Pattaya beach | Jomtien beach | Pattaya hotel reviews

Facing a wide bay and a long sweep of not very special beach 145km southeast of Bangkok, Pattaya has over the past three decades been groomed for the vacationer seeking sun, sea, sand and sex. What was once a quiet fishing village became first a rest and recuperation centre for US forces during the Vietnam War, and then an international beach-resort playground.

Today, Pattaya is bloated by success and with full city status, suffers the headaches of unbridled development. Water population is a serious problem and the resort is further marred by rampant prostitution, both male and female. But, despite it all, Pattaya’s all-out effort to provide the most and the best of everything a beach destination should have and more besides, still has a certain attraction for those who like their resorts brash, bold and bawdy with a dizzying kaleidoscope of activities to choose.

Expanded in all directions from its original core, the resort is centered on the 4km Pattaya Beach, crowded, cluttered and largely populated. Pattaya Beach Road runs along the shore and is paralleled a little way inland by Pattaya 2^nd Road. Both roads and their numerous linking short lanes (sois) are packed with a jumble of hotels, guesthouses, restaurants, fast-food outlets, shops and department stores.

The northern end of the bay is marginally quieter and more up-market, while in the south is “The Strip”, the original fishing village, now a raunchy conglomeration of open-air bars, restaurants, neon-lit go-go bars and shops. Around the southern headland lies Jomtien Beach, a better stretch of sand than Pattaya in spite of looming high-rise condos.

Sports and Entertainment

When it comes to recreational pursuits, Pattaya is unrivalled and the number of sporting options is staggering. In addition to a huge variety of water sports, on-land activities include archery, badminton, bowling, go-carting, tennis, rifle and pistol shooting and snooker. There are also occasional weekend motor-racing meets at Bira International Circuit at km 14 on Highway 36 (about 15km from Pattaya).

Nightlife attractions range from a metropolitan mix of restaurants to shopping (souvenirs, tailoring, gems and jewelry), go-go bars, cocktail lounges, discos and Pattaya’s renovated transvestite cabarets – the latter at Tiffany’s and Alcazar both on Pattaya 2^nd Road.

Among excursion possibilities is Nong Nooch Tropical Garden, a privately run country resort 15min by car from Pattaya, with restaurants, mini zoo, landscaped gardens, orchid nursery, performing elephants and daily cultural shows at 10:00 and 15:00. Alternatively, Mini Siam, located near Pattaya Klang, offers a collection of famous monuments reproduced on a 1:15 scale. Boat trips to Ko Larn and other offshore islands are also available; travel agents organize day excursions to the most popular.