How Has Pattaya Changed Since You First Came Here?

[thenervoussurgeon]

I remember it like it was yesterday not 24 years ago . I was reliable informed at the time that" Pattaya has changed so much ,it was much better years ago"

Now i look back ,there were only mainly male tourists ,no coach parties ,no famillies ,no fat Thais and when you walked down second road lots of open spaces and at least 20 people sitting on the pavement in front of the tv shops watching tv , very few cars and the dark side was mainly fields ,what are your memories?

[poanoi]

The traffic jam has become unbearable,

i now have 3 bikes and i dont use any of them, i just charged up the batteries

of 2 of them.

I stay home these days.

To add insult to injury they also now have the breathalyzer,

so adios bar's

[easyride]

I remember when Soi Buakow was mainly a mud road (no change there)

Third Road didn't exist

A lovely little beach where Bali Hai pier now is

Thais and farang were dripping in gold

Thais were polite and tipping not expected

We left one bar at 9am when the binmen arrived

Three beautiful weeks when you got 95 baht to the pound

..............the list is endless.................

[bulmercke]

I first visited Pattaya in January 1994. And there were far fewer Western women than there are nowadays or Western couples. Far more beer bar centers then on Beach Road and Second Road. Soi LK Metro was just some wasteland and a few shacks etc. A lot more excitement then. A real buzz to the place. Bar girls seemed to want to party hard every night - not just the punters. Pattaya - in the main - seems a lot tamer now.

[thenervoussurgeon]

i stayed in soi bonkot when all around was fields just a few guest houses and shops.and the girls always wanted to stay with you ,didnt like short time

[gamini]

Just under 50 years ago it was a real paradise. Dead during the week but very lively at weekends. No Hotels just bungalows. Great seafood. Most of the expats were working in Bangkok and lots of embassy people and nice Thais. Water was very clear. No scuba divers so great spearfishing. Got about 100 kilos daily good eating fish . Large and lively "disco". No bar girls. No riff raff.

[crudy21]

I remember getting almost twice as much Baht for my Pound and the same hotel room being less than half it is now.

[bulmercke]

Super bikes and jeeps with raised suspensions running around town all hours of the day and night. "Guys and their local girls' enjoying the experience. A real spectacle. Good times.

[DrTuner]

I visit walking street about twice a year. Each time I'm hard pressed to find old landmarks. The rate of change there is high.

Otherwise, hordes from BKK started arriving a few years ago and brought their traffic jams with them. A lot more Russians around and less Americans.

[xen]

First time ever i saw Pattaya anything the farside of Second Road was regarded as country. And yes i would agree with some of the other posters that the Thais were ,as i would describe it, less money driven and a lot more polite. And most of them were from the local area, not Buriram or elsewhere .

[fasteddie]

Just under 50 years ago it was a real paradise. Dead during the week but very lively at weekends. No Hotels just bungalows. Great seafood. Most of the expats were working in Bangkok and lots of embassy people and nice Thais. Water was very clear. No scuba divers so great spearfishing. Got about 100 kilos daily good eating fish . Large and lively "disco". No bar girls. No riff raff.

Well I was there in '66 and all I can remember IS Bar girls by the bucket load and plenty of riff raff, Us!

[gk10002000]

My first trip was september 2004. I used to love Soi 8. Now it is crap. Soi Yume was very quiet. now they have those monstrous cement and tile outdoor entryways. Way less Russians. Restaurant signs were in Thai and English, now Russian. Flipper Lodge used to be priced better and had rooms that actually were like in the old original web site. Girls during the off season definitely had more Miss Universe lookers and this is even as I am now older!

[TruthEyes]

Its some 14 years since my first visit.

Very noticable at the explosion of real estate from Nacklua down to Jomtien, the 2nd road improvement, the traffic chaos, the tightening of bar hours and numbers, the reduction in noise levels, and I reckon less farangs.

[toenail]

I have lived here only fof 8 years but find it amazing how when I first came here the main "group" I saw were retired folks from Europe (mostly Germany and England) along with the young blokes who were here to party on holiday. Now there are less retired Westerners staying here but a whole new group of vacationers, Russians making up 70% and then other groups such as the Indians (who have never traveled before) and the bus groups of the Chinese and Koreans. Eight years ago it was a small number. Condo complexes have sprouted like mushrooms around Pattaya Bay and the traffic (of course) is getting worse I don't see any improvement in the infrastructure in the 8 years I have been here and most likely never will.

