Do You Like Pattaya?

[craigrs]

Well this thread should not be in the pattaya, Hau Hin forum ..Just asking a simple ?? I infact like pattaya as a married man.. I think to like pattaya is to understand the city and why so many people come there..I think a good %% of people come to pattaya not for just the girls..It has alot of good things to offer from going bowling ,movies,eats and all in all a good place to live cheaply in Thailand..I say cheaply because you can live as a married couple for 30k a month..I did with my wife for 6 months and had a great relaxing time..

what you think?

I stayed in Hau Hin, and found the beaches north and south outstanding.. The city itself does not offer what Pattaya does and you can live as cheaply there..But its much more borring and again not much to do but go to the ocean..The main problem with pattaya is the ocean is worthless and way to many people. another nice thing about pattaya,Jomtien is the baht truck..You can very much get around the city cheaply.

These 2 citys me and the wife stayed at for 6 months each..we are going somewhere again and please chime in and recommend where to stay my next 6 monther in beautiful thailand.

[BigSnake]

Like it, a nice please to visit for a week or so.

[Dave the Dude]

Well this thread should not be in the pattaya, Hau Hin forum ..Just asking a simple ?? I infact like pattaya as a married man.. I think to like pattaya is to understand the city and why so many people come there..I think a good %% of people come to pattaya not for just the girls..It has alot of good things to offer from going bowling ,movies,eats and all in all a good place to live cheaply in Thailand..I say cheaply because you can live as a married couple for 30k a month..I did with my wife for 6 months and had a great relaxing time..

what you think?

I stayed in Hau Hin, and found the beaches north and south outstanding.. The city itself does not offer what Pattaya does and you can live as cheaply there..But its much more borring and again not much to do but go to the ocean..The main problem with pattaya is the ocean is worthless and way to many people. another nice thing about pattaya,Jomtien is the baht truck..You can very much get around the city cheaply.

These 2 citys me and the wife stayed at for 6 months each..we are going somewhere again and please chime in and recommend where to stay my next 6 monther in beautiful thailand.

Hi Craig

Firstly, I just like to say that my wife and I also like Pattaya, but that is maybe because we know what to expect there and choose a 'live and let live' attitude. Never been to Hau Hin, so cannot comment. Its funny because you suggest its cheap in both city's but coming from Issan, everything to us seems expensive (but no problem).

I wonder how long ago it was when you were last in Patters because I find there now is a predominance of a certain type that IMHO I find rude, unfriendly,surly,tightfisted and on a more humorous note, wear highly questionable clothing (John Travolta would turn in his grave,if he was dead) but Hey Ho they are only 14day millionaires hopefully.

Dave

[craigrs]

Dave,

Well i was there just 2 months ago..Yes the men do leave there brains behind when they step on Soi 6 soil..Heck i do too but just can't do the dance when the mrs is with me Cheaply yes compared to the stated.We stayed in Jomtien, and 8k a month with aircon,2 pools did us wonderfully..Yes my wife being my cook helped

[MeaMaximaCulpa]

There have been numerous threads on the virtues (or lack of) of Pattaya, so I shall not repeat those.

Simply put, my g/f and yours truly like living here due to the great variety of stuff to do, buy, eat, see.

Also now with the improved roads, very easy access to the new airport and BKK.

Beaches are not so nice (but try Naklua or Koh Laan).

Otherwise, if you are here for a long beach vacation, you should head south to the Krabi/Phuket/Similan/Surin islands.

Enjoy!!!

[barky]

I'm efinately a Hua Hin fan. I've beento Pattaya three times only. The last time was four years ago. Then I started having my short breaks in Hua Hin. Over the past 4 to 5 years I've been to Hua Hin about 16 or 17 times. Ilike it for many reasons. The main reasons are:1. far less people 2. A seemingly better class of people 3. It's far, far cleaner 4. The beach is 100 times better. 5. Less low life locals 6. No hawkers on the beach annoying the shit out of you while you are trying to relax. 7. It's far quieter. Etc. Given a choice Hua Hin wins hands down for me.ssssshhhhhh! but please don't tell everyone na!

[britmaveric]

Patters has it all and this is why most people like it.

[garro]

Where we live is very rural and in the past I would really look forward to going to Pattaya for its western facilities. I liked Hua Hin for the same reason, but it has a lot less than Pattaya. I don't have anything to do with the bar scene there when I go, and it does seem to be possible to have a nice family holiday in both places.

[MeaMaximaCulpa]

barky, I tend to agree with all your points about Hua Hin (I forgot to comment on that fair city in my previous post). It is a delightful little place, very clean and orderly, with a wonderful beach (I do not like the horse manure though...)

