Pattaya
Pattaya (Thai: พัทยา, RTGS: Phatthaya) is a city in Thailand, located on the east coast of the Gulf of Thailand (12°55′39″N 100°52′31″E / 12.92750°N 100.87528°E), about 165 km southeast of Bangkok in the province of Chon Buri. It is one of the largest centers of tourism in Thailand, with some 5 million visitors arriving in 2004. Tourists visit Pattaya for many reasons including luxury hotels, beautiful beaches, friendly people, excellent shopping, reasonable prices and a wide variety of nearby tourist attractions. Others come for the world renowned nightlife.
The city had 101,378 registered inhabitants in 2007. This figure excludes the large number of Thais who work in Pattaya but remain registered in their hometowns, and many long-term expatriate visitors.
Climate
Pattaya enjoys a tropical wet and dry climate, which is divided into the following seasons: warm and dry (November to February), hot and humid (March to May), and hot and rainy (June to October). The most comfortable time of year coincides with the peak tourist season, which is over the Christmas and New Year period.
History
Pattaya was simply a small fishing village until it was discovered as a beach resort by Bangkok residents in the 1960s. Soon thereafter, American servicemen from the U.S. Air Force base at U-Tapao in neighbouring Rayong province began using the area for "rest and recouperation" (R&R), causing a huge boom in prostitution. When the Americans left following the end of the Vietnam War, the city fell into a crisis. However, modern mass tourism, particularly Sex tourism from Europe and America brought a new lease of life to Pattaya. In recent years the City has pushed hard to clean up its image and family-focussed entertainment is increasingly available, however the core-sex industry has ensured that Pattaya retains its position as one of the World's largest red light districts.
In 2005, more than 35,000 hotel rooms were available in Pattaya. Pattaya has seen a large increase in family tourism in recent years, thanks to efforts to present a more wholesome image. Pattaya is an especially popular vacation destination for families from Russia, Eastern Europe and Scandinavia. Pattaya also has a large international expatriate population and many services meet international standards.
The rapid growth of tourism brought about many negative consequences, such as petty crime and prostitution. These problems seemed beyond the capabilities of the Central Government. In 1976, the Pattaya City Act was passed by the Thai legislature, making Pattaya a self-administrating municipality governed by a Council-manager government. However, many argue that this administration system has drawbacks (for example, the mayor may disagree with the city manager). Critics have recommended abolishing the system.
Beaches
Pattaya Beach
Whilst Thailand has some of the world's most beautiful beaches, Pattaya's is not amongst them. Despite recent efforts to improve the beach,it remains in a sorry state. At high tide the beach is, in places, less than a meter deep. Pattaya Beach is situated along the central city in close proximity to shopping, hotels and bars. The over-abundance of jet-skis and speedboats has contributed to the pollution of the water along Pattaya Beach, as has the sewage outlet at the end of the pier. The section of beach from Central Road (Pattaya Klang) south to the harbor is adjacent to the core of Pattaya's abundant nightlife area, hence it is less family-oriented than the North Pattaya, Na Klua and Jomtien beaches.
Most sections of the beach are covered by rented deckchairs run by local beverage vendors during daylight hours so finding an available spot of sand is rather difficult and also unadvisable due to the poor condition (dog faeces etc.) of the beach. Visitors are advised to avoid the beach after dark. Although the Beach Road itself is busy and brightly lit, some criminal elements find the unlit beach useful as a cover for their activities. The local police have started to target this area in various ongoing clampdowns.
Jomtien Beach
Jomtien Beach is divided from the main part of Pattaya by Pratumnak Hill, just south of the city. In contrast to Pattaya Beach, Jomtien is a popular spot for family vacationers and watersports enthusiasts. Jomtien is essentially a residential area with beachside hotels, bungalow complexes, condominiums and restaurants. A wide array of watersport activities can be found, including jet-skis, para-sailing and scuba diving. Dongtan beach, in Jomtien, is known as the gay beach, and is busy every day of the year.
Jomtien's most visible landmark is the 56-story Pattaya Park tower, part of the Pattaya Park entertainment complex which also features a water park, roller coaster, monorail and children's activities. This may soon be overshadowed by the proposed 91-floor Ocean 1 ("O1") Tower[1] construction of which is due to start "in late 2006", with completion scheduled for 2010. With an overall height of 367 meters, it would be the tallest building in Thailand and one of the tallest residential buildings in the world[2]. The Jomtien district is already home to one of the largest resorts in Asia, the 4000+ room Ambassador City Jomtien.
