14 minutes ago, Freebird13 said:

I liked Vegas. It costs more though and the resort fees are getting expensive.

The problem with Vegas these days is that someone decided to cater to the high-end crowd and make it expensive. Now they have priced out the middle class.

20 hours ago, Hummin said:

Without purpose, every place will eventually eat you up.

Which is why I say you have to be happy with your own company so this does not happen

12 hours ago, Freebird13 said:

Nowhere is perfect, but some places are better then others. I liked Vegas. It costs more though and the resort fees are getting expensive.

I visited some of these resort type places in Pattaya like Seven Seas, Laguna Beach, etc that are the same kind of resort thing that Vegas does, but in Pattaya I felt they were crap, cheap quality and I did not even want to go in the pool.

Same idea in both locations, but less money floating around in Pattaya. It seemed to equate to people being less happy. My faulty expectation was getting the same quality for less money. The saying you get what you pay for is true.

I think comparing Seven Seas, Laguna Beach, and other Pattaya condo projects to Las Vegas tourist resorts is a quite unfair comparison--as they are two completely different things. You would have been better off going to Centara Resort right on Wong Amat Beach or Centre Point Space Resort right across the street from Terminal 21 to do your comparison.

Those two, and some others, are actually tourist resorts, built specifically, with lots of resort entertainments, amusements, facilities, and services, to cater to tourists who visit Pattaya. What you visited were condo projects, built for residents to own and live in, not tourists visiting for a few days. Having a pirate ship sitting by the pool doesn't make a condo residential project a tourist resort.

37 minutes ago, newnative said:

I think comparing Seven Seas, Laguna Beach, and other Pattaya condo projects to Las Vegas tourist resorts is a quite unfair comparison--as they are two completely different things. You would have been better off going to Centara Resort right on Wong Amat Beach or Centre Point Space Resort right across the street from Terminal 21 to do your comparison.

Those two, and some others, are actually tourist resorts, built specifically, with lots of resort entertainments, amusements, facilities, and services, to cater to tourists who visit Pattaya. What you visited were condo projects, built for residents to own and live in, not tourists visiting for a few days. Having a pirate ship sitting by the pool doesn't make a condo residential project a tourist resort.

I disagree. These are themed places for short term stays. You have Mount Olympus, Espana, many others. They are for people who want to visit Spain or another location for awhile as a vacation, just like Luxor or Bellagio in Vegas. The themes pervade into the units and furnishings. Also, the rooms are quite small, even smaller then western hotel rooms in many cases, many are around 30 sqm. It's common for agents to rent them as long term units on annual leases, but I don't see them as long term properties. They are rented that way to fill what are empty vacation rentals. Not a horrible idea, the quality and community is just not there and they are often vacant with not many people around.

Edited August 7Aug 7 by Freebird13

22 minutes ago, Freebird13 said:

I disagree. These are themed places for short term stays. You have Mount Olympus, Espana, many others. They are for people who want to visit Spain or another location for awhile as a vacation, just like Luxor or Bellagio in Vegas. The themes pervade into the units and furnishings. Also, the rooms are quite small, even smaller then western hotel rooms in many cases, many are around 30 sqm. It's common for agents to rent them as long term units on annual leases, but I don't see them as long term properties. They are rented that way to fill what are empty vacation rentals. Not a horrible idea, the quality and community is just not there and they are often vacant with not many people around.

Certainly, many people have purchased them as getaway condos--doesn't make the condo project a hotel resort. When we lived at Lumpini Park Beach in Jomtien--as residents--probably the majority of the condos were owned by Bangkok people who used them only on weekends, long holidays, etc. LPB has mostly small condos but there are also larger ones--we had a 2-bedroom/2-bath.

However, the size of the individual condo units--many projects also offer larger units--does not magically make these condo projects hotel 'resorts'--even if some of them might use 'resort' as part of the name as a marketing tool--'live like you are at a resort', etc.

