One of the draws to Thailand was the apparent inclusiveness and diversity of people. We see it everyday. A primarily Buddhist country, but the morning calls to prayers echo through our windows from the local mosque, as the sun shines off of Big Buddha. The lady at the pharmacy may in fact not be a lady but no-one cares. So it was with anticipation we took to the road to Patong to see the annual Gay Pride Parade.
They do not tend to over label the event with trying to include every possible sexual orientation, in the guise of inclusiveness. It is a reflection of the community and the term is inclusive in itself.
Unlike most parade that are supposed to start sometime around noon. I have never seen one actually start on time anywhere I have seen these. And I did spend a few years involved in organizing and marshaling, so I know that a start time is a best guesstimate. This one is scheduled, depending on your source of information sometime between 4 and 5 PM. The good thing about this type of start time, is that the main heat of the day is finishing, and the evening coolness is setting in about the time it is finished. The good news for future planning is that is is usually always around the same date time frames.
We made our way along the western coastline, watching the beach goers returning to their hotels. Some in severe need of after-sun care. The evening markets were just beginning to get going and the traffic was reasonable, with not so many tourists wandering onto the streets, with the expectation they are still back in their home country and that pedestrians have rights. They have recently made changes to the traffic in Patong and freed up much needed public parking. So we were able to find space along the beach road with relative ease, and popped in to a sidewalk bar for some cold beer. The heat of the day was intense, as the sun was setting across the water from us. And so I am now used to the waiter bringing glasses and a bucket of ice when you order a bottle of beer. You need to. The ice tends to melt just prior to getting to the bottom of the glass and you have gotten a boost of hydration with the melted water added to the beer.
My previous experience with these types of parade has been the traffic control issues. And in most similar events organizers have to pay the police to have traffic control and you cannot have the parade without an official permit and "X" number of police. My experience here has been that parades seem to occupy a portion of the roadway, and you may see a police officer at some point along the route. As we sipped our second beer, we noticed that the traffic flow seemed to be thinning, and so we crossed the road to check it out and sure enough, the parade had begun. People began to stop on the sidewalks and come out of their respective work places to line the streets, as the parade worked it's way through the traffic, occupying, for the most part, the right hand lane, as motorbikes, ice trucks and tuk-tuks continued their daily traffic patterns. People dressed in traditional Thai costume lead the procession, a theme that would carry on through out the entire parade.
And then the mix of "Show Girl" lady boys with huge feathered head dresses and elaborate costumes walked between the occasional transport truck flatbed truck.
The flatbed trucks were mostly entered by the big name bars in Patong, and they had lots of scantily dressed guys dancing in their speedo's or near see through short-shorts. The colour theme was lots and lots of gold body paint with glitter.
Accompanying them would be the occasional XXX+ Large drag queen, in outfits that I think were meant to accentuate their largess.
With no crowd control, and honestly it was not needed, many of the bystanders would simply walk into the parade to take a close-up photo of one of the participants or to pose and have their picture taken with the performers. This tended to cause much halting and stopping and then a rush forward to catch back up, as the space created had now become occupied with a truck or some motorbikes of the people trying to get down beach road and around the parade.
About this time, I had become aware of a consistent observation. The amount of people in the parade who were drinking beer and smoking cigarettes. And the bystanders who were similarily imbibing. And shock of shock, no harm, no fights, no rowdiness. Just plain good fun with a cool beer and a smoke on a hot tropical afternoon of music and partying.
I have become accustomed to Pride parades that seem to measure their success on how many entries there are and to the point that after 2 or 3 hours, you are still looking at an endless stream of people and floats. The good thing about the Patong parade was that all in all it was perhaps 45 minutes long. The parade was followed by an ambulance and a police pick-up truck. As we saw the end of the parade, we headed to the main party area of soi Paradise. Where the street had been swathed in every possible combination's of rainbow adornment, and music thumping away while the beer and shooters flowed. The parade participants in full costumes mingled wit the spectators and of course posed whenever there was a chance for a photo op. As I tend to scan my environs, I soon became aware of the people on the second and third stories of the buildings that line soi Paradise. Ladyboys with breasts swinging, well actually pointing, in the wind, hanging out the windows and calling down for photo ops. Others in their hotels looking and taking photo's but not coming down to masses in the streets. And because soi Paradise is the exit road from a major hotel, soon the tour buses with the hotel guests, taxi's and delivery vehicles began to wind their way through the bar crowds and the posing performers. Some of the tourists seemed rather taken aback at finding themselves surrounded in this mass street party. And most of the people on their motorbikes, simply stopped while a Lady Gaga impersonator would straddle and gyrate on their front tires. Or a man in very little clothing posed suggestively with his imitation machine gun, licking the barrel.
All of the activity also drew tourists from the main street to come and see what the commotion was all about. And I saw many a photo taken by some of these tourists with the costumed performers, all giddy and leaving as quickly as they had come.
There had been three days of festivities and this was the culmination of the events for the week. And being as old as I am, the parade and the "tea party" were enough for me, and we headed off, passing on the later night festivities still to come.
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