Thread: Pattaya. Is it heaven or hell?

Not a huge fan of the main town of Pattaya (although I live here) but certainly prefer this place and when compared to living in Bangkok.
There seems to be some animosity towards Pattaya and coming from the farangs who live in Bangkok and further up country.
Sure there are scum that frequent Pattaya but no different to the scum you can find in Bangkok and apparently up country as well. You will just find a concentration of these type of people mainly in one area.
I first come to Pattaya in 1985, or there abouts and it was a wonderful place and a great getaway from Bangers.
The traffic these days is getting worse and I very rarely venture into the main city if I can avoid it.
Pattaya is becoming such an expansive urban sprawl and the services and entertainment areas seem to moving out to where all the new housing developments are.
I live in an area surrounded with tropical jungles, can purchase everything that I need within a 2 Km radius, can be on the first tee of 5 international golf courses within 15 minutes, my kids go to a nearby international school and I can still go down to wacky world (and when I feel the need) within a 15 minute drive.
Probably not the best place to live in Thailand but at this stage of my life it suits me just fine.

jomtiem is or soon will be the gay capital

Originally Posted by johngal

jomtiem is or soon will be the gay capital

Have you started a club there or something?

Originally Posted by johngal

jomtiem is or soon will be the gay capital

I infer from that remark that you plan on joining the other pooves who live there, then? thereby increasing the count.

Originally Posted by johngal

jomtiem is or soon will be the gay capital

You are talking out of your arse , if you did a count of the boys bars compared to bars catering for real men ( please exclude yoursef ) you would soon realise that you dont have a fuckin clue what your talking about .

First visited Patters back in 2000, thought it was pretty neat at the time, but then I only stayed for only 2 days cause I was heading out to Cambo.
Girls were ok, no starfish, pretty fun time was had by all.
Was there again in 2006 but only for a day while visiting a buddy of mine and had to be back in Bangers for work the next day
The place is what you make it.
Singletons paradise if you know where its at. Family nightmare if you go to the wrong area.
I voted the middle ground cause its good for single folk and crap for families.
For actually living there like DD and the rest I don't know so the expats there would be the best 'sounding board' for that sort of thing

Jomtiem is worse than Pattaya,

old and dirty buildings, dirty beaches, dirty bars, dirty Russians

^
and dirtydog

I cannot believe the hullaballoo about Pattaya and what it is and or isn't.

Sure we have everything you can imagine (both good and bad) but you will find the same everywhere but at a different scale. What you want, you will find it here and depending about where you go will depend on whether you like it or not.

The thing that pisses me off about the place at the moment is its rapid growth and lack of infrastructure to support the growth. The traffic and on occasions is horrendous and thats why mainly I stay on the darkside now and east of Sukhumvit Road.

As mentioned before I live out in the countryside away from all the good and bad things (and whichever way you look at it) and truly love the environment and the life it offers.

Let the masses run the place down as the people who have made Pattaya their home don't really give a fcuk what the masses think.

Originally Posted by Sparky

Originally Posted by johngal

jomtiem is or soon will be the gay capital

You are talking out of your arse , if you did a count of the boys bars compared to bars catering for real men ( please exclude yoursef )

Quite funny that Johns are described as 'real men' in Pattaya.

Originally Posted by Norton

You can put mayonnaise on a rather aged vagina and dip your french fries in it.

And ketchup on the anus for our American friends.

Originally Posted by EmperorTud

And ketchup on the anus for our American friends.

Do you enjoy that, personally?

Pattaya is a rapidly growing, sprawling city. It has no real CBD, because there is no banking and finance centre as such- thats all in Bangkok. The Downtown is the main tourist areas- but out where I live, we don't tend to go there very often. It owes it's growth to tourism, and increasingly as a retirement destination, part time residence for offshore workers, or an increasing number of expats who work in the industrial zones that pretty much surround Pattaya.

The size of the international community means we have all the falang comforts like supermarkets, bars and restaurants. It's close to the international airport, by high speed road, similarly Bangkok, and there are several International schools. It's reasonably priced too- us locals wince when we go to Bangkok or Phuket.

Every medium sized city has at least one entertainment zone and red light district. The fact that ours is huge is hardly a problem to a resident- you don't have to go there unless you want to, there are plenty of locals bars too where sex and lightening your wallet are not the emphasis. But it's fun sometimes.

And, not far away, you've got pretty good beach destinations in Rayong and Chantaburi. Seafood restaurants by the sea, cheap because the fish are from the gulf of Thailand mostly. Golf courses are dotted everywhere. Theres a racing circuit, polo club, fishing parks, Ko Larn, Ko Samet and Ko Lanta are easily accesible if you want to do the island thing. Theres a sport flying club, diving trips, theme parks, bowling clubs, pool leagues, darts competitions, sailing- you name it.

There aren't many downsides to living in Pattaya really. The weather is nice, and the beer is cheap. The traffic sometimes stinks on the other side of Sukhumvit, but you could say the same about most city centres. The place does certainly attract more than it's share of Nutters- but you know where they are to be found. Certainly there are a load of alcoholics here- but that is shared by most expat communities. I can assure you there is a surprising amount of wealth here too- both local and foreign. You can Hobnob in some fine places if thats your scene, or flash money at the GoGo's if thats your scene. Most of us prefer the casual life actually.

There are few, if any, places that can compete with Pattaya for the sheer variety available for the cost of living here. Tourist Pattaya is just one aspect of the place if you're resident.

Originally Posted by sabang

there is no banking and finance centre as such

Aside from walking street you mean!