Pattaya, Thailand’s busiest seaside resort

Posted by Party Pete on July 7th, 2008 filed in just visiting

The most visited seaside resort in Thailand with more than 12,000 guestrooms available in guesthouses, bungalows and hotels located along Pattaya Beach and adjoining Naklua and Jomtien Beach. Pattaya Beach is the most popular and vibrant area, a crescent of white sand brimming with recreational activity.

According to recent statistics of TAT (Tourist Authority of Thailand), about 30 per cent of foreign visitors in Thailand travel to and stay in Pattaya. Between November and March Pattaya welcomes about one million guests. The majority of these travellers are European, Russian and Middle Eastern package tourists.

Depending on the visitor’s taste, some people may find the beach resort lacking in culture, since the largest part of the destination seems designed to draw foreign visitors interested in a western-style, prefabricated beach holiday with nearly no ‘Thai’ ingredients.

Pattaya is famous for its excellent seafood, though at some restaurants it is rather overpriced by Thai standards. The resort’s lingering notoriety for sex tourism revolves around a selection of transvestite cabarets, discos, and outdoor beer bars comprising its naughty nightlife district at the beach’s south end. South Pattaya’s part known as ‘the village’ draws many lady boys, who pose as prostitutes and ply their trade among the hordes of visiting sex tourists. Pattaya is a beloved destination among gay and lesbian travellers as well. Gay and Lesbian Pattaya
Pattaya’s nightlife is legendary
Pattaya has also become a popular diver’s site and the place represents plenty of good dive schools. Off Pattaya’s shore there are more than a dozen pretty islands, which make great daytrips.