All of these projects are legally registered as condominiium projects, not hotels, not hotel resorts. They may have some hotel resort features but that does not make them hotel resorts. My Bangkok getaway condo has an adult pool, a kid's pool, gym, theater, sauna, steam room, men's and women's locker rooms, kid's play room, games room, putting green, yoga room, sky lounge, library, and lord knows what else. Many of these same things can be found at a hotel resort--but it's not a hotel resort. I own a car--that doesn't mean it's a taxi.

By the way, condo rentals of less than a month are illegal in Thailand, and for good reason--condos are residences, not hotels, not hotel resorts. I maintain what I said in my previous post--your comparison of a Vegas hotel resort vs. a Pattaya hotel resort--using a Pattata condo project--was doomed from the start. Next time you want to compare, try staying at an actual Pattaya hotel resort.

22 minutes ago, newnative said:

Certainly, many people have purchased them as getaway condos--doesn't make the condo project a hotel resort. When we lived at Lumpini Park Beach in Jomtien--as residents--probably the majority of the condos were owned by Bangkok people who used them only on weekends, long holidays, etc. LPB has mostly small condos but there are also larger ones--we had a 2-bedroom/2-bath.

However, the size of the individual condo units--many projects also offer larger units--does not magically make these condo projects hotel 'resorts'--even if some of them might use 'resort' as part of the name as a marketing tool--'live like you are at a resort', etc.

All of these projects are legally registered as condominiium projects, not hotels, not hotel resorts. They may have some hotel resort features but that does not make them hotel resorts. My Bangkok getaway condo has an adult pool, a kid's pool, gym, theater, sauna, steam room, men's and women's locker rooms, kid's play room, games room, putting green, yoga room, sky lounge, library, and lord knows what else. Many of these same things can be found at a hotel resort--but it's not a hotel resort. I own a car--that doesn't mean it's a taxi.

By the way, condo rentals of less than a month are illegal in Thailand, and for good reason--condos are residences, not hotels, not hotel resorts. I maintain what I said in my previous post--your comparison of a Vegas hotel resort vs. a Pattaya hotel resort--using a Pattata condo project--was doomed from the start. Next time you want to compare, try staying at an actual Pattaya hotel resort.

My argument is only doomed if we are playing a label name. To me, they don't qualify as residences and the ones I have seen are pretty grungy and small by western standards, although they could be perfect for some people. Thus, my idea that opinions are best shared among people of similar backgrounds and upbringing. My point in posting is that from a western middle class perspective, Pattaya is pretty grungy in many ways and does not live up to the hype I had in my mind. Some of that hype was from vloggers touting how great the place was, real estate agents using strange wide angle lenses when photographing properties for rent and also lack of constructive criticism in general.

Have fun in your shine box...

Edited August 7Aug 7 by Freebird13

6 minutes ago, Freebird13 said:

My argument is only doomed if we are playing a label name. To me, they don't qualify as residences and the ones I have seen are pretty grungy and small by western standards, although they could be perfect for some people. Thus, my idea that opinions are best shared among people of similar backgrounds and upbringing. My point in posting is that from a western middle class perspective, Pattaya is pretty grungy in many ways and does not live up to the hype I had in my mind. Some of that hype was from vloggers touting how great the place was, real estate agents using strange wide angle lenses when photographing properties for rent and also lack of constructive criticism in general.

Have fun in your shine box...

Sexpat city. Go to a normal one.

3 hours ago, wombat said:

Which is why I say you have to be happy with your own company so this does not happen

It is always good to be happy with your own company, but that is not everything in life, is it? It will always start with you and end with you, but it is also good to have someone who relies on you.

Why would you be comparing Vegas to Pattaya. You don't want Pattaya to be like Vegas.

26 minutes ago, worldtraveler3 said:

Why would you be comparing Vegas to Pattaya. You don't want Pattaya to be like Vegas.

Asias Benidorm ?

1 hour ago, Hummin said:

It is always good to be happy with your own company, but that is not everything in life, is it? It will always start with you and end with you, but it is also good to have someone who relies on you.

...and on whom you can rely...

On 7/31/2026 at 10:12 AM, Hummin said:

He does not seem too bad from what I have seen so far, or? I have not followed him, but I have seen a few clips that showed up in my feed.

