Recommend Pattaya? It depends what you expect....some people love it, others hate it.Pixel--Dude wrote: ↑August 4th, 2024, 12:21 amOkay Yohan. Thank you for taking the time to share this information with me. So as someone who travels there a lot would you recommend Pattaya for someone looking to visit Thailand for the first time? As I said the prices look cheap enough and if the ladyboys there aren't as happy to stab people as the title of the thread suggests then maybe it is safe enough to travel there.
As I said before, Pattaya is NOT a normal town, it is a holiday city for every kind of people, regardless who you are and from where you are coming from. The exact number of foreigners living there in their own rooms, or are married with a Thai etc. is a bit unclear, but it is said, it is between 140.000 and 180.000 in Chonburi province. (Pattaya + including Sri Ratcha, Chonburi City)
The good thing with Pattaya is that there is really everything available for everybody.
We never had a problem there and we are owners of our condominium units since more than 20 years, very safe. It is not only me, but also my wife, our 2 daughters and our grandchildren and also other family members etc. who are visiting Pattaya frequently. It's our second home, for vacation and retirement for my family (and of course compared to visitors from Europe and USA, our flights from Japan/Fukuoka are cheap and it takes only 5 hours to arrive in Bangkok)
We will be there again around middle of November up to end of this year, maybe back to Japan around 20th December.
Prices for medium class hotels, serviced apartments etc. are rather cheap because they are so many - Pattaya alone has more hotels and more available rooms for rent than all Malaysia.... same with restaurants...plenty of competition.
There are some shopping malls which clearly meet international standard, there is a functioning network of public transport 24h operating along the long beach area from Naklua to NaJomtien, there are good international hospitals, direct bus to airport, long distance bus connections directly from Pattaya to many cities in Thailand, also easy to jump over to Cambodia etc.
Of course there is nightlife too if you are looking for that. You can however avoid it, if you don't want to have anything to do with bars and girls or gays, ladyboys etc... Nobody is forcing you to enter Walking Street, or Boy's Town Jomtien or North Pattaya soi 5 etc. or join low-life Soi Buakhao .
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Not all in Pattaya is cheap - for example there are also large private international schools in Pattaya, with hundreds of children and they are not cheap at all.
Regents International School is very large with 100s of students and expensive...check it out.
https://www.nordangliaeducation.com/ris ... ition-fees
Also a French School is in Pattaya, and nothing is cheap there either....
https://ecolepattaya.com/en/admission/
Further, do not expect the international upper class hotels in Pattaya (like Hilton, Intercont, Dusit etc.) are cheap....
(but cheaper than in UK of course)
Same with Golf and accommodation within such facilities....there are about 20 golfclubs in Pattaya area and nearby.
https://www.golfpattaya.com/pattaya-golf-courses
or check out a Thai POLO club, not suitable for poor people I would say...
https://www.thai-polo-club.com/facilities
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Anyway, what is good with Pattaya - if you are in Pattaya and you do not like it there, it is easy to get away immediately - within a few hours. There are direct long distance bus services to Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and other cities in Thailand every day several times (direct buses, not passing visa Bangkok), also local flights from Pattaya U-Tapao airport...
I cannot recommend anybody who is coming to Thailand the first time to do this or that, it is up to the individual, up to you what you are looking for.....
NO SHIT!