Would You Take Your Children To Pattaya For A Family Holiday?

[Oli23]

The problem in Pattaya is that the prositution go over the street where are the bars. The beach area should be keeped clean, but the mafia has overtaken all the city.

The places is well know for some people, but family who coing here, booking oversea should be informed before.

Sure that I don't go with my family, even with my guys friends.

[think_too_mut]

2 huge water parks currently under construction in the Pattaya area, this one http://www.thaivisa....s-construction/ and the Cartoon Network one on Sukhumvit near Bang Saray.

The article says "April 2013" opening. Right for Songkran, when needed the most.

Good news for me. This year Hua Hin and their water park, next year brand new Pattaya water park.

Usually, we would stay at View Thalai IV. A friend bought 2 rooms there, joined them, furnished them well and is happy to rent us at a nominal charge.

There you see Pattaya residents and their tows. As there is no interraction other than sharing lifts, that is not disturbing and is nothing like Beach Road where we have no need to go at all.

[Theoutsider]

So (for all its pitfalls as discussed in this thread) nobody has identified a better place (other than Hua Hun which sounds like it doesn't have much if anything for kids) in Thailand for a family holiday than Pattaya. As I said earlier, I think Pattaya is far from perfect, and would like to know some alternatives (especially from those who would never take kids to Pattaya).

Would anybody like to make some suggestions where in Thailand I can take my kids for a weekend away from Bangkok (other than Pattaya)?

Yes Hua Hin is much nicer if you're looking for a couple of family days near the beach. Beaches you can actually walk on, build sand castles, collect shells etc. Sam Roi Yot national park is also not far

Chiang Mai flower festival, King's palace, highest point in Thailand etc.

Phuket only a quick flight away lots of tourist stuff. Patong for busy tourists. Nice beaches to the south in Kata.

Yasothorn - short flight for Bung barn fai rocket festival

Ubon Ratchathani - short flight for candle festival

Chaiyaphum for its dok krachiao flower festival

Kanchanaburi for lovely countryside

Ayuthaya

Sukhothai

Bangkok has it's fair share too for kids day outs, water parks, mini city, parks, trip over the river to Phrapa Daeng "jungle". All the toursit stuff like Grand Palace, Khlong boat rides, museums etc if you don't live there and never been

are a few that spring to mind...

Aye+1

Dolphin bay. Sam roi yot, prachuab is good quiet beach. Don't tell to many people. (Or else the jet ski and walking street's will invade).

I don't have kids but no, the wife will never let me go near there.

Let the adults have their fun no families, as oneoster put it so poetically.

On the subject of walking streets they are everywhere I was in cha-am and stumbled apon one and the amount of O.A.P.s living it up there was like 90%. bet they don't want to go back to Blighty.

[maprao]

Do not think any mongers will be hanging out here and this is in Pattaya:

Look here:

http://www.centarahotelsresorts.com/cmbr/cmbr_default.asp

Then click on Grande Mirage Beach Resort.

Centara Grand Mirage Beach Resort Pattaya: The new Centara Grand Mirage Beach Resort Pattaya is located on Wong Amat Beach & Naklua Beach, North Pattaya, and is actually built on the original beach front land of the former Central Wong Amat Beach Resort.loo

[think_too_mut]

Do not think any mongers will be hanging out here and this is in Pattaya:

Look here:

http://www.centaraho...mbr_default.asp

Then click on Grande Mirage Beach Resort.

Whoooh! Superb!

I think place like that deserves my sunday's best singlet and tongs !

But really, far cheaper place, like Grand Jomtien Palace (only name is "grand", packed with Russians and 1 night package tours) and it's little known cottages in the back for 1,200B can give you a lots of joy. Large room, could be 56sqm, pool only for the cottages...lovely.

Edited July 12, 2012 by think_too_mut

[CurryAfficionado]

So (for all its pitfalls as discussed in this thread) nobody has identified a better place (other than Hua Hun which sounds like it doesn't have much if anything for kids) in Thailand for a family holiday than Pattaya.

Would anybody like to make some suggestions where in Thailand I can take my kids for a weekend away from Bangkok (other than Pattaya)?

