The bulk of the menu is an array of 30-some styles of pizza, but they also have tacos, enchiladas, steaks, other Italian dishes, and some Thai food. All are excellent, but I always get their Calzone. It's made from scratch - not one of those frozen deals that are usually offered upcountry, where it's difficult to find the proper ingredients locally.
Being homemade, it takes a long time to prepare - nearly 20 minutes. Normally, when eating alone, this would be excruciatingly awkward, as I sat staring at my table while waiting for my food. Fortunately, to help pass the time, The Pizza Shop always has the most recent issue of the Pattaya Weekly, a newspaper from Thailand's notorious tourist town on the Easter Seaboard.
From afar, the Pattaya's beaches look pristine, but you'll never find me in the water - not even to escape a swarm of killer bees. Being next to Thailand's largest sea port doesn't help - neither does the discarded human refuge that occasionally washes up along the shore (see below).
Although Pattaya is one of Thailand's most popular tourist destinations, it also happens to have the worst reputation. For example, if a new acquaintance or someone you don't know asks you if you have ever been to Pattaya, answer - no. They don't want you to recommend a decent hotel or trade travel adventure stories. They're trying to find out whether or not it's safe to leave you alone with their daughter. You see, Pattaya is the adult, real-life version of Pinocchio's Pleasure Island, the Devil's Playground, Sin City.
That being said, I've taken my mom there (there are two sides to every city, I suppose). It just happens to be that Pattaya's shadier side gets all the publicity.
The Pattaya Weekly with it's in-depth review of the past week's murders, robberies, accidents and scandals is mostly to blame. The instinctive curiosity of humans, when it comes to the darker side of life may deserve some of the blame, as well.
These are the headlines from the Pattaya One Newsroom website (similar to the Pattaya Weekly) for the previous week. Keep in mind, this is for a city of roughly 100,000 people - not New York, London, or Rome.
Warning: not for the feint of heart. No respectable crime story is worth publishing without a picture.
HEADLINES
22-09-08
Korean man falls to his death from North Pattaya Hotel.
Civil Engineer brutally shot and killed in front of his home.30 day drug and gun Police crackdown around Chonburi Province begins.
20-09-08
Pattaya Police arrest four women caught with Yabba Tablets (Speed, I think) and a gun.
Floating body spotted in the waters off Island located 8kms off the coast of Pattaya.
10 people injured in high speed road crash.
Two men arrested with Gun after they failed to stop at Police Checkpoint.19-09-08
Further Meeting discusses sustainable tourism here in Pattaya. (Sorry I missed that one meeting)
Traffic Police arrest man with loaded gun near the entrance to Walking Street.Tourist Police arrest Cambodian Sex CD Vendor in Walking Street.
Man attacked and robbed by two so-called Pattaya Police Volunteers.18-09-08
Preparation meeting for the Chonburi Travel Fair 2009.
72 year old Security Guard dies following a fall down a flight of stairs.
Shaken Nurse becomes the next victim of an armed break-in.Medical Emergency on Speedboat at the Bali Hai Port.
17-09-08
Pattaya Ginjai Festival Press Conference.
Mystery surrounds suicide in South Pattaya.
Drama in Soi Kow Tha Low as woman gives birth in her home.
Unusual case involving an armed motorbike theft and abduction of its owner.16-09-08
Pattaya Long Boat Competition Press Conference.
Man killed in early morning shooting in Naklua.
Two women seriously hurt in Sukhumvit Road crash.
Welder seriously hurt as he comes into contact with live power cables.
15-09-08
1st Anniversary for Central Pattaya Bird Shop.
Frenchman attempts suicide in South Pattaya.
Italian prevents bag snatch in Soi Arunotai.
Tourist Police arrest suspected thief operating in Walking Street Discotheque.
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