He seems to have sold up completely back home and has a lump sum of money from the process .

Hes made numerous videos of how cheap Thailand is .

(Often giving a false perspective .)

He intends to finance his long term stay in Thailand by being a content creator online .

Will be interesting to see whether he will still think Thailand is cheap when hes requesting viewers donate a coffee for watching his videos

9 minutes ago, Nick Carter icp said:

He seems to have sold up completely back home and has a lump sum of money from the process .

Hes made numerous videos of how cheap Thailand is .

(Often giving a false perspective .)

He intends to finance his long term stay in Thailand by being a content creator online .

Will be interesting to see whether he will still think Thailand is cheap when hes requesting viewers donate a coffee for watching his videos

Next up, Vietnam? He seems to use everyone else’s blueprint for making content, and he seems to have found his group of followers. But I do not believe these types of influencers will survive for long. The future will be different. What matters is, can he adapt?

16 minutes ago, IsmeUno said:

...and on whom you can rely...

Why do I believe you have dishonest reasons for asking Isme to start another long, off topic rant and bickering?

5 minutes ago, Hummin said:

Next up, Vietnam? He seems to use everyone else’s blueprint for making content, and he seems to have found his group of followers. But I do not believe these types of influencers will survive for long. The future will be different. What matters is, can he adapt?

A few thousand people watching his videos .

YouTube pays about $100 US for 1 Million views .

Countless people over the years have tried to make an income from videos online

1 minute ago, Nick Carter icp said:

A few thousand people watching his videos .

YouTube pays about $100 US for 1 Million views .

Countless people over the years have tried to make an income from videos online

At least he didnt invest in a bar, Yet

2 hours ago, Freebird13 said:

My argument is only doomed if we are playing a label name. To me, they don't qualify as residences and the ones I have seen are pretty grungy and small by western standards, although they could be perfect for some people. Thus, my idea that opinions are best shared among people of similar backgrounds and upbringing. My point in posting is that from a western middle class perspective, Pattaya is pretty grungy in many ways and does not live up to the hype I had in my mind. Some of that hype was from vloggers touting how great the place was, real estate agents using strange wide angle lenses when photographing properties for rent and also lack of constructive criticism in general.

Have fun in your shine box...

I'm in a 5 bedroom/6 bath pool villa with a 3-car garage, not a 'shine box'. In Vegas terms, I'm living in a nice, gated project in the 'burbs. Google tells me there are at least 250 named housing projects in and adjacent to Pattaya and another 250 in outer areas. Did you get to any of them during your visit? A number are very nice. Did you visit any of the 20-some private international schools? Some of them are very nice, too. I believe Rugby School, which is very nice, has the biggest boarding campus in the country. Pattaya also a number of nice tourist attractions, good hospitals and clinics, services, and several nice shopping centers, as well as most of Thailand's 'big box' stores.

Sure, there are some 'grungy' areas in Pattaya and, guess what, also in Bangkok and other Thai cities, as well. We're in Asia, not the West--although there were some grungy areas where i lived in the US, too. Doesn't mean the whole area's grungy.

The problem with you, and many other posters, is you visit Pattaya, see a few tourist spots--some grungy and not up to what you are used to in the West--and think you've taken Pattaya's measure. You haven't. It's a big area--and you likely missed a lot of it--especially if you were actually in Jomtien at Seven Seas.

With your posts, you've presented an excellent example of what I am talking about. You booked a room in what most Pattayans would consider a somewhat lower-tier condominium project--illegally if you stayed less than a month--and you're complaining that it didn't meet the standards you found at a Vegas hotel resort you stayed at. Of course, it wouldn't, and how could it--it's a condominium residence, and not a high-end one. It's not a hotel resort--no matter how many times you keep trying to say there is no difference. Of course, there is.

Your treating the condominium residence as a hotel resort is also making things worse there for the actual residents--that happened at two originally nice condo projects I lived at, which got overrun with illegal daily renters treating the condo residence as a hotel, and it quickly became not nice to live at.

