Should Tourists Avoid Pattaya

[Tammi]

I feel quite comfortable in Pattaya and so do all my freinds and we are all quite "normal" for Thailand.

Those who actually believe they are "normal" are the real freaks.

Can you refer us to some learned studies that have proved this?

[Ulysses G.]

[ I think that the place is best suited to the tourists (what like 80% of total?) who come to Thailand for easy access to readily available hot chicks

What hot chicks? You mean the prostitutes aka working girls? They are bored out of their skulls. Sure they put on an act - they have to. Its a bad business made worse because its illegal. It should be legalised so that these women (and men) are protected. And one good way to protect them is to have a separate area with all the facilities needed for their protection and welfare.

Bullcr*p, some don't like what they are doing, but many of them enjoy their jobs. Those are the fun ones.

[Ulysses G.]

I feel quite comfortable in Pattaya and so do all my freinds and we are all quite "normal" for Thailand.

Those who actually believe they are "normal" are the real freaks.

Normal FOR THAILAND.

Actually Bill Richardson supporters are the real freaks.

[Jingthing]

I feel quite comfortable in Pattaya and so do all my freinds and we are all quite "normal" for Thailand.

Those who actually believe they are "normal" are the real freaks.

Normal FOR THAILAND.

Actually Bill Richardson supporters are the real freaks.

No doubt.

Of course supporting the person for a job who is the most qualified and has the most experience is shockingly deviant. Instead, one must be normal and support the candidates with the most celebrity and listen to the mainstream media about who is worthy of consideration (most famous and most money already).

Because politics is like sports, now, isn't it? Best to pick a favorite to cheer for. Then a better chance for happy feelings.

Edited March 6, 2007 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

I feel quite comfortable in Pattaya and so do all my freinds and we are all quite "normal" for Thailand.

Those who actually believe they are "normal" are the real freaks.

Can you refer us to some learned studies that have proved this?

Can't be bothered, darling.

[popshirt]

I feel quite comfortable in Pattaya and so do all my freinds and we are all quite "normal" for Thailand.

Those who actually believe they are "normal" are the real freaks.

Can you refer us to some learned studies that have proved this?

Can't be bothered, darling.

I am sure there are some who would say that "normal" people do not frequent such purlieus as the New Orleans restaurant (and certainly not anyone one KNOWS) but Tammi, dearest, who is to judge? The only Normal I know is a town in rural Illinois in the U.S. and A.

[Tammi]

All these 'darlings' and 'dearests' are making my wrists flop. Gentlemen, please desist!

[Jingthing]

All these 'darlings' and 'dearests' are making my wrists flop. Gentlemen, please desist!

Yes, I am sure. There is surgery for that, poopkins:

[davethailand]

I just think its a pity that downtown Pattaya has to be such a sleeze. I go to New Orleans Restaurant and sit outside waiting for friends and and the street really is not very nice. And the next street filled with boys up to whatever they get up to. Send them all to the boonies and get them out of normal folks faces. Normal folks are the majority after all.

Just shows you, you know nothing. The owner of the restaurant you like so much owns one of the boy places you complain about. Why don't you have a word in his ear and ask him to move it out of your "normal" eye range.

Well, now I do know something. What's the name of the boy place he owns? I will go suss it out with regard to level of respectability and will certainly have a word with owner if I think he is allowing lewd behaviour by his staff and encouraging lewd behaviour by his patrons.

I'm sure the owner will give a toss about what you think.

[Tarqin]

Well given the expansion in your waistline over the last six months Dave I would hazard its a long time since you passed any restaurant you didn't like...

[popshirt]

All these 'darlings' and 'dearests' are making my wrists flop. Gentlemen, please desist!

"Gentlemen" ? Sorry Tams my name is Mai Pantsrwet.

[NanLaew]

I feel quite comfortable in Pattaya and so do all my freinds and we are all quite "normal" for Thailand.

