1 hour ago, scubascuba3 said:

I'm surprised there is chlorine in the water, swimming pools yes. Condo water from tanks is contaminated, a friends Dad got legionnaire disease from the water, LD was everywhere, tanks, swimming pool, showers. Once a year a somchai might go in the tank with his wellies on and sweep out the dirt

Yes, Pattaya’s tap water typically has a noticeable and relatively high level of chlorine. Municipal water facilities use it to disinfect the water, especially during dry seasons when extra treatment is required. However, this chlorine is necessary for safety and will easily evaporate. [1, 2, 3, 4]

What You Need to Know:

• The Smell and Taste: You will frequently smell a strong chemical odor from the tap or shower. Many users on Reddit agree that Pattaya water can sometimes smell heavily of chlorine. [1, 2]

• Drinking: Despite the chlorination, municipal tap water is not considered safe to drink directly from the faucet. Contamination often occurs from aging pipes and private building cisterns, meaning the water can contain bacteria or heavy metals before it reaches the faucet.

26 minutes ago, Furioso said:

Yes, Pattaya’s tap water typically has a noticeable and relatively high level of chlorine. Municipal water facilities use it to disinfect the water, especially during dry seasons when extra treatment is required. However, this chlorine is necessary for safety and will easily evaporate. [1, 2, 3, 4]

What You Need to Know:

• The Smell and Taste: You will frequently smell a strong chemical odor from the tap or shower. Many users on Reddit agree that Pattaya water can sometimes smell heavily of chlorine. [1, 2]

• Drinking: Despite the chlorination, municipal tap water is not considered safe to drink directly from the faucet. Contamination often occurs from aging pipes and private building cisterns, meaning the water can contain bacteria or heavy metals before it reaches the faucet.

Interesting, I've never smelt chlorine, but sounds like definitely could be a factor. From Gemini

Edited June 24Jun 24 by scubascuba3

UPDATE: I returned to Pattaya from Koh Chang about a week ago. Since I've been back I've taken much shorter showers with mostly lukewarm water. So far my face is still totally clear, not hot, red, itchy at all. I still get residue on my skin and I googled if Pattaya water can make my skin feel moldy and it came up with a definitive yes. Also, I got out and exercise for about an hour a day and the air pollution doesn't seem to be bothering me either. I know the air pollution is better this time of year but my lanai outside still gets dirty after just one day as there's so many thousands of buses, bikes, cars, trucks spewing pollution in the air.

In short, I'm doing much better. My one month trip to the islands down south cleared up my skin and in my one week back I haven't had anymore problems.

This is my last month in the Pattaya/Jomtien area as I'm moving to Rayong in Aug. Once there I will be checking my outside porch to see if it gets dirty nearly as often as it does here in Pattaya. I have a feeling it will be about the same but maybe not. We shall see.

Welp, it came back. After about 2 1/2 weeks back in Pattaya I started seeing redness on my left cheek..and then within 24 hours both cheeks were hot, red, and itchy. Honestly I wasn't surprised I was actually waiting to see how soon it came back. I rushed to put a charcoal filter on my shower head, thinking that might fix my problem. Then, I actually sat down and went through my whole history of my 4 years here in Pattaya. I didn't get the red face for the first 5 or 6 months. I lived in 2 hotels and then then moved into a condo my 3rd month here. Then I remember I got my motorbike license, rented a couple of motorbikes and that's when the trouble started. I was going out everyday, hopping on a motorbike and not ever cleaning the grips, seat, brake handles. The bike was literally getting dirty air pollution rained on it 24 hours a day and here I was getting all that sh!t on my shorts and bare hands, I wasn't wearing gloves. "Dam m!" I thought to myself. How can I do this to myself?? What a dummy I am. No wonder everytime I left Pattaya my face/neck cleared up. Oh yeah my arms and upper chest were often red and itchy as well.

So, I thought I cracked the code to my problem. About 3 days ago I started wiping my bike down every time I went to ride it. I also started wearing biker gloves, made sure to clean my helmet lining too. After one day I did see a little change, but nothing conclusive. Two days? Still a little itchy but not getting worse, like it always had done in the past. And now on day 3 a very noticeable improvement. All this time/all these years I find out it wasn't mold in the condo drains, it wasn't dirt or dust on the floor. It wasn't the chlorine in the water(although my water filter does make my skin much cleaner). It was the damn bike, especially the handle grips, getting soaked from the dirty air pollution.