We did consider it as a home, but we opted out mainly for reasons of size and job opportunities for my g/f. She is a highly skilled finance and accounting professional, and in HH there are not many big corporations, except for a few big hotels, resorts and I am sure some industry, but not much to speak about (that makes for cleaner air and water of course, and less traffic).

If we were both to retire (I have already), I think HH would be our prime choice. That the King lives nearby is of course not a bad idea, it seems to make the local council a lot more alert to keep the place and the roads in good shape. And I love the railway station and the old railway hotel, wonderful!

[Neeranam]

Pattaya is a horible place where the dregs of Thai and Western societies meet.

[MeaMaximaCulpa]

Pattaya is a horible place where the dregs of Thai and Western societies meet.

I hope you are not referring to my g/f and I...?

[MeaMaximaCulpa]

Just for the record, I want to come out in support of Pattaya. There are so many holier-than-thou evangelists, that will tell you how sick and deprived Pattaya is. OK, there are some slease, but get real. It is easy to avoid most of it, and you can even enjoy watching it as we do. And hey, most homophobes are actually closet gays, so by implication, most Pattaya bashers actually like to indulge... n'est pas?

I will tell you a true story (I never lie):

I had a visitor from a southern European country in a job capacity, and after work, we went to Walking street for a great meal at Lobster Pot. Afterwards I hinted at going to a go-go bar, but he yawned, and said he wanted to go back to the hotel to sleep. So we say goodbye at the hotel door, I pick up my car, and while driving around the block on my way home, see this fellow in a fast and determined trot back towards Walking street, exiting on the ocean side of the hotel. I wanted to hoot and wave, but thought that I better keep the business relationship. What a great laugh, I hope he got lucky and had a happy ending!

Anyone for (verbal) tennis?

[Ulysses G.]

Pattaya is cheap for food and transport and places to stay and has great nightlife. I LOVE it.

When I first went there we met a guy who claimed to be a Christian and who wouldn't go out with us at night.

We finally convinced him to just check things out once and within 10 minutes he'd picked up a ladyboy and had a new one every night the rest of the trip.

[britmaveric]

Pattaya is a horible place where the dregs of Thai and Western societies meet.

Mirror anyone???

[Thaiboxer]

Pattaya definitely has more in the way of Western luxuries than Hua Hin, however we prefer Hua Hin for the cleaner, quieter environment. We have some Japanese friends from the USA who have a condo in Pattaya and visit each year for dental work which is cheaper than in the States. Despite Pattaya's shady image, there are lots of families and family attractions which keeps the place hopping.

[AFKAFSinLOS]

Don't like Pattaya. Love Hua Hin.

[jingjoe]

Learned to like Pattaya.

[craigrs]

Well again Hua Hin beaches you simply can't compare.. But as for the daily active life style you enjoy pattaya has much more to offer and even somewhat cheaper over all..I found us taken a tuk tuk almost daily in Hua Hin, and that can be costly x 30 days a month..I think also whats nice about pattaya is Jomtien..If we had to do it over again and we just might.. my vote would be pattaya..

[howtoescape]

Used to hate Pattaya, but after spending some time there now enjoy it for what it is, Walking Street sucks IMO.

I think a lot of these so called dregs of society that frequent there are just normal people getting by, the same kind of people i drink with in Olde style pubs in England. There are more and more 20 odd year old Brits who wants to fight everyone there now, these people will hopefully get seriously injured one day or worse, both in LOS and the UK.

[jayhech]

I like PTY, my bf likes both. HH for me is too small where locals pry your personal business. PTY's big enough to walk into intellects so you discuss things, not just "how much is your handbag?" In PTY we live on Dongtan beach and can walk to good restaurants like Pan Pan, News Cafe, etc (my point on this is there are more good restaurants in PTY than in HH). There are big malls and hyperstores where we have more selections for stuff. I agree with an above poster on baht taxi that PTY offers easier access to public transport. We can just hop on one and go downtown to shop. Local teenagers from both cities are equally equipped with firearms and are equally hot headed. As for beaches I find them in both cities are equally unacceptable (for me at least). Even though you perceive HH beach as better but you can't just dive in because it's full of jellyfish. (And, mind those horses' mess!) I've been trying to think of some kind of skin cream you can apply to help protect you from jellyfish in HH and wastes both chemical and natural (human waste) in PTY but I guess I could just put my idea here and let the experts work on it hehehe

[craigrs]

Nice post jayhech,

I think when i say Hua Hin beaches are alot better then pattaya i really mean up and down the coast .. There are some amazing beaches and not a soul on them..

