Do tell:
Extreme Makeover for 'Red Light' City - WSJ.com
Few cities have a raunchier reputation than the Thai beach resort of Pattaya.This one-time fishing village, notorious as an R&R hot spot for U.S. servicemen during the Vietnam War, draws mostly male visitors from as far away as Europe and North America to its 1,000-plus girlie bars and go-go joints.
When ad agency Leo Burnett was asked to create a slogan for Pattaya, as part of its work in 2001 for the state-run Tourism Authority of Thailand, the firm came up with “Extreme City.” Some city officials thought the phrase had a negative connotation and persuaded the mayor not to adopt it.
“In the past, anyone who valued their reputation would never admit to visiting there,” says Paul Logan, a vice president for InterContinental Hotels Group Asia Pacific.
Why must everywhere be family friendly? Where are the resorts catering to me, the atheistic, childless, over-sexed type? Even Las Vegas wants to transform into Disney World. Bleh.
Luckily, it sounds like Pattay has a ways to go before Thomas Moaghan will visit:
One visitor from a market Pattaya is trying to crack, Mehmet Fakioglu of Istanbul, recently made his first sojourn here. The minerals exporter said he and his wife “were shocked at what we saw. ... In Europe, you have cities with red-light areas. This whole city is red light.” Prostitution isn't a crime in Thailand. Police in Pattaya are trying to keep flagrant solicitation away from family areas.All over Pattaya are the contrasts of a town in transition. On the edge of the red-light district, a swank new Asian-European fusion restaurant called Mantra recently opened. Among the signature features of Accor's Pattaya Mercure are the condoms in every room's mini-bar, offered up in a red box that “matches the decor,” General Manager Erwann Mahe proudly notes. At the same time, the Mercure's dozen “family suites” feature Sony PlayStations and cartoon wallpaper.
The Hard Rock Hotel Pattaya cultivates a family-friendly image with volleyball games in what it claims is Pattaya's biggest swimming pool -- just a few blocks from a string of bars leading to “Walking Street,” the red-light district's main thoroughfare. Meanwhile, police make sweeps of streetwalkers on the beachfront, advising them to take classes in hairdressing or cooking at the “Fortune of Life Center” for vocational training near city hall.
...
Yet even Pattaya's boosters say there are limits to the image makeover. As city council chairman Tawich Chaiswangwong notes, “People don't come to Pattaya city to pray.”
smart man.
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Tags: sex