Those who actually believe they are "normal" are the real freaks.

Normal FOR THAILAND.

Actually Bill Richardson supporters are the real freaks.

No doubt.

Of course supporting the person for a job who is the most qualified and has the most experience is shockingly deviant. Instead, one must be normal and support the candidates with the most celebrity and listen to the mainstream media about who is worthy of consideration (most famous and most money already).

Because politics is like sports, now, isn't it? Best to pick a favorite to cheer for. Then a better chance for happy feelings.

Off post and I agree. But didn't the 'most qualified' and 'most experience' also apply to Colin Powell? How much good did that experience do him when those inside the beltway have no room for the 'outsider' regardless of the qualifications. He has the cv to do the job but it will be a stretch that he will even come close considering the 'glamour' appeal of a couple of the other contenders. But hope springs eternal.

If only ALL voters weren't like Houston Texans fans...

[wilko]

Tammi - were you born holding the wrong end of the stick? Can you eally say what is and isn't normal...if you can then ....well, that's just not normal.....

[Tammi]

I just think its a pity that downtown Pattaya has to be such a sleeze. I go to New Orleans Restaurant and sit outside waiting for friends and and the street really is not very nice. And the next street filled with boys up to whatever they get up to. Send them all to the boonies and get them out of normal folks faces. Normal folks are the majority after all.

Just shows you, you know nothing. The owner of the restaurant you like so much owns one of the boy places you complain about. Why don't you have a word in his ear and ask him to move it out of your "normal" eye range.

Well, now I do know something. What's the name of the boy place he owns? I will go suss it out with regard to level of respectability and will certainly have a word with owner if I think he is allowing lewd behaviour by his staff and encouraging lewd behaviour by his patrons.

I'm sure the owner will give a toss about what you think.

What makes you so sure? He's a vegetarian which means his insides and brain are not in a continuous state of poisoning. So, yes, I think he will give a toss.

[Jingthing]

Thats pretty funny, a vegetarian who deals in peddling all kinds of FLESH, raw (his a go go bars) and cooked (blackened cajun pig ribs).

Sounds just about NORMAL to me. (For Pattaya.) Tammi, you sure you picked the right city for you? BTW, if you want good ribs without a go go, try the Great American Rib Company on Thaprasit.

Edited March 7, 2007 by Jingthing

[Prakanong]

I just think its a pity that downtown Pattaya has to be such a sleeze. I go to New Orleans Restaurant and sit outside waiting for friends and and the street really is not very nice. And the next street filled with boys up to whatever they get up to. Send them all to the boonies and get them out of normal folks faces. Normal folks are the majority after all.

Just shows you, you know nothing. The owner of the restaurant you like so much owns one of the boy places you complain about. Why don't you have a word in his ear and ask him to move it out of your "normal" eye range.

Well, now I do know something. What's the name of the boy place he owns? I will go suss it out with regard to level of respectability and will certainly have a word with owner if I think he is allowing lewd behaviour by his staff and encouraging lewd behaviour by his patrons.

I'm sure the owner will give a toss about what you think.

ROFLMAO

I wish I could be there - she might get a better reaction out of the bodyguard as he is never more than arms length away ;-)

[Prakanong]

"Thats pretty funny, a vegetarian who deals in peddling all kinds of FLESH, raw (his a go go bars) and cooked (blackened cajun pig ribs)."

LOL

Well, she believes non-vegatarians have brains in a constant state of poisoning so she may have influence with little green men who can change all that.

Brain poisoning - ROFLMAO

There are some strange people in Pattaya - do you think Tammi knew about the place before moving there?

[toptuan]

How about the view of a Thai national?

I just had lunch with a student (Hotel & Tourism graduate from our university) who has come back from three months internship in Pattaya. His reaction? Complete and utter disgust with the city, the tourists, and the Thai who work there. All he could talk about was the crime, pollution, and human trafficking. He concluded by expressing his remorse that this whole area is part of Thailand's reputation. Instead of an internship, he said it was more like an "exile."