Next time, get out and see a little more of Greater Pattaya--maybe check out Nong Nooch Gardens, the aquarium, or Universal Studios Aquaverse--and stay at an actual hotel resort--Centre Point Space, Centara, Dusit, Amari, Cape Dara, etc. They will likely still fall short of Vegas, again this is Asia not the West, but at least you will have experienced an actual Pattaya hotel resort.

Edited August 7Aug 7 by newnative
typos

1 hour ago, Hummin said:

Asias Benidorm

Why would we want that over what it is now as a sex tourism capital.

Just now, worldtraveler3 said:

Why would we want that over what it is now as a sex tourism capital.

Good question!

3 hours ago, Hummin said:

Why do I believe you have dishonest reasons for asking Isme to start another long, off topic rant and bickering?

I don't know. You tell me. Paranoia? Repeating your own trauma?

Did you disagree with my comment or did you choose to start (the possibility of) another long, off topic rant and bickering?

At some point you are going to need to take responsibility for your behaviour. You know...like your bosom buddy.

6 minutes ago, IsmeUno said:

I don't know. You tell me. Paranoia? Repeating your own trauma?

Did you disagree with my comment or did you choose to start (the possibility of) another long, off topic rant and bickering?

At some point you are going to need to take responsibility for your behaviour. You know...like your bosom buddy.

You are fishing and baiting, as usual. You just can't change or have a normal presence on the forum. Same recipe every time. You know it, the forum members know it, and so do the mods who are constantly deleting your toxic posts on a daily basis, whether it is this nick or the others you have frequently used.

26 minutes ago, Hummin said:

You are fishing and baiting, as usual. You just can't change or have a normal presence on the forum. Same recipe every time. You know it, the forum members know it, and so do the mods who are constantly deleting your toxic posts on a daily basis, whether it is this nick or the others you have frequently used.

😊 Let's get this straight...

I made a perfectly normal comment to something you wrote. You couldn't find anything wrong with it and so you conjured up a feeling of your own and now have used it, as you put it, to start another long, off topic rant and bickering...

That is your neurosis. If you don't admit it and start to fix it now, it will stay with you for the rest of your life. You won't be able to tell reality from your own fiction.

Did it not occur to you to just have a normal conversation and perhaps wait until you were sure that I was being insincere?

By not waiting and just assuming, it is you who created the diversion.

I'm really hoping that you are intelligent enough to see it.

4 hours ago, Hummin said:

Why do I believe you have dishonest reasons for asking Isme to start another long, off topic rant and bickering?

Let's try this again....First of all, I didn't ask anything. I simply supplemented your statement. You asserted that you needed someone to depend on you and I added that you also need people on whom to depend.

This is a normal statement upon which most healthy thinking people would agree.

But yet, you have created an unpleasant situation out of it.

Instead of replying immediately...go for a walk, take some deep breaths and think about it. Then come back to reply.

38 minutes ago, IsmeUno said:

Let's try this again....First of all, I didn't ask anything. I simply supplemented your statement. You asserted that you needed someone to depend on you and I added that you also need people on whom to depend.

This is a normal statement upon which most healthy thinking people would agree.

But yet, you have created an unpleasant situation out of it.

Instead of replying immediately...go for a walk, take some deep breaths and think about it. Then come back to reply.

All life is a stage,

I play the leading part and all around me are the supporting cast!

54 minutes ago, IsmeUno said:

This is a normal statement upon which most healthy thinking people would agree.

Yeah but because of your posting history, your reputation is hard to shake off.

4 hours ago, save the frogs said:

Yeah but because of your posting history, your reputation is hard to shake off.

Nothing wrong with my posting history. That I need to hand someone their arse every now and again, is par for the course.

If someone feels the need to hold a grudge or is unable to move on, that is their problem. 😊

One thing I learned when growing up, is to not ever expect someone to suffer in the way that you might hope.

Borne out by the raging fantasies about bans and usernames and dreaming that I would not be able to post.

Who was suffering? Not me. Who was raging? Not I.

