The Thailand expat forum for Travel, Lifestyle and Fun.

Sparky

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 .

Slipstream

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

Butterfly

Jomtiem is worse than Pattaya,

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

Thetyim

^
and dirtydog

Loy Toy

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.

bkkmadness

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

EmperorTud

And ketchup on the anus for our American friends.

jandajoy

Do you enjoy that, personally?

sabang

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.

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To err is human. To blame someone else is politics.

Norton

Aside from walking street you mean!

dirtydog

I think sabang summed up Pattaya real well, well, apart from the easy access to Koh Lanta, it really does have just about everything you can think of and is dirt cheap, if you want cheap drinks then early evening in the Walking Street agogos are bargain prices, no idea what times the happy hours end but prices are no where near Bangkok prices during non happy hours.

Restaurants in Pattaya we have basically everything times 10 of anywhere else in Thailand.

Beaches we got about 100 within 30kms of each direction out of Pattaya.

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The Fresh Prince

I voted "Hell" coz right now I can't stand it but when I die, I hope I get sent there.

sabang

Whoops- meant Ko Si Chang, sorry. Said to be nice- but never been there.

peterpan

You wanna see floating turds in the sea ? we got em by the ton.
Avaricious Songtow drivers ? we got em too.
Yaabaa heads ? have them by the ton.
Real crooked cops, imitation crooked cops ? have them in any colour you like.
Dirty rotten whores ? yep in abundance, on the beach under the bridge you can do it where you like.
Rock candy? nah we havn't got that fvck off back to Blackpool.

sabang

Every colour except one PP- they don't bother us on the roads. One of the occupational hazards of driving on the roads up north- and even in Bkk I believe- is getting pulled over and extorted on the roads for 'speeding', whether you were or not. Never happens here, unless you're riding a motosai without a helmet. I assume they're on much more lucrative scams, so don't bother.

Crime here is worse than the rest of Thailand, except maybe Phuket. Mainly house breakings, much of it blamed on yaba heads. Usual precautions- don't flaunt gold chains, and secure your house. I reckon anyone wearing gold chains in central Pattaya is nuts, but people still do it. Unfortunately, heard of an incident out here recently where a motosai grab was done on an elderly Thai lady with one of those gold 'rope' chains- she came off her bike, and is in hospital with a broken hip and various cuts and bruises. Name your variety of Weirdo, be it farang or Thai, and Pattaya is a haven for them.

Most locals would love to see another Thaksin style crackdown on yaba heads.

So I hear, but I only catch ST on the standard routes, therefore pay standard prices- 10 bht, or 20 bht to Jomtien, hardly extortionate. Quick tips- never get in an empty ST, never hire one private unless you absolutely have to, and in high season pull the ST over just past where you want to get off, put the correct money in their hands say 'khraap' and just walk away against the flow of traffic. If you want real extortionate bastards, check out Phuket.

Heh- Naklua's even worse, theres a sewerage outlet there.

drgreg9899

Pattaya is my heaven. It's too bad there is only one of me. Booze any hour, Babes any hour and beach any hour. Hello can it be any better!!!!

DrG

rubik101

I go to Pattaya for the antique/distressed furniture shops. Some of the stuff is good and some is crap, a bit like the city itself.

sabang

The antique Grandfather clock collection behind Number one bar near Mabprachan is a Gem.

smeden

in pattaya it is your fantasy there are the limit if u can think it it is there there is somthing for ewrybody

iamthai

why? pattaya is nice place for travel but have people from other place just make mistake often times,it;s bad
however i like pattaya ,it's near my home town ,Bangsaray you know i ihink it's best town.