I'm just the messenger.

[wilko]

Not much of a course/student then if the students can't even express an analytical opinion of a potential tourist destination without getting sucked in by media hype.

Edited March 7, 2007 by wilko

[toptuan]

No media hype. He was an eyewitness, dude. For three months. Did you read the whole post?

He saw friends from upcountry who arrived, during his tenure, to get enmeshed in the human trafficking. He walked through the garbage on the beach. He said he saw more petty crimes committed in three months than in his entire lifetime upcountry.

Notice: "SAW." In his busy internship He had no time to watch TV or read the newspapers, like some retired expat gents who lounge throughout the day at the bars along the strip.

Edited March 7, 2007 by toptuan

[SamuiJens]

expats posting here have a different view of pattaya than we (me) tourists.

Pattaya expats seem to have the opinion that those enjoying night life are to expect more crime.

fact, discos in Acapulco or Aspen are rockin' the night away .. it's what people do on vacation.

most tourists, me anyway , are on vacation from real life .. at home I watch TV, go to bed, go to work, watch tv, go to bed ... & dream of my vacation from reality .. go to work & day dream of my vacation ..

when on vacation at a sea side community I want to stay out late & walk along the beach at night, .. in addition to riding the banana boat & eating prawns under an umbrella on the beach during day light.

the pattaya water is un inviting .. on phuket i enjoy the water, i avoid pattaya beach water like the plague (which it appears to be full of)

the reports of crime on tourist (not daytime crime on expats) in pattaya seems horrible .. drugging. beatings, robberies, MURDER ..

no what I want to be concerned with on vacation.

my thoughts:

there are much better places to visit in Thailand than Pattaya

there are much safer places to visit in Thailand than Pattaya

there are much cleaner places to visit in Thailand than Pattaya

there are much prettier places to visit in Thailand than Pattaya

Yep, go to Rio or Jamaica or Cape Town. Much safer.

Rather spend 14 day holiday in Bagdad by the bay, than Pattaya!

[think_too_mut]

How about the view of a Thai national?

I just had lunch with a student (Hotel & Tourism graduate from our university) who has come back from three months internship in Pattaya. His reaction? Complete and utter disgust with the city, the tourists, and the Thai who work there. All he could talk about was the crime, pollution, and human trafficking. He concluded by expressing his remorse that this whole area is part of Thailand's reputation. Instead of an internship, he said it was more like an "exile."

I'm just the messenger.

Yeah?

Someone is disgusted but other 4 million people still come to Pattaya every year.

Could you ask your "student" to tell us what they want? Or what you two want?

[Jingthing]

I really do think the incidence of crime is over-perceived. It is because of the Pattaya English language so called "press". Mostly just yellow journalism show the blood rags. They know if they actually addressed issues like corruption and the baht bus mafia and why Pattaya has no taxi meters, they would be victims themselves. Imagine if all you saw in the Bangkok Post was every petty burglary, every suicide, every murder, every car crash in Bangkok! Pattaya is small potatoes in that department compared to Bangkok.

[Tammi]

"Thats pretty funny, a vegetarian who deals in peddling all kinds of FLESH, raw (his a go go bars) and cooked (blackened cajun pig ribs)."

LOL

Well, she believes non-vegatarians have brains in a constant state of poisoning so she may have influence with little green men who can change all that.

Brain poisoning - ROFLMAO

There are some strange people in Pattaya - do you think Tammi knew about the place before moving there?

I first came to Pattaya in the mid 70s. In the mid 80s bought a holiday home here. Have been living here permanently last few years. It was paradise in the 70s and 80s and still good right through the 90s. IMO it's only in the last 3 or 4 years that it's got steadily worse. It is Paradise Lost.

