Pattaya is probably best known for its night life. For the curious, this is a good place to see a “Tiffany Show”, where stunningly attractive transsexuals dress in incredibly elaborate costumes and perform gracefully choreographed song and dance numbers on stage. There are also a wide range of go-go bars and discotheques to explore on Walking Street, which is the center of Pattaya’s nightlife.

By day, Pattaya offers a large number of intriguing diversions that are hard to find in most other parts of Thailand. A great entertainment option is the Million Years Stone Park and Pattaya Crocodile Farm, whilst visitors can ride the mighty beasts at the Elephant Village. The world class aquarium at Underwater World Pattaya has beautiful displays of local sea life and you can see scale replicas of Thailand’s key attractions in Mini Siam. Also popular with visitors to Pattaya is Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum, and the sign for this can clearly be seen for the beach front.

Pattaya is a great place to let off some steam, and the go cart course and shooting range and good places to do just that, whilst the many spas and massage parlours offer a different way to unwind.

The festival, which will run from the 10th to the 17th of March, has been established in order to celebrate the ancient art of Muay Thai boxing. I’ve been to see a few Muay Thai fights during my time in Thailand, and although I was aware that it was a very popular sport here, I didn’t realised that it crossed borders to any larger extent than the odd western bloke giving it a go on his holidays. This, of course, was a very naive attitude and I have since learned that Muay Thai is now one of the world’s most popular martial arts.

So for anyone who really does know what they’re talking about when it comes to Muay Thai, the Ayutthaya Stadium will be the venue for the festival, where traditional ceremonies will be performed before a bout of matches and tournaments. There will even be training workshops on offer to the novices, so maybe I should give it a go and see what all the fuss is about.

The now annual event attracted petrol heads from all over Thailand and the world, and plenty of rubber has been burnt on the streets of Pattaya over the last few days.

Festivities started with the bikers’ parade around the city before a good, old-fashioned knees-up at the Hardrock Hotel.

The after-party was held at the stadium in Soi Chaiyapruek, and although many did, I’m not sure anyone was in a fit state to ride home afterwards.

Continuous shows and drinks flowed throughout the night and the festival atmosphere was helped along by the vast amounts of visitors choosing to camp out around the stadium for the night.

I’ve never ridden more than the most modest scooters myself, but I must admit that even I feel a surge of adrenaline when I hear those big motors roaring.

But while I will always be a little envious of the guys and gals who ride these monsters with such style, I just don’t think I could handle the leathers in this heat!

It happend in broad daylight at around 3pm. It is thought that the man’s head came into contact with high-voltage power lines while he was working high up installing a sign.

Officers attended the scene in Soi Mab Bon and found 33-year-old Nikom Unnamthieng unconscious and with blood coming out of his nose.

He was only wearing fragments of clothing and had suffered severe burns.

He is currently in the burns department at Chon Buri Hospital after being transferred from the local facility.

The incident is a shocking one, but surely one that could have been avoided if someone was supervising the project’s safety.

I can’t imagine how horrific it was for anyone unlucky enough to have witnessed the accident and, of course, for the injured man and his family.

After the success and the frivolity of this week’s annual Pattaya Bed Race, it comes as a bit of a shocking blow to hear about the body of an unknown man which was found floating just off the coast of Sattahip yesterday.

The body was found by a fisherman at around 5.30am while on his way back to Prateung fishing pier. The man had deep cuts in his neck and his leg and is believed to have been in dead for as long as four days.

The nationality of the man, who was wearing black shorts and a red T-shirt, is not yet known, but he is suspected to be Thai. He is thought to have been around 30-years-old and he has a tattoo on his left arm of the number 83.

A murder and attempted cover up has not been confirmed but is strongly suspected and an investigation is currently underway.

 What a horrible way to end the week.

 Hot off the press is news that on February 13^th(that’s the day before Valentine’s Day for all you useless men out there), Pattaya will play host to what is scheduled to be the world’s biggest speed dating event.

 The current record, which was set in 2008 by Germany’s Dating Cafe GMBH, stands at 252 participants, but I think we can beat it.

While there may be a lot of single people living it up in Pattaya, those who have been here for a while often feel the need for something a little more meaningful.

