out there. It is screaming, look at me! Come see sex acts! And the region has a police presence, not to tamp down on any immorality, but to discourage pickpockets or drunken brawls. It's there to keep tourists safe.

In some ways, this makes a lot of sense. Thailand is known for being pretty open to a lot of things. Bangkok itself is a city where you can do most anything you want. So you would think that the Thai don't legislate about moral behavior. And yet, alcohol sales are limited in Thailand to certain times of day. Recently marijuana was legalized, but that was recently. And visiting pornographic websites is not allowed in Thailand. They are blocked.

It's a confusing question: Are you opposed to these behaviors or do you just shrug. Why is it against the rules to watch recorded sex acts over the internet, but if you are willing to pay to see them live inside a club, then hey, go for it. What's the reasoning?

Personally, I have no problem with Pattaya Walking Street (aside from the overstimulation, which is a dangerous word to use in this instance.) I'm also okay with a community or country passing laws to protect its culture and respect its limits. But what I don't understand is the partial nature of it. Why is A allowed and B prohibited? It's like the laws themselves are a game of Red Light, Green Light.