Pattaya, Thailand for New Year’s Eve

We left Bangkok after sleeping very little from our night out with Kish to get to Pattaya, Thailand for New Year’s Eve. We ate our free breakfast at the Bangkok City Hotel, packed up the bags on the bike and headed out late morning for Pattaya. It seems we never get the early starts we want, but the previous night with Kish was more than worth leaving late this morning. I guess we were getting primed the night before at the red light district of Bangkok for Pattaya, which people tell us is a big red light district in-of-itself. New Years Eve In Pattaya will be epic.

Run In With The Cops

With GPS attached, we navigated smoothly through the city streets of Bangkok and hopped on highway 7 which should take us directly to Pattaya. We were on the Highway for about half an hour when a police car pulled up next to us and told us to pull over. I ignored him and smiled and waved at him and kept on riding hoping he would just leave me alone. That didn't work. He continued to motion for me to pull over with a smile on his face and I obliged. Apparently, no motorbikes on this highway, no signs saying so, or if they were any... they were in Thai.

I tried to say that I didn't speak Thai and he said in broken English that we needed to follow him to the station and pay a fine. I tried to tell him I was only following my GPS and didn't know that motorcycles weren't allowed on highways. That didn't work either. I then got the phone out, and called our good friend Tar from the Special Forces Division of the Thai Army.

Tar To The Rescue!

I apologized to Tar for having to call him again, and like before in Bangkok, he was more than accommodating and kind. We handed the phone over to the cop and he spoke with Tar for a minute, handed the phone back to us and gave us the same weird look we got from the cop in Bangkok, then he got in his car and left. THAT WORKED! UNBELIEVABLE!!!!! It's truly not what you know, but who you know. We figured we should get off the highway and find an alternate route which took us an hour out of our way. After a long and hot ride, we arrived in Pattaya at about 5pm and made our way to the Furama Hotel in Jomtien Beach (south Pattaya)

The Furama Hotel - Jomtien Beach

We arrived and unpacked and when we arrived to our 29th floor room. Our jaws dropped!!! Unbelievable room with a huge balcony overlooking the Bay of Thailand from the 29th floor! The room was stylish, clean and well equipped. 42 inch plasma, awesome bathroom and the bed was soft with plenty of pillows. We were in heaven. We enjoyed the stay at the hotel, but the only problem was getting Buddha out of the hotel and to an area to go to the bathroom undetected. We often times had to take him out on the bike and go somewhere. He consequentially pooped a couple of times on the bathroom floor... probably our fault for not taking him out as much as we normally do. There were two pools, breakfast buffet included and the views were unmatched in Pattaya.

Bali Hai Pier New Years Eve Festivities

We were ready for some fun and headed on motorbike to Bali Hai Pier where everything was going down. We stopped by a mini-mart and met some Russians, a girl named Marina and two guys named Jon. They were nice and we sat out front talking to them for a while. Pattaya is FULL of Russians. I am not sure if it's a New Year thing, or if they simply go to Pattaya, Thailand for vacations, but they were in every restaurant, hotel, club and mini-mart in large numbers. I felt at times as if I were in Russia. Strange.

We parked the bike outside of town and went to the walking street that connected the Pier with the town, and sat and people watched on some stairs in the heart of the action. We walked down to the stage and pier, and realized it was simply too crowded. It was literally elbow to elbow, with people breathing down your neck and you breathing down someone elses. We went back to the stairs to people watch some more. We got an absolute vodka 5th of alcohol and some orange drink and sat there for while and we saw our Russian friends from the Mini-Mart earlier that night again.

Getting Drugged

The Russians said they were going to Club Mixx and that we should join them. We didn't want to walk back to the pier until after New Years fireworks etc.. but decided to go with them anyway. We made it to the club, which was a couple blocks from the pier at about 10 until midnight and rang in the New Year to a HUGE fireworks display and people packed in the streets cheering and kissing. It was great!!! We really enjoyed it. We then went in the club and danced around for a while. Then tragedy struck!!!

I realized something was wrong with Shelly as we were dancing and it changed to more leaning on me than dancing. We had only had maybe 2 drinks, and weren't drinking much due to having a bike that I would need to ride home later that evening. I told Shelly we needed to get off the dance floor.... half wondering if when she went to the bathroom with the Russian Girl.... if they pounded some hard liquor or something.

Getting Shelly Out of the Club and Detoxing

She suddenly looked trashed and dazed. I sat her down by the DJ booth and went and got her a water. I was gone 4 minutes tops, and when I came back she was nearly incoherent and I had to practically carry her out of the club. I knew it wasn't alcohol at this point. Something else was wrong. She got drugged somehow. Sweating a lot, cool skin, and flushed face. My nursing background knew that she needed to get whatever was in her out. I brought her outside and sat her down on a chair and for then next two hours, I made her drink 4 bottles of water. Every time she drank one, she would vomit, until all of Simon's fish was out and any other foreign substance in her body. The fourth bottle she kept down, and just as fast as she slipped into her stupor, she was out of it.

Camaroon Pro-Football Player Hits Us

I told her we needed to walk at this point and get her body moving. At about 3am we headed home. On our way home, some guy from Cameroon, Africa almost ran directly into Shelly on his motorbike while we were walking, yet still clipped her with his mirror. Can this night get any worse!?!?!? Poor Shelly! I told the guy to get off his bike and apologize, he would not and said it was her fault that she was on a street and he had the right of way. I argued with the guy for about 10 to 15 minutes and he threatened to call the police. I told him to do so, and when they get here, I will call my friend Tar again, and send the policeman packing. Nothing came of it, but a bruise on Shelly's left side, and really a horrible night in general. Overall a strong beginning to Pattaya for New Year's Eve, and a weak ending

Relaxing After New Years

The next day we spent simply relaxing. Shelly was still not feeling her best, we hung out at the pool and got some sun and enjoyed our room. Interesting point..... Here in Thailand for new years they have these mini hot air balloons they let off at night.(Chinese Lanterns). It's really pretty, although really just littering. It's a fiberglass like bag/lantern with a cross-member at the bottom with a sterno-likedisk attached. They light the sterno canister below the lantern, then send the flaming bag up into the night sky. It's kind of neat how you see lanterns floating all over the place in the night sky from our 29th floor opulent pad.

Change In Perspective

The overall stay in Pattaya, Thailand for New Year’s Eve was a good one. New Years Eve was a bummer, but at least I didn't get drugged too. Can you imagine how horrible it would have been to try to carry me out of the bar? This could have happened anywhere.... unfortunately it happened to Shelly on New Year's Eve in Thailand. We Left on the 2nd of January for another Island get away called Ko Samet. We only had one beach day in Pattaya, and really wanted more! Why is the universe trying to keep us off the beach!?!?!?!