[jukapot]

Haven't been to either place in over 35 years. From what I read, there is no way I would go back to Pattaya. I remember it in the late 60's when the only tourist type hotel was the Nippa Lodge. A great place to stay - right on the beach. The big advantage of Pataya was that they had an R&R Center for the GI's and us poor souls from Laos. It was great for a hamburger or to read the Stars and Stripes. It was a nice enjoyable place for the family - I can only guess where the bars were and I don't believe there were many. Our time down there centered around the Nippa Lodge.

When I return to Thailand in a few months, I'll want to see Hua Hin again. We stayed several times at the old Rail Road Hotel for $5 a night. No air conditioning, but had mosquito nets and large open windows to hear the surf when we slept. The Rail Road Hotel is gone, but I hope the rest of the town with the wonderful fish restaurants are still there.

I have these great memories of places and it will be sad to see how they changed over the years. At least I had the chance to see these places at their prime.

[jayhech]

craigrs, yes, behind Khao Krailas (monkey mountain), Khao Tao, Pak Nam Pran, Khao Kalok, and beaches in Sam Roi Yod National Park are super nice I totally agree with you. I still fear jellyfish though I got stung by a huge white one (not poisonous) off the coast of Sam Roi Yod, I still have these big scars on my legs. I guess we just have to avoid monsoon season totally

Have you ever been to this beach (really sorry I can't remember the name) where there's a cave, Tham Praya Nakorn. It's in Sam Roi Yod National Park. Once you get to the place (Baan Bang Pu) you can walk over the mountain (not so high) or take a long-tail boat trip around the bay to this beach. You have to climb up for about 20 minutes (slow climber like me) then you get to see beautiful stalactite and stalagmite, best time to visit is in the morning when the sun comes up and it shines through the open top of the cave then you see all the stalactite and stalagmite glitter like gold. Down on the beach is just superb. The sand is really fine it's like stepping on baby's talcum I hope it hasn't changed much the last time I was there was in 2005. This place is very famous so it's hard to miss if you want to visit. One thing though, you need to have a car or hire a taxi. Only one draw back.

[DP25]

Hate Pattaya. Love just about everywhere else I've been in Thailand. If I want a quick beach getaway from BKK I go to Hua Hin. Very nice little town, great seafood, cheap, and has some nightlife as well.

[craigrs]

Well do not recall the names either(only the wife does) This beach did have a cave and was south of HH.Oh not a soul This could never happen in the pattaya area..

Edited March 21, 2008 by craigrs

[jayhech]

That's the place! Isn't it great though you can get away for a day from the crowd hehehehe Well, for me I can't be there in neither of the places (PTY nor HH) longer than a week. Since I left HH for good in the middle of last year I never stay longer than 2 days there. I go there still once a month to take care of family business. I go to PTY more often and stay longer now that we have to take care of a few estates. I just skimmed through latest posts now and found one about two tourists beaten up in PTY. Scary, isn't it? It happens almost every night there. My humble advice is try to stay away from the famous walking street and chances to get beaten up by *********** (you fill in the blank with any noun you can imagine) will be less.

[craigrs]

jayhech,

Its really not a matter of pattaya being safe or even HH.. It a matter of knowing your common sence.. I live in Oakland Ca and know where to go and not to go.. Take my wife village for instants its a nice working town but i know not to go out at night. I know not to even go some areas without my wife..You can get killed anywhere anytime in this world..I don't fear it at all..I just use common sence(when i am not drinking

[jayhech]

craigrs, very very true. Totally agree with you on that. Our car window got smashed in Barcelona. I couldn't try to be romantic with my bf (holding hands, I mean hehehehehehe) when we walked down street there since he needed two hands when/if something really happened. It really is almost everywhere in the world, isn't it?

[jaiyenyen]

We live in Bangkok, and visit either Jomtien or Cha-am, and only stay a max of two nights. We like to stay in small guesthouses.

Sometimes, we spend the day on the beach at Pattaya and I always enjoy having a chair near to the road rather than the sea so I can spend all day people-watching.

I must admit that it would be good to visit some more attractive beaches within driving distance of Bangkok so I will be taking notes from this thread.

[monty]

I think something maybe often forgotten, is the posibility for residents to live in the close vincinity of Pattaya, without having to live "ïn" it!

There are several relative tranquil areas within a short drive of Pattaya, and you'd be amazed of the amount of expats living there!

We're talking about East Pattaya, meaning East of Sukhumvit, from Nong Plalai all the way up to Huay Yai!

Most people living there would answer with an emphatic NO if asked whether they would like to live inside the city, but they also don't want to live to far away from all the restaurants, shopping, hospitals (although the most popular hospitals are not even in Pattaya but in Sri Racha!), and even clean beaches if you know where to find them...

Main reason Hua Hin would be difficult for me to live in, is the lack of the possibility to get into a relative big city in an easy and quick way.

Even if you can't find something in Patters, Bangkok nowadays is only 2 hours away using the new motorway (nr.7)...