Last week, foreign women suspected of being prostitutes were loitering on Beach Road. Officers immediately swooped down and arrested 7 young women from Uzbekistan who, indeed, were loitering and chatting up passing men. At the police station, the women all produced documents showing they had entered the country legally on tourist visas.
The police advised the foreigners that working was not allowed on tourist visas but, as there was no actual proof they were prostitutes, the ladies of the night were released with only a warning. One young lady immediately returned to her chosen spot and began talking in earnest with a Middle Eastern tourist; another said she had heard that Pattaya streets were paved with gold but she had found this generalization to be overstated.