My daughter is 19 months and my son will be born in the next few weeks. Where would you recommend?

Which equates to: can anyone suggest a holiday destination for my son, even though he hasn't been born yet.

I'm speechless.

[StreetCowboy]

So (for all its pitfalls as discussed in this thread) nobody has identified a better place (other than Hua Hun which sounds like it doesn't have much if anything for kids) in Thailand for a family holiday than Pattaya.

Would anybody like to make some suggestions where in Thailand I can take my kids for a weekend away from Bangkok (other than Pattaya)?

My daughter is 19 months and my son will be born in the next few weeks. Where would you recommend?

Which equates to: can anyone suggest a holiday destination for my son, even though he hasn't been born yet.

I'm speechless.

Oh, if only...

[think_too_mut]

So (for all its pitfalls as discussed in this thread) nobody has identified a better place (other than Hua Hun which sounds like it doesn't have much if anything for kids) in Thailand for a family holiday than Pattaya. As I said earlier, I think Pattaya is far from perfect, and would like to know some alternatives (especially from those who would never take kids to Pattaya).

Would anybody like to make some suggestions where in Thailand I can take my kids for a weekend away from Bangkok (other than Pattaya)?

If you think taking kids to Pattaya is sitting them up in beer bars along the Beach Road,I would not do that either.

Discarding Pattaya for kids is akin to saying one would never take kids to New York because there are Harlem and Bronx.

What it has for families is just great and as kids grow they understand the places differently, no drama to revisit the attractions. For example, the open zoo, each year my kid would have a new and more curious way to appreciate the animals, feed them, touch, things she had been scared to do a year earlier.

Weekend out but not Pattaya, comparable to Pattaya's water park but bigger, try Siam Park at Minburi. From Ekkamai/Phrakhanong it was taking us an hour to get there. No high rises, feels like 100s km away from the city. The waterpark closes 6pm but the fun park remains until...10?

You can be back to sleep in your own home. Google it, the water park is only half of it, has all the fun rides and theme park like points of interest.

Seen on Google Maps:

Edited July 12, 2012 by think_too_mut

[fletchsmile]

Well worth considering for adults as well as children that can ride a bike in Pattaya as well as BKK, CM:

http://www.bangkokbiking.com/en/programs/pattaya

http://www.bangkokbiking.com/en/programs/bangkok

I haven't done the Pattaya one is I don't go there much myself. The Bangkok and Chiang Mai tours are a great experience. BKK I've done several times, and having been here a while myself, it presented a different perspective. It's also a great venture that gives back to the communities, as the owner also does a lot of charity work in raising funds for underpriveleged schools etc. In addition the tours themselves help create Thai jobs at a grass roots level, as you visit real Thai mum and pop eating houses, boats used provide income to boat owners and so on. It's nice to know that a % of the money you spend goes directly to grass roots people on the lower end of the economy scale, without mafia, middle men, scams that can come into many tourist businesses etc.

The Pattaya bicycle trip starts at Thai Garden Resort. A nice family resort in Pattaya.

[chrisinth]

2 multi billion baht water parks being built around pattaya area. Seems like a great place to take kids. Where else in Thailand would you find such things?

Just as well they didn't do their research polls on TV....................

[nietzche]

No

If I had children, I wouldn't even let them talk to someone who holiday's in Pattaya, far less go there!

[kerryk]

No

If I had children, I wouldn't even let them talk to someone who holiday's in Pattaya, far less go there!

I thought you were leaving Thailand months ago. What happened?

[philw]

No

If I had children, I wouldn't even let them talk to someone who holiday's in Pattaya, far less go there!

My six year old was a great hit in one of the gogo's when he slipped off leash and dived in.

I had fun getting him out also.

His discovery of smiling girls in bright pink bikinis might have sparked a lifelong interest.

Edited July 12, 2012 by philw

[IMA_FARANG]

My Thai girlfriend was previously married and has 3 children by that marriage.

Many years ago, when the children were young, all of us went to Pattaya for 3 days.

We rented a family room....actually 2 adjoining rooms...one for the three kids...one for her and myself.