 If you want to register for the event, which is being organised by Sanook online dating service and Ripley’s World of Entertainment Pattaya, you can do so free of charge on the Sanook website.

And while everyone knows that you can’t hurry love, this could be your chance to speed it up just a little. If all else fails, it will at least give you the opportunity to catch up with all your exes!

A German tourist, believed to have been drunk, crashed into and killed an Italian tourist who was also riding a motorcycle in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The 29-year-old, Davide Tomast, died of head injuries in a soi off South Pattaya Road at around 5:30 in the morning. It is believed that Norbet ran into to side of Tomast’s motorcycle at high speed as the Italian was riding away from the soi.

The German, 38-year-old Raimund Norbet, was also severely injured and was sent to Pattaya Memorial Hospital. Police are preparing to arrest Norbet as soon as he is released.

Once you have lived in Thailand for a while, drunk driving and motorcycle crashes become part of the fabric of life and everyone knows someone who has experienced a loss due to a combination of these factors.

While the police might not be here to breathalyse you as soon as you step out of the bar, be assured that they will be there the moment you get out of hospital.

The man, who has been identified as 40-year-old Poliakov Oleg, was said to have been diving by the coral off the coast of Bang Lamung when the gruesome incident happened.

He is believed to have been about 300 metres from the shore, outside of the dive zone and towards Koh Larn, when he was caught in the boat’s propellers.

The boat driver, who has since been arrested for reckless driving, was transporting a group of Chinese tourists to the island of Koh Larn in his privately-owned boast when he ran into the Russian. He said he did not see the man swimming with his friends.

My sympathies go out to the friends and family of this man who ended his holiday in such tragic circumstances. I think this incident must be a lesson to us all, divers and boat drivers alike, that when it comes to the water around Pattaya, nobody rules the waves.

Perhaps the best option is to hire a car. There are plenty of rental companies at the airport and the highways are good – it’s about a 90 minute drive if the traffic is good. Having rental gives you the freedom to explore the area. Although you can rent a car on arrival we strongly advise you to book a hire car online beforehand.

Daily rail services operated by the State Railways of Thailand depart from Bangkoks’s Central Hua Lamphong Railway Station. The voyage will take around three hours, 30 minutes. Non- air conditioned trains depart at 06:55 and stop at South Pattaya as well as at North Pattaya. A one-way train ticket costs about 40 baht. Travellers can get detailed travel information by calling: 1690, 0 2223 7020 or 0 2223 7010.

From the two main bus terminals in Bangkok, frequent coaches leave to Pattaya throughout the day. The duration of the bus trip is about two hours, 30 minutes.
From Bangkok’s Morchit 2 Bus Terminal, located on Kamphaeng Phet 2 Rd, every 30 minutes between 04:30 and 20:00 a bus departs to Pattaya. The one-way bus fee will cost around 100 baht. Travellers may call Rung Ruang Tour for more information, Tel: 0 2936 3509.

In addition, between 05:00 and 23:00 buses to Pattaya depart every 30 minutes from the Ekkamai Terminal on Sukhumvit Rd. A one-way ticket buses leave for Pattaya every half an hour from 5 a.m.-11 p.m. The price for a one-way ticket is about 95 baht. Call Rung Ruang Tour at: 0 2712-3928 or 0 2391 9829 for information.

Bangkok Air operates daily flight services from Koh Samui as well as Phuket to Utapao Airport in Pattaya. Up-to-date flight information is available by contacting their Bangkok office, Tel: 0 2229 3456 or by visiting the airline’s official website

Wheelchair Holidays is specialised in organising Thailand vacations for wheelchair based travellers. Dedicated services provided by this tour operator include: transportation to and from the airport, convenient purpose constructed bungalows, excellent dining and highly professional caretakers if requested.

Wheelchair Holidays has been organising accessible vacations as well as escorting groups on trouble-free holidays exclusively for wheelchair users, slow walkers, disabled persons and their friends and families.

The company’s nurses enjoyed professional training courses, which give emphasis  to  young as well as older disabled people’s care, both in  practice and theory, meaning that  all  nurses  provide professional care to your loved  ones  by  reporting and observing any changing  symptoms. 

Wheelchair Thailand Travel Services