Sorry to go on so long, if you made it this far, Thank you!

2 hours ago, Furioso said:

Welp, it came back. After about 2 1/2 weeks back in Pattaya I started seeing redness on my left cheek..and then within 24 hours both cheeks were hot, red, and itchy. Honestly I wasn't surprised I was actually waiting to see how soon it came back. I rushed to put a charcoal filter on my shower head, thinking that might fix my problem. Then, I actually sat down and went through my whole history of my 4 years here in Pattaya. I didn't get the red face for the first 5 or 6 months. I lived in 2 hotels and then then moved into a condo my 3rd month here. Then I remember I got my motorbike license, rented a couple of motorbikes and that's when the trouble started. I was going out everyday, hopping on a motorbike and not ever cleaning the grips, seat, brake handles. The bike was literally getting dirty air pollution rained on it 24 hours a day and here I was getting all that sh!t on my shorts and bare hands, I wasn't wearing gloves. "Dam m!" I thought to myself. How can I do this to myself?? What a dummy I am. No wonder everytime I left Pattaya my face/neck cleared up. Oh yeah my arms and upper chest were often red and itchy as well.

So, I thought I cracked the code to my problem. About 3 days ago I started wiping my bike down every time I went to ride it. I also started wearing biker gloves, made sure to clean my helmet lining too. After one day I did see a little change, but nothing conclusive. Two days? Still a little itchy but not getting worse, like it always had done in the past. And now on day 3 a very noticeable improvement. All this time/all these years I find out it wasn't mold in the condo drains, it wasn't dirt or dust on the floor. It wasn't the chlorine in the water(although my water filter does make my skin much cleaner). It was the damn bike, especially the handle grips, getting soaked from the dirty air pollution.

Sorry to go on so long, if you made it this far, Thank you!

Sometimes while searching you can come to premature false conclusions. A friend of mine says he gets a red neck for no apparent reason. i have 3 zones on my neck that flare up even if no obvious trigger.

My/Gemini's latest conclusion it's the natural life cycle of the Malassezia yeast which is a permanent resident of the skin, Once the population hits a certain "tipping point," it triggers the inflammation again.

I'm using Oxecure Sulphur soap 2-3 times a week on the zones, see if it stops the flare ups but they aren't angry as they were before. Available on Shopee

4 hours ago, Furioso said:

Welp, it came back. After about 2 1/2 weeks back in Pattaya I started seeing redness on my left cheek..and then within 24 hours both cheeks were hot, red, and itchy. Honestly I wasn't surprised I was actually waiting to see how soon it came back. I rushed to put a charcoal filter on my shower head, thinking that might fix my problem. Then, I actually sat down and went through my whole history of my 4 years here in Pattaya. I didn't get the red face for the first 5 or 6 months. I lived in 2 hotels and then then moved into a condo my 3rd month here. Then I remember I got my motorbike license, rented a couple of motorbikes and that's when the trouble started. I was going out everyday, hopping on a motorbike and not ever cleaning the grips, seat, brake handles. The bike was literally getting dirty air pollution rained on it 24 hours a day and here I was getting all that sh!t on my shorts and bare hands, I wasn't wearing gloves. "Dam m!" I thought to myself. How can I do this to myself?? What a dummy I am. No wonder everytime I left Pattaya my face/neck cleared up. Oh yeah my arms and upper chest were often red and itchy as well.

So, I thought I cracked the code to my problem. About 3 days ago I started wiping my bike down every time I went to ride it. I also started wearing biker gloves, made sure to clean my helmet lining too. After one day I did see a little change, but nothing conclusive. Two days? Still a little itchy but not getting worse, like it always had done in the past. And now on day 3 a very noticeable improvement. All this time/all these years I find out it wasn't mold in the condo drains, it wasn't dirt or dust on the floor. It wasn't the chlorine in the water(although my water filter does make my skin much cleaner). It was the damn bike, especially the handle grips, getting soaked from the dirty air pollution.

Sorry to go on so long, if you made it this far, Thank you!

Just wondering if you're sleeping in the same conditions all along while in Pattaya. Dust mites can cause the same symptoms, especially in the neck, arms and chest area.