The hotel pool was what the 3 kids spent most of the 1st day in. On the 2nd day the whole family rented a boat and we took a day trip to a nearby island where the kids ran around the beach gathering crabs, shells, and playing on the beach all day.

That night we had a seafood dinner on the beach...she picked a restaurant.

The third day the kids got another chance to swim in the hotel pool, before we checked out and went back to Bangkok.

It gave the kids, who were 6, 8, and 10 years old then I believe a chance to get out of Bangkok and see someting different from Bangkok.

You could still do that you know, you don't HAVE to spend all your time running the bars, do you?

The fact is however that I really don't much like Pattaya myself....my Thai girlfriend wanted to do that trip for her kids.

So I went too with the family.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

No

If I had children, I wouldn't even let them talk to someone who holiday's in Pattaya, far less go there!

LOL..

[think_too_mut]

If I had children, I wouldn't even let them talk to someone who holiday's in Pattaya, far less go there!

Appears, you don't have any kids.

And you are going only half way. A bit of recursion:

A full blown statement could be: all social rejects that end up in Thailand (Pattaya is a place in it) would never see my children (that I don't have). That I am there does not mean others could think I am trash in the way I think of those holidaying in Pattaya.

[WhingeingMoaners]

For the sake of their well-being, I would never take kids to Pattaya since it seems to be full of depraved Farangs.

[nocturn]

So (for all its pitfalls as discussed in this thread) nobody has identified a better place (other than Hua Hun which sounds like it doesn't have much if anything for kids) in Thailand for a family holiday than Pattaya. As I said earlier, I think Pattaya is far from perfect, and would like to know some alternatives (especially from those who would never take kids to Pattaya).

Would anybody like to make some suggestions where in Thailand I can take my kids for a weekend away from Bangkok (other than Pattaya)?

How old are the kids?

BTW, I wouldn't dream of taking my kids to Pattaya. Why on earth would I want them to see the kind of people that go there from abroad and also the kind of Thai women who go there?

You will get a biased opinion here. Kinda like asking a group of guys in a pub about the evils of alcohol.

What about the Thai families that go there for a break?

Pattaya is not my cup of tea, and i only end up there when invitations can no longer be avoided, but i have had some wonderful weekends there with the family away from Walking Street.

Not exactly sure why people cant accept that.

it is what you make it, simple really.

[kerryk]

For the sake of their well-being, I would never take kids to Pattaya since it seems to be full of depraved Farangs.

Seems like you might not know what you are talking about.

[Crushdepth]

Assuming the OP has lived in Thailand and posted on Thai Visa for a few years he would know what kind of response a thread like this would get. There are more Pattaya bashers on Thai Visa than any other place in Thailand. So why would you ask? The answers is already a foregone conclusion. Did you do it just to have another anti Pattaya, anti bar girl, anti Thailand posts?

Do you honestly think its a good place to take kids?

[kerryk]

Assuming the OP has lived in Thailand and posted on Thai Visa for a few years he would know what kind of response a thread like this would get. There are more Pattaya bashers on Thai Visa than any other place in Thailand. So why would you ask? The answers is already a foregone conclusion. Did you do it just to have another anti Pattaya, anti bar girl, anti Thailand posts?

Do you honestly think its a good place to take kids?

I don't think Thailand is a good place to take kids. I think Disney World is a good place to take kids.

But if one is already in Thailand and not an idiot Pattaya is a better place to take kids than most places including Bangkok and Chiang Mai.

[StreetCowboy]

I'm really regretting buying my daughter an i{ad. Apparently the internet is full of depraved perverts that prey on young girls.

Luckily for a few years yet we an still enjoy family holidays in Pattaya

SC

Edit: I've never taken my kids to Walking Street, but I once stopped for a drink in Wanchai with my daughter, when she was quite young. We had a half an hour to kill before meeting my wife for lunch, so a quiet pint seemed in order. Unfortunately, the only pubs in Wanchai that were open at 1130 were the ones that were still open... the Bridge was far too noisy, so we settled on the Old China Hand...

