They say that only elderly coffin dodgers are keen on Pattaya history, but Christmas 1994 embodied the traditional calm before the rush to build a concrete jungle. Inflation then usually meant filling a balloon with air, whilst a haircut or a large beer came in at a mere 40 baht/US$1.25. There were no frozen turkeys available and Brussel sprouts were rarer than gold dust. The main commercial excitement on Christmas day was that Spinney’s supermarket had fresh milk. However, they had sold out by 9.30 am.
Technology in those days was hardly worthy of the term. You could forget all about owning a mobile phone unless you had a work permit and the fax machine ruled most written communications. TV was dreadful, but there was a shop on Soi Concrete selling old movies on videocassette to those lucky enough to have a player. Soi Post Office was the main business district and, on Christmas day, the post office itself posted the stark message “We are usually open today”, presumably a misquote for “as usual”.
The Pattaya immigration bureau, then in Soi 8 near several pawn shops, wished everyone a merry xmas but reminded expats not to forget their visa run. 1994 predated most of the annually renewable visas, including retirement and family, and the overnight train journey from Bangkok to Malaysia was usually packed with foreigners heading for Thailand’s Penang embassy. Cambodia and Laos were more or less off-limits although there was a special visa to Vientiane which restricted you to a two miles radius from the main police station.
Christmas dinner was actually an option. The five star hotels, such as Dusit Thani and Royal Cliff, offered delicacies such as mince pies served with a cracker which didn’t crack. In Soi Yodsak, the Poteen Still managed a chicken meal, probably the only bird in the world garnished with mint sauce. Foodland Pattaya, which had opened in 1989, was rumored to have Christmas puddings imported from the US of A for special customers only. The owner of a single cafe unit in Soi Pothole was apologizing that a Christmas menu was out of the question as usual, but suggested catfish and chips as a worthy alternative given the circumstances.
Nightlife was booming howbeit without the crowds. A smaller Walking Street hosted activities which would be unthinkable today involving naked maidens, goldfish, ping pong balls and a tiny dart board. Off-fees were in their infancy and punters might be told the cost of a horizontal leisure pursuit was “up to you”. Christmas lights had not arrived in Pattaya, but a few uniformed Father Christmases were scattered around the classier bars which charged extra for cooling their customers with air conditioning. Boys Town (later Boyztown) owed nothing to Spencer Tracy’s 1938 movie but had recently opened as a cosmopolitan gay venue with hotels, restaurants and clubs.
Pattaya Mail, then the only newspaper around town, was in its second year of life in 1994. Christmas Day was a Friday, the publication day, and the many newspaper stores had lines of buyers anxious to know what was going on for a mere 10 baht/US 30 cents. The hot news that Christmas included a scam about a new Amex credit card which could be used only in Pattaya shops, the overnight theft of electric lights bedecking a seasonal tree on Soi Buakhao and the arrest of a Brit who used a talking parrot to elicit funds. The bird repeatedly announced, “Happy Christmas and 20 baht please.” Some things about Pattaya never change.
