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There are a few times a year when schools are closed and I am given a long weekend. Buddhist Lent happens to be one of those times. The start of Buddhist Lent was on Saturday July 28, 2018 and ends at the end of October.

Before deciding to go somewhere during this four day weekend, I did not know that this was the reason for the short holiday. I am given a calendar from the school on special days during the year, but it is all in Thai and I just ask when there isn’t school.

That being said I was looking at going to Vietnam, but with visa costs and having to apply for another entry on my work visa for Thailand, I decided it wasn’t worth going for only two days. I then contacted my friend in Bangkok who is also a teacher, and we decided to go to Pattaya.

Pattaya is known for sex tourism and a lot of craziness. However, because of Buddhist Lent there were no alcohol sales from the 27-28. That meant that all the bars were closed, and all the stores were not allowed to sell ANY alcohol. Let’s just say this made Pattaya a lot more enjoyable. All the bars that usually had dancers on the bars, and were open 24 hours, were all deserted. Only the owners and a few workers were there lounging around watching TV and lets be honest, probably cleaning and bleaching everything.

During my stay in Pattaya, I flew down from Chiang Mai to Bangkok on Thai Smile. I arrived late in Bangkok on July 26, met my friend at the airport and together we rode down to Pattaya in a private taxi that we hired through our accommodation. It took about one and a half hours to get to Pattaya. There are quite a few tolls to pay if you ever decide to drive down yourself.

We stayed at The Base in Pattaya which were very nice condos a short walk from the beach. We each had our own apartment because the original apartment we booked had damage from the previous renter. The building had a swimming pool, fitness center, rooftop garden, and security guards.

I spent Friday the 27th walking around the city and checking out the beach. The beach in Pattaya honestly wasn’t that nice. It is very narrow and the water isn’t that clear. The boats treat the area like a parking lot, and just anchor wherever they chose which ruins the view. The was a Central Festival shopping center close by and the Night Bazaar with plenty of food options. I did notice that there was a lot of Indian, and Middle Eastern restaurants.

On the 28th we went to a neighboring island called Koh Larn. We took the ferry for only 30 baht one way. The ferry takes about 30-45 minutes. Once we got to the island we went to Samae Beach on a motorbike taxi for 50 baht per person. It was still early in the day that we were able to rent some loungers before more people started to show up. And let me tell you, they did show up. By around noon the beach was filling up and by 2pm the beach was full of people.

The beach itself is nice. The water is clear, there are no rocks in the sand and it’s a gradual decline into the ocean without a sudden drop from the sand. The only thing to watch out for are the people walking around selling stuff. There were people selling handbags, wallets, jewelry, ice cream, and souvenirs. It does get a little annoying after a while because they just walk up and down the beach all day hoping that someone will buy something. The one thing was was nice about being on the island, was that alcohol was being served. So yes, I did have my pina colada on the beach.