[kerryk]

If you had an expensive shop that delivered antiques and your daughters 16,17 and 18 worked for you would you let them deliver antiques to a brothel?

[2unique]

Assuming the OP has lived in Thailand and posted on Thai Visa for a few years he would know what kind of response a thread like this would get. There are more Pattaya bashers on Thai Visa than any other place in Thailand. So why would you ask? The answers is already a foregone conclusion. Did you do it just to have another anti Pattaya, anti bar girl, anti Thailand posts?

Do you honestly think its a good place to take kids?

If I was a family (Thai, mixed or Western) with a limited budget and no car, taking the kids to a beach certainly. I'd have the choice to stay North, South or up by Horseshoe Point and completely bypass the middle - And for those who say Hua Hin the "filth" is contained have obviously walked through the famous night market with blinkers on.

For the record my 4 year old wouldn't recognise a hooker vs an office girl dolled up for q-bar and having a car makes it easy to bypass the questionable folk to get to great restaurants like Mantra and Matahari. Up until a year ago I was in Pattaya 3 to 4 times a month 2 or 3 days at a time on business, w/out even breaking sweat it was very easy to keep my kid away from the sex scene.

[StreetCowboy]

If you had an expensive shop that delivered antiques and your daughters 16,17 and 18 worked for you would you let them deliver antiques to a brothel?

It woudl be safer than delivering antiques to a boys' school, or worse still, an old boys' school

[2unique]

the only pubs in Wanchai that were open at 1130 were the ones that were still open... the Bridge was far too noisy, so we settled on the Old China Hand...

Watched the Spain v Portugal semi there as only place not blaring music and English commentary - amazing lack of sluts in there! 3am and the streets were littered with drunken lads and equally drunk Asian and African women! Now there is somewhere I wouldn't take my daughter but it was my first time there so I admit I don't know it well - I wouldn't however rule out Central just because it's down the road and hookers shop there!

[StreetCowboy]

the only pubs in Wanchai that were open at 1130 were the ones that were still open... the Bridge was far too noisy, so we settled on the Old China Hand...

Watched the Spain v Portugal semi there as only place not blaring music and English commentary - amazing lack of sluts in there! 3am and the streets were littered with drunken lads and equally drunk Asian and African women! Now there is somewhere I wouldn't take my daughter but it was my first time there so I admit I don't know it well - I wouldn't however rule out Central just because it's down the road and hookers shop there!

To make it clear, this was 1130 am in the morning before lunch. In my opinion, the depravity in Lockhart Road doesn't really get going until gets dark, with the possible exception of a corporate lawyer stumbling about. Iforget whether it had got dark yet the night we went to the bomb squad (allegedly) but we couldn't get in, so the question is moot. And, indeed, off-topic.

SC

[kerryk]

If you had an expensive shop that delivered antiques and your daughters 16,17 and 18 worked for you would you let them deliver antiques to a brothel?

It woudl be safer than delivering antiques to a boys' school, or worse still, an old boys' school

Or Penn State

[brit1984]

If you had an expensive shop that delivered antiques and your daughters 16,17 and 18 worked for you would you let them deliver antiques to a brothel?

It woudl be safer than delivering antiques to a boys' school, or worse still, an old boys' school

or a vicarage... oh sorry, did you say young daughter?... should be ok then

Sent from iPhone; please forgive any typos or violations of forum rules

[WinnieTheKhwai]

For the sake of their well-being, I would never take kids to Pattaya since it seems to be full of depraved Farangs.

Fortunately I don't meet any of those on my trips. Bangkok and Chiang Mai are also full of depraved Farangs; it's not an issue there, either. This includes not walking along Sukhumvit Rd in Bangkok, for example.

Do you honestly think its a good place to take kids?

Sigh.. how many more times.. YES. And from experience, on many trips.

Maybe some pictures will say more than 9 pages worth of old-school Thaivisa-sillyness.

These days we mostly stay at the Ibis Pattaya, which is very convenient in downtown Pattaya, and is very suitable for families with kids. Nice pool too, including a kids pool. They have dedicated kids rooms too:

For the price it's hard to beat.

Edited July 13, 2012 by WinnieTheKhwai