Islands
Ko Lan
Ko Lan (Thai: เกาะล้าน) is a small island situated 7.5 km west of Pattaya. Ko Lan is accessible by speedboat and ferry. The ferry departs hourly, and is a 45-minute ride costing just 20 baht each way. Speedboats are more expensive, but can reach the island in less than 15 minutes. Ko Lan has several beaches, which are known for their cleanliness, relaxing atmosphere, soft white sand and crystal-clear water.
Island groups
Off Pattaya there are two small island groups, the "Near Islands" (Ko Sak, Ko Krok) located close to the northern shores of Pattaya, very near Ko Lan, and the "Far Islands" (Ko Rin, Ko Man Wichai, Ko Hua Chang, and Ko Badan), located offshore directly west of Pattaya. These islands, especially the "Far Islands", are the primary scuba diving destinations in and around Pattaya.
Transportation
Pattaya is served through U-Tapao International Airport which is 45 minutes drive from the city.
Other attractions
Other activities include golfing at the area's many golf courses, and there are 21 golf courses within 1 hour of Pattaya, go-cart racing, visiting the construction site of an elaborate private wooden temple known as Sanctuary of Truth, and different theme parks and zoos such as Mini Siam, and Elephant Village.
The private Sri Racha Tiger Zoo features several hundred tigers and thousands of alligators as well as some other animals. It has often been criticized for the animals' living conditions, and a worker was killed by tigers in 2004[3]. There was a major bird flu outbreak at the zoo later that year[4].
The Vimantaitalay tourist submarine takes customers underwater to see corals and marine life just a few kilometers offshore. There are many boat trips from an hour to all day trips available, mostly leaving from Bali Hai Pier, near Walking Street.
Nong Nooch Tropical Garden is located some 15 kilometers east of Pattaya. The 500-acre site has well maintained botanical gardens and an orchid nursery. Moreover the facility has lively cultural shows in a Thai village setting. In addition trained chimpanzees and elephants are seen at the garden.
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Other attractions in Pattaya: The Million Years Stone Park and Pattaya Crocodile Farm, Elephant Village, Pattaya Park Beach Resort Water Park and Funny Land Amusement Park, Siriporn Orchid Farm, Underwater World Pattaya (world class aquarium), Alankarn cultural show, Sriracha Tiger Zoo, Bottle Art Museum, Mini Siam, Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum, and Walking Street.
Some tourists take daytrips to nearby Rayong for beautiful beaches, as well as Ko Samet island.
Shopping
In recent years, new shopping malls, outlet stores and jewelry stores have opened up, which has helped in increasing the length of stay of visitors to the city. Among the shopping malls are:
- Central Festival, Pattaya Second Road – Indoor mall anchored by a BigC; also has a SF Cinema City branch.
- Carrefour, Pattaya Central Road
- Mike Shopping Mall , Beach Road
- Royal Garden Plaza, Beach Road – Three-story indoor mall with a Ripley's Believe It or Not! museum and an SF Multiplex cinema. Also has a Sizzler restaurant, Au Bon Pain, KFC, McDonald's, Auntie Anne's Pretzels, ZEN Japanese restaurant, Swensen's, Haagen Daz, Pizza Company, Delice de France, and a large food court. The Marriott Hotel is adjacent.
- Tesco Lotus, Pattaya North Road
- TukCom, Pattaya Tai (South) Road, boasts a large computer/IT complex offering reasonable prices.
- JIM INTERNATIONAL JIM's Webpage - Jim International and JSJ designer's style a place where fashion, design, good intentions and cheek meet the people of the world:Awarded As The Best Tailor In Pattaya in 2001 & 2002.
Several new large malls are in various planning stages.
Pattaya has many large home improvement stores including Home Mart, HomeWorks, Home Pro, Kanyong and True Value.
The closest department store to Pattaya is Robinson's, located about 30 minutes away in Sri Racha.
There are several large nightly markets in different parts of town.
Nightlife and Prostitution
Pattaya is renowned for its nightlife, which caters primarily to foreigners. While some of this is unrelated to prostitution, the central Pattaya Beach Area is known as a destination for sex tourism (alongside several districts in Bangkok and Phuket). While prostitution is technically illegal in Thailand, it is widely tolerated.
