Loy Toy, I lived in Pattaya for a couple of years, left in 2000.
I remember a falang found dead on Jomtien beach, a gang of youths robbing people in North Pattaya, ladyboys robbing tourists, falang jumping off high rise balconies, drugs galore.
The missus and I were driving back from Jomtien beach, a motor bike drove next to us and the passenger tried to snatch her gold necklace. I swerved, he failed, they sped off, we survived.
I saw a similar incident on Second Road, I think they were successful.
The condo next to ours had the front door smashed, contents stolen.
A passenger on a motorbike driving in front of me dropped his hand gun on the road. I stopped, they stopped, he got off, picked up his gun and we were all on our way.
While driving to work, I would be stopped a couple of times a week by the fuzz to give them 200B for whatever reason they could think of on the day.
It sounds like nothing has changed, Pattaya is still the shitehole it has always been, perhaps you are just getting older.