An experienced Thailand traveller’s opinion on Pattaya

Posted by Party Pete on November 17th, 2007 filed in Beach areas, Entertainment, just visiting, nightlife

Pattaya is one of Thailand’s tourist hot spots and the resort town has a rather remarkable past. Being a good example, Pattaya also provides insight into the transformation of the country’s tourist infrastructure during the last 25 years. Geographically ideally positioned on the Gulf of Thailand and just a little more than 100 miles away from Bangkok, Pattaya provides a great location for short breaks as well as a pleasant holiday destination for millions of foreigners. In addition, Bangkok’s new ultra-modern international airport is situated closer to Pattaya as the old one, which will only be beneficial for Pattaya’s tourism.

The United States were responsible for Pattaya’s drastic transformation from a dull fishing village into a popular and lively vacation resort. It all started when Pattaya, during the Vietnam War, became the ‘rest and relaxation’ destination for thousands of US soldiers on leave. The amount of pubs, go-go bars and other entertainment venues kept on growing to accommodate and serve the many soldiers. When the war was over and most of the US soldiers disappeared, Pattaya now began to attract visitors from Europe. Today, Pattaya is a city with a population of nearly 500,000.
Inside a Pattaya go-go bar

Despite several promotional efforts trying to positively change the town’s image, Pattaya still has a rather negative reputation for being mainly a destination for sex tourists. Often Pattaya was called the globe’s largest open-air whorehouse. Perhaps you agree with this unkind description or not. It is a clear fact that Pattaya houses many go-go venues, girlie bars, sex massage parlours and hotel establishments providing short time rates for sex tourists and prostitutes. Boyztown is the place’s main gay scene and its male go-go bars attract gay males coming from all over the world. Additionally, there are the renowned Thai she-male’s erotic performances. Thailand’s ‘capital of fun’ truly offers a melting pot for all types of (sex) tourists.

Lady boys in Pattaya

The promotional campaigns by the government to clean up Pattaya’s image also had a few positive results. The most significant result was that the resort also was suitable for having family holidays. However, usually families prefer to stay in the dedicated accommodation facilities, which are located further away from the nightlife scene. The beaches, compared with other popular Thai beach areas, are experienced by most visitors as less attractive. There is too much noise created by the many speedboats and jet skiers, while the water is also less clean than at other destinations.

Pattaya beach scene

Also remarkable is the majority of visiting single men, coming from almost every country in the world. Also nearly entirely male is the amount of the resort’s ex-pats. It is understandable to conclude that foreigners choosing to stay a while in Pattaya, wish to make use of the big and dominating sex industry. Pattaya’s ex-pat scene is also responsible for the town’s crime level, as ex-pats range from persons who escaped from severe financial problems in their fatherland, as well as individuals who can’t travel to their country of origin due to criminal convictions there, to more severe crimes and organised criminal networks.
Also notable are the many suicides among foreigners in Pattaya. The most ‘popular’ method they choose is jumping from their apartment balconies. Often these tragic jumps were caused by financial problems (in many cases bad Thai girlfriends suddenly disappeared with all their savings) and the victims were too ashamed to return home. Often the abuse of alcohol leads to deadly accidents, while it also frequently happens that rivals kill each other.
OK, I must admit that so far the given information on Pattaya might be too one-sided. To be honest, Pattaya and the surrounding region boasts several top-class and internationally acclaimed golf courses, while there is a variety of many other attractions, which make Pattaya an ideal ex-pat and retiree destination. However, personally I still experience Pattaya as the most depressing destination, which I have ever visited in Thailand. The scene from a majority of visiting middle-aged, bald, and heavily overweight single Western men along with young, disrespectful behaving, loud and drunk white trash isn’t exactly what I’m looking for. The simple reality is that most of Pattaya’s visitors not come here for absorbing Thai culture and visiting ancient Buddhist temples.

If you are a man not having a relationship and looking for some exciting nightlife adventures within a short distance from the Thai capital, Pattaya might be the ideal place to head to. The place is large, easy to navigate, vibrant, vital, inexpensive and enjoying an all-year round pleasant climate.