There seems to be no civic pride and I suppose the Thais in local government have made the decision that Pattaya is to keep on being what it has become - a place that attracts the worst type of tourist and poor Thais who will do anything to make a baht. Keeps them away from other parts of Thailand. It's all very sad. I keep saying send them all to the boonies but maybe it's the government that is saying to keep them all concentrated in Pattaya.

[toptuan]

[Could you ask your "student" to tell us what they want? Or what you two want?

Already asked him during our lunch meeting: He said all the tourists he met (he was a hotel front desk clerk) wanted three things: cheap booze, cheap sex, and an all-around cheap party time.

"you two want" ? = I already told you his observations. I want nothing other than to never choose Pattaya as a vacation destination.

[davethailand]

Well given the expansion in your waistline over the last six months Dave I would hazard its a long time since you passed any restaurant you didn't like...

Very rarely eat in restaurants to be honest.

I'm still smaller than when I first came to LOS, 102 kilo's.

I just think its a pity that downtown Pattaya has to be such a sleeze. I go to New Orleans Restaurant and sit outside waiting for friends and and the street really is not very nice. And the next street filled with boys up to whatever they get up to. Send them all to the boonies and get them out of normal folks faces. Normal folks are the majority after all.

Just shows you, you know nothing. The owner of the restaurant you like so much owns one of the boy places you complain about. Why don't you have a word in his ear and ask him to move it out of your "normal" eye range.

Well, now I do know something. What's the name of the boy place he owns? I will go suss it out with regard to level of respectability and will certainly have a word with owner if I think he is allowing lewd behaviour by his staff and encouraging lewd behaviour by his patrons.

I'm sure the owner will give a toss about what you think.

What makes you so sure? He's a vegetarian which means his insides and brain are not in a continuous state of poisoning. So, yes, I think he will give a toss.

What has that got to do with anything???

[SamuiJens]

Give me a month in Bagdad by the Bay for a peaceful stay!

[SamuiJens]

Give me a month in Bagdad by the Bay for a peaceful stay! IMHO

[chiang mai]

Whilst Pattaya was very different some years ago, today it is the sort of place where tourists who don't have any real sense of adventure go for an easy holiday, drink and engage in sex on a wholesale basis. Many of those tourists end up coming back time and time again because it is so easy and for a holiday it can be fun and relatively inexpensive - many of those tourists enjoy the place so much that they sell up back home, often divorcing their spouses in the process. After finding somewhere to live they tell all their friends and family that they've moved to live in Thailand.

Whilst Pattaya is technically in Thailand it really has very little to do with Thailand per se, it's culture and it is certainly not representative of Thailand other than the fact that it is hot. The farangs I describe above have very little idea about how to fit in in Thailand, how to behave relative to Thai culture and many of them will have seen little of Thailand other than Bangkok, Pattaya and perhaps the odd very strange and perhaps even scary trip to a young girls village upcountry somewhere.

As a result I think what happens is that those farangs continue to behave as they would at home except to excess because they simply do not understand. They repeatedly drink to excess, get into fights and permeate the concept that most farangs are violent lager louts with no manners or respect. Regrettably that kind of behaviour attracts its Thai counterparts and a whole load of opportunists and that's a recipe for trouble.

Would or should a "normal" and reasonably sensible person go to Pattaya for a holiday? Not if they want to see Thailand and Thai culture and not if they want a low risk holiday. If they want sex and booze and everything associated with those things, sure, why not. But please, let's not talk about Pattaya and Thailand in the same breath because the two places are very very different and in going forward I hope personally that the Thai government continues to ring fence Pattaya as a one off anomaly.

[Ulysses G.]

I first came to Pattaya in the mid 70s. In the mid 80s bought a holiday home here. Have been living here permanently last few years. It was paradise in the 70s and 80s and still good right through the 90s.

What a joke. Pattaya was a dirty sh*thole in the 80s and people offered you heroin on every street corner. It wasn't until the place cleaned itself up fairly recently in the 90s that it became a decent place to visit and it is much nicer now than it used to be.

Talk about selective memory.