The city has literally hundreds of beer bars, go go bars, and night clubs/discotheques. Virtually all of these are venues for in some form. The nature of commercial sex varies widely; the standard system of "bar fines" is the most common, but there are many exceptions. Most notably, discos and nightclubs are venues for freelancers, while the bars on Soi 6 are essentially brothels. There are also several large massage parlors.
Since the "social order" crackdown of 2004, there are very few sex shows (such as the ping pong shows) although they can sometimes still be found. Depending on the enforcement climate, go go dancers may be seen fully nude, topless or in bikinis on different days or weeks.
Muay Thai (Thai boxing) matches aimed at tourists can be seen at many of the open air beer bar complexes.
Another important, but understated aspect of Pattaya are the foreign restaurants. Often run by expats, most offer quality food at prices far below those found in Bangkok, Samui or Phuket.
The Boyztown, Sunni Plaza and Jomtien Complex areas are famous for their many gay nightclubs, cabarets and go-go clubs. Pattaya probably has the largest concentration of establishments catering to the gay community as any other locale. There are literally hundreds of "host bars" as well as go-go bars. Many specialize is certain types of hosts (slim, muscular, effeminate), while others have a broad range of men available.
Pattaya is known for its cabaret revues featuring kathoeys (male-to-female transsexuals), with Alcazar and Tiffany's being the largest and most elaborate. There are a few kathoey bars around Walking St. and nearby (e.g. Jenny Star Bar)
Crime
Historically, Pattaya has had comparatively high levels of crime, sometimes attributed to organised crime in the sex industry. In addition, a string of apparently related murders, all western tourists, occurred around Pattaya in 1975, are now believed to have been committed by the Frenchman Charles Sobhraj.
In recent years, Pattaya has served as a hideaway for foreigners with connections to organized crime, and dozens have been murdered in gang-related disputes.[5] The authorities are also increasingly cracking down on paedophiles and a number of high profile arrests have been made in recent years, an announcement to this effect was made in 2004. In 1996, a six-member gang was arrested for repeatedly robbing tourists that had been drugged by prostitutes.
Visitors are more likely to encounter petty crime, usually limited to pickpocketing and confidence tricks, particularly in and around major tourist areas such as Jomtien and Pattaya Beaches. To help curb this problem, a special Tourist Police division has been established to aid foreign tourists (farang) who are victims of crime.
Pattaya, along with the rest of Thailand, is also known for its abundance of pirated DVD movies, music CDs and software. Such vendors can be found anywhere along main tourist areas, having their own booths or simply approaching customers in bars and restaurants and on the beaches.
Health Care
Many foreign tourists come to Pattaya for dental and medical care, for first class treatment at reasonable prices. Large hospitals in the area include Bangkok Pattaya Hospital, Pattaya International Hospital, Banglamung Hospital, and Pattaya Memorial Hospital.
Expat Community
Due to the large number of foreign residents, Pattaya boasts several expat clubs which have regular monthly or weekly meetings.
Media
Pattaya has several foreign language newspapers, most come out weekly. The English newspapers include Pattaya Mail, Pattaya Today, Pattaya People. Additionally, there are French, Norwegian, German, Russian and Japanese publications. There are several English language cable t.v. programs with news and video reports from Pattaya. There are also several tourist magazines, most of them come out monthly. One of the best known of these is the EYE Magazine.
Trivia
The Pogues mention Pattaya Beach in their song House of the Gods on the album Hells Ditch
See also
References
- ^ Pattaya Today, The tallest building in Thailand coming, 1 August 2006, accessed 8 Nov 2006.
- ^ FAQ at www.ocean1tower.com, accessed 8 Nov 2006.
- ^ Zoo worker mauled to death by tigers in Thai zoo, accessed 8 Nov 2006.
- ^ The Nation, Sri Racha Tiger Zoo: 60 more may be culled, October 29, 2004.
- ^ The Nation, Costa del Crime, November 7, 2005.
External links
- Pattaya Official Website
- Pattaya City Hall (Thai only)
- Pattaya Travel Pages Information and Pictures
- Map of Pattaya City - from ethailandmap.com
- Template:Wikitravel
- Pattaya at Curlie