Pattaya
An expat's view on Pattaya...
Pattaya has a quite remarkable history and has closely reflected the changes within Thailand's tourist industry for the last few decades. Conveniently located 165 kilometres southeast of the countries capitol, Bangkok and on the pleasant Gulf of Thailand, it is perfectly situated for short breaks from the city or holidaymakers passing through the country. Furthermore, the creation of the new Suvarnabhumi international airport, which is even closer to Pattaya, can only galvanise Pattaya's position as being Thailand's best known resort.
Historically, Pattaya was nothing more than a sleepy fishing village, initially used for tourism by wealthy Thais in the mid twentieth century, it really started taking off as a holiday resort during the Vietnam war era, when U.S. soldiers used the town for rest and relaxation and inevitably with that came bars, prostitution and rapid growth. After the end of the war and the disappearance of most of the soldiers, the town started attracting European visitors when the rise in mass tourism brought holidaymakers to this part of Asia. Pattaya developed into a city of half a million people.
The hard reality of Pattaya is that it's a well known destination for sex tourism. It has often been referred to, perhaps unkindly, as the biggest open air brothel in the World. Whether you agree with that or not is up to you but it is undeniable that it has a vast number of girlie bars, gogo bars, massage parlours (operating as brothels) and short time hotels to cater for the demand from prostitutes and their clients. There is also an area of Pattaya's nightlife well known amongst gay travellers, known as Boyztown, with gay gogo bars that draw gay men from all over the globe. Add to this Thailand's World famous lady boy shows (known in the Thai language as Kathoeys), with elaborate transsexual shows on offer in Pattaya, sin city is a real melting pot for all tastes.
Interestingly, due to recent attempts by the authorities to promote a more wholesome Image for the resort, there has been some increase in families visiting for a holiday but these tend to stay in dedicated resort properties. The beaches are poor by most people's expectations of Thailand, massive overuse of jet skis and speedboats make the beaches noisy, the waters are polluted and the number of visitors makes for crowded sunbathing. Furthermore, there is a dominance of single male travellers, hailing from just about everywhere on Earth but are predominantly European, American and Russian. The sizeable expatriate population is naturally, almost completely male. It's difficult to see why any foreigners would choose to visit this city, other than to experience the unavoidable and obvious large scale sex industry. There is also a very real criminal element to the expatriate scene in Pattaya, ranging from those who left large debts behind in their home country, men who cannot return home because of criminal convictions at home, to more serious crimes and organised crime gangs.
There is also a very high rate of suicide amongst foreigners in Pattaya, usually in the form of a dramatic jump from a hotel balcony. There could be any number of reasons for this but it's rumoured and generally accepted that it's down to expatriates running out of money (often due to the poor choice of girlfriend who runs off with their savings) and being unable to face returning home, low railings on balconies and alcohol leading to a tragic accident, to more sinister disputes with rivals leading to murder.
So far, this has been a very one sided account of Pattaya. To be fair, there are World class golf facilities amongst other things that can make Pattaya an attractive proposition for retirement or expatriate life. There also are some very swish hotel complexes (see our Pattaya Hotels page) that make for a very enjoyable visit to this very special country.
However, this is my opinion of Pattaya and I find it depressing and tiresome to wonder around the place with it's predominance of middle aged, fat, balding divorcees from the West, or young punks with too much beer in them fighting with each other (much of the reported crime in Pattaya is of fights between tourists). The reality is that most people who come here don't want temples and they don't want culture.
If you're single, male and need somewhere within striking distance of Bangkok, I guess Pattaya is ideal. It's big, energetic, exciting, can be enjoyed on a budget and is in a hot, sunny location.
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