Often what I see are what appears to be people of quite limited intelligence, who like to think that they are more intelligent than what is real. Thinking they are one step ahead. Google and AI does not intelligence make.

Then we have the YouTube conspiracy theorists... 😊

Don't concern yourself with my reputation. I simply adapt to my environment.

11 hours ago, Hummin said:

It is always good to be happy with your own company, but that is not everything in life, is it? It will always start with you and end with you, but it is also good to have someone who relies on you.

When you apply all that to your own lifestyle, it's whatever gets you through the night cupcake.

1 hour ago, IsmeUno said:

Nothing wrong with my posting history. That I need to hand someone their arse every now and again, is par for the course.

If someone feels the need to hold a grudge or is unable to move on, that is their problem. 😊

One thing I learned when growing up, is to not ever expect someone to suffer in the way that you might hope.

Borne out by the raging fantasies about bans and usernames and dreaming that I would not be able to post.

Who was suffering? Not me. Who was raging? Not I.

Often what I see are what appears to be people of quite limited intelligence, who like to think that they are more intelligent than what is real. Thinking they are one step ahead. Google and AI does not intelligence make.

Then we have the YouTube conspiracy theorists... 😊

Don't concern yourself with my reputation. I simply adapt to my environment.

You are trying too hard to come across as clean, Isme. The contradictions from one post to another speak for themselves. C’mon

17 minutes ago, Hummin said:

You are trying too hard to come across as clean, Isme. The contradictions from one post to another speak for themselves. C’mon

Clean? What fresh idiocy is that? I'm not trying to be anything. If you want to argue, we can argue. If you want to discuss nicely, we can discuss nicely. What is this "clean" foolishness?. That's just your nutty imagination again.

Pray tell me...when did we become on first name terms? Please use my full username or I will refer to you as Hummin/Stinking or Stinking Hummin'....which you now know is the meaning of your user name to a Scotsman. Then of course you will cry like a baby and run complaining to your mummy. So behave yourself.

The contradiction, you veritable genius, is your behaviour reflected by me. You just repeat the same stupidity every time. It really seems that you've reached the limit of your intelligence.

Again, you had a choice. Have a normal conversation or imagine a confrontation. You chose the latter. I can do both. Your choice. Slowly...slowly, you'll get it. You get what you give out. If you want to imagine the worst, then that is what you get.

A long time ago, I took you for a moderately intelligent person. Do not continue to disappoint.

The next time we have the opportunity for a normal conversation, take a moment to decide which way you would like to go. Do you think that you lose something by having a normal conversation?

Think about which one of us took this off-topic. I responded to your comment with an entirely reasonable response. Your conflicted brain is not capable of doing so.

How is it any different from me offering to help your bosom buddy and him freaking out in fear? Birds of a feather...

4 minutes ago, IsmeUno said:

Clean? What fresh idiocy is that? I'm not trying to be anything. If you want to argue, we can argue. If you want to discuss nicely, we can discuss nicely. What is this "clean" foolishness?. That's just your nutty imagination again.

Pray tell me...when did we become on first name terms? Please use my full username or I will refer to you as Hummin/Stinking or Stinking Hummin'....which you now know is the meaning of your user name to a Scotsman. Then of course you will cry like a baby and run complaining to your mummy. So behave yourself.

The contradiction, you veritable genius, is your behaviour reflected by me. You just repeat the same stupidity every time. It really seems that you've reached the limit of your intelligence.

Again, you had a choice. Have a normal conversation or imagine a confrontation. You chose the latter. I can do both. Your choice. Slowly...slowly, you'll get it. You get what you give out. If you want to imagine the worst, then that is what you get.

A long time ago, I took you for a moderately intelligent person. Do not continue to disappoint.

The next time we have the opportunity for a normal conversation, take a moment to decide which way you would like to go. Do you think that you lose something by having a normal conversation?

Think about which one of us took this off-topic. I responded to your comment with an entirely reasonable response. Your conflicted brain is not capable of doing so.

How is it any different from me offering to help your bosom buddy and him freaking out in fear? Birds of a feather...

That’s enough, Isme. Go to bed. It’s getting late. 😉