5 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Sometimes while searching you can come to premature false conclusions. A friend of mine says he gets a red neck for no apparent reason. i have 3 zones on my neck that flare up even if no obvious trigger.

My/Gemini's latest conclusion it's the natural life cycle of the Malassezia yeast which is a permanent resident of the skin, Once the population hits a certain "tipping point," it triggers the inflammation again.

I'm using Oxecure Sulphur soap 2-3 times a week on the zones, see if it stops the flare ups but they aren't angry as they were before. Available on Shopee

Thanks for your great advice. I woke up this morning feeling pretty good, my face still seems in pretty good shape..I'm getting ready to move to Rayong next week hopefully I won't experience anymore rashes. Funny, last night I was looking at my Shark motorcycle helmet. I use it a lot and I can see wear and tear even though I've only had it a year. It does get dirty too, I've cleaned the bottom part with a white cloth and come up with dirt/soot.

Anyway, I said "screw it" and went online and ordered a much more expensive helmet, should have higher quality liner/cheek pads, etc. all which is good for my skin. Then I saw another helmet I liked and ordered it too. Can't believe I ever wore cheap helmets they're practically worthless compared to the good ones.

3 hours ago, fredwiggy said:

Just wondering if you're sleeping in the same conditions all along while in Pattaya. Dust mites can cause the same symptoms, especially in the neck, arms and chest area.

Good question; since I've been in Pattaya I've lived in 1 hotel for a month, then an AirBnB for 2 months and that AirBnB did have dust mites on the bed and that pissed me off big time. Hotels rarely have such problem. Then I moved to my first condo for 2 /12 years and then 2 more condos in this last year and I've had the red hot itchy face ever since I started riding motorbikes in late 2022/early 2023. Now I'm sick of Condo life I'm moving to a house in Rayong next week and I'm going to have everything new and keep the place spotless.

7 minutes ago, Furioso said:

Good question; since I've been in Pattaya I've lived in 1 hotel for a month, then an AirBnB for 2 months and that AirBnB did have dust mites on the bed and that pissed me off big time. Hotels rarely have such problem. Then I moved to my first condo for 2 /12 years and then 2 more condos in this last year and I've had the red hot itchy face ever since I started riding motorbikes in late 2022/early 2023. Now I'm sick of Condo life I'm moving to a house in Rayong next week and I'm going to have everything new and keep the place spotless.

Dust mites aren't easy to rid unless they wash the whole bed's covering's in hot water, which still leaves the mattress. Not many use hot water in Thailand which leads to many unwanted bedfellows.

17 minutes ago, Furioso said:

Thanks for your great advice. I woke up this morning feeling pretty good, my face still seems in pretty good shape..I'm getting ready to move to Rayong next week hopefully I won't experience anymore rashes. Funny, last night I was looking at my Shark motorcycle helmet. I use it a lot and I can see wear and tear even though I've only had it a year. It does get dirty too, I've cleaned the bottom part with a white cloth and come up with dirt/soot.

Anyway, I said "screw it" and went online and ordered a much more expensive helmet, should have higher quality liner/cheek pads, etc. all which is good for my skin. Then I saw another helmet I liked and ordered it too. Can't believe I ever wore cheap helmets they're practically worthless compared to the good ones.

Shark helmets are good i have two, comparable to my Shoei. My open face Shark has semi removable lining and wash most of it, the other is fully removable l, that's the best of course. Interesting if there's a link with that, probably unlikely though

5 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

9 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Shark helmets are good i have two, comparable to my Shoei. My open face Shark has semi removable lining and wash most of it, the other is fully removable l, that's the best of course. Interesting if there's a link with that, probably unlikely though

A lot of people like Shark compared to Shoei, my first Shark was a low level Ridill 1.2(Phaz) for 5,700 baht. However, they stopped making them over 2 years ago so almost impossible to buy replacement parts.

My new Shark helmets are the Ridill 2.0 Berzek and Shark Spartan Carbon RS for 7,000 & 14,000 baht respectively. Buying them online is tricky, one day they'll drop the price down 10% then the next day it'll be up again. Got to stay vigilant!

33 minutes ago, fredwiggy said:

Dust mites aren't easy to rid unless they wash the whole bed's covering's in hot water, which still leaves the mattress. Not many use hot water in Thailand which leads to many unwanted bedfellows.

Yep, you are 100% correct!