Pattaya battles sex tourism image as crimes investigated

A Daily Mail review of Pattaya has highlighted the resort city's enduring association with sex tourism, despite efforts by local authorities to promote beaches, sport, conventions and family holidays.

The report comes as two Western foreigners face separate murder investigations linked to deaths in the Pattaya area. Pattaya Mayor Poramet "Beer" Ngampichet acknowledged the city's nightlife reputation but said officials were trying to broaden its appeal.

"Pattaya has a reputation as a place for nightlife and having sex," he said. "But we try to change the reputation - you can get everything here. Now we can say that this city is also a family destination."

Pattaya has 120,000 registered Thai residents and as many as 70,000 foreign expats, according to the report. It is reputed to have at least 60,000 sex workers.

Two murder cases under scrutiny

Australian national Simon Carman, 45, is accused of strangling 17-year-old Tunchanok Donhomla following an alleged argument over money. Police believe he picked her up near Pattaya beach in June, a week after she had arrived from a poor rural area.

Her body was later found naked in a suitcase in long grass beside railway tracks. Security footage reportedly showed Carman and the teenager holding hands while waiting for a lift at his apartment block shortly before her death.

In another case, a 21-year-old British woman was arrested over the fatal stabbing of her 34-year-old boyfriend at a rented villa near the city. The man was reportedly from Stoke-on-Trent and running a cannabis farm; the woman claimed he had taken his own life.

These cases are a reminder for foreign residents and visitors that Pattaya's nightlife can carry serious legal and personal risks. Thailand has strict laws covering violence, drugs and sexual offences, while the status of sex work remains legally fraught despite its visibility in some entertainment areas.

City seeks a wider tourism market

Pattaya developed from a fishing village into a major R&R destination for US troops during the Vietnam War. It now receives 22 million visitors a year.

When the USS Abraham Lincoln docked after a 286-day deployment, its 5,000 sailors largely spent their shore leave eating, shopping and visiting the beach, despite expectations that the visit would focus on the city's nightlife. The crew included hundreds of women, and only one drunken fight and a small number of discreet hook-ups were reported.

Pattaya police chief Colonel Anek Srathongyoo said authorities' priorities were preventing underage sex, violence and rape. He said consensual relationships between adults who meet in bars should not automatically be treated as prostitution.

A divided expat city

The report described a city where many foreigners live ordinary lives with Thai families, run businesses or retire on comparatively modest budgets, while nightlife districts remain a major draw for some visitors.

Dave Lee, 59, a former RAF technician who said he has lived in Pattaya for 22 years, said the city offered different experiences depending on where people chose to go. "If you want to go looking for it, it's all there," he said. "But if you're married like me and happy, you don't."

Picture courtesy of Daily Mail

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16 September 2026