This is the life; this is life
Assignment Notes
I’m a relatively new resident to Pattaya, Thailand a holiday destination of the eastern coast of Thailand, 2 hours south of the capital Bangkok and I have tried to illustrate within these 2 sets of images a slice of life for both the tourist and the locals.
As a tourist destination, Pattaya can have an unseemly reputation in the eyes of westerners however, it is a major destination for Mainland Chinese and Indians tours, so I have tried to weight the images in this way and avoid obvious nightlife scenes. Also, as we are currently in “low season” the town is relatively quiet and has the slightly sad feeling that all seaside towns have in their closed season, again I have tried to reflect that in the images
I have entitled the assignment “This is the life; this is life” and I have presented the 2 sets as diptychs, pairing the images with the other side each other’s story. The Tourist to the left, locals to the right. Each pair is a slice of how I see both sides, from the point of view someone who involved in the tourist industry on a daily basis.
Tourists and Expats are here to be “living the life”, or their version of it; whereas locals are here living their life. This life may be that of a normal 9-5 job as with the girl collecting her lunch or it could just involve waiting around for hours on end for the waves of tourist. Many workers in Pattaya are migrants from other areas who are drawn to the holiday resort by tourist dollar but for most this just involves them competing against each other for the same few dollars. However, it is not perfect for expats as shown with the slightly unhealthy-looking man, a reflection of the drinking culture that the expats fall into. Also, the demographics of many of tourist are on low-cost tours and do not have the spending power, that perhaps the locals expect.
I have tried to show varied but not eclectic sets of images that show the subtle difference for many between the tourist and the local, everyone is in Pattaya because of many either the lower cost of living for the expat, cheap destination for the tourist and draw of tourist dollar for the local.