[meatballs]

A LOT different than it was before 2008. I think the global financial crisis changed everything. I don't see many young tourists anymore(unemployed?). Less farang in general and more Middle Easterners, Indian, & Russians. Condos going up everywhere(who is buying since there is less farang and they have less money??). Sad to see this place go down the drain like this. I moved here in 2008 and didn't expect this to happen.

[Ulysses G.]

Outside of the sex business, I think Pattaya is much more enjoyable now than 20 years ago. There were no decent foreign restaurants or shopping centers or a lot of other things that make life more pleasant.

[Payboy]

I wish there were less shopping plazas. I hate the paved area that replaced some of the beaches. I quite liked the idyllic atmosphere of the 70s outside the hotspots.

Edited October 16, 2012 by Payboy

[TheWalkingMan]

Pattayaland has become a wasteland...

[KNJ]

Just on 30 years ago first visit, prime land was no more than 10 k USD a Rai.

[uptheos]

Aah when I were a lad we used to go paddling, with bucket and spade in hand.

[meatboy]

back in the 80's the local produce was of the highest quality,it was always safe to walk the beach road late morning,there was some good bars and owners,sabi land[north] center bars,soi diamond[south] bamboo bar,red cat,and not forgetting the eat and drink bar jimmy macs soi 6.been back once since 2011 thats the last.

[thenervoussurgeon]

I remember when Jomtien was a day out,very little there and onPratamnak hill there was just the big Buddah went there with my first Thai girlfriend and her mum and dad ,then off to mini siam out in the wilds on sukhumvit,they used to have mini motorbikes to ride around a track there,no Mcdonalds in those days.

[canopus1969]

Just under 50 years ago it was a real paradise. Dead during the week but very lively at weekends. No Hotels just bungalows. Great seafood. Most of the expats were working in Bangkok and lots of embassy people and nice Thais. Water was very clear. No scuba divers so great spearfishing. Got about 100 kilos daily good eating fish . Large and lively "disco". No bar girls. No riff raff.

Heck how old are you !!

[pluto_manibo]

Second road was a two way street, Pattaya Tai-3rd road intersection had empty fields, third road and Tepprasit road were so little used dogs would sleep in the middle of the road....3rd road and buakow had a lot of empty plots of land....the way too Jomtien(Tappraya) was dark, breezy and mostly fields as well. Beach chairs were 10 baht, Jomtien Complex was abandoned and a ghostown, opposite there was a swamp with a family of vagrants living in it. Royal Garden had a Popeye chicken franchise, the upper floor was not remodelled and there was an open food court with a lot of weird old timers....The road which goes around to Jomtien from Bali Hai was non existent, there was a camping/hotel at the walking street end....there were very little traffic lights, no u turn or right turn lanes on Sukhumvit, the Darkside was the countryside and Mapprachan was a natural outing for a day....Paying bills was interesting, water in Naklua, Electric in Banglamung and if you missed a payment Bang Saen for UBC....Traffic outside of Weekends was a breeze...riding a motorbike past the Dongtan turn at night could be hazardous....Soi 7 was an abandoned street...Immigration was on Soi 8 behind all the bars...Tuk Com was an abandoned/closed Shopping center.....There was on old wooden pier in South Pattaya before Walking....This was only 15yrs ago. In conclusion, different demographics now- a lot of Russians/Chinese/ Indians....better restaurants/shopping but more congested....It was more laid back then and now more aggressive.....Life changes accept it or get left behind.

[meatballs]

Second road was a two way street, Pattaya Tai-3rd road intersection had empty fields, third road and Tepprasit road were so little used dogs would sleep in the middle of the road....3rd road and buakow had a lot of empty plots of land....the way too Jomtien(Tappraya) was dark, breezy and mostly fields as well. Beach chairs were 10 baht, Jomtien Complex was abandoned and a ghostown, opposite there was a swamp with a family of vagrants living in it. Royal Garden had a Popeye chicken franchise, the upper floor was not remodelled and there was an open food court with a lot of weird old timers....The road which goes around to Jomtien from Bali Hai was non existent, there was a camping/hotel at the walking street end....there were very little traffic lights, no u turn or right turn lanes on Sukhumvit, the Darkside was the countryside and Mapprachan was a natural outing for a day....Paying bills was interesting, water in Naklua, Electric in Banglamung and if you missed a payment Bang Saen for UBC....Traffic outside of Weekends was a breeze...riding a motorbike past the Dongtan turn at night could be hazardous....Soi 7 was an abandoned street...Immigration was on Soi 8 behind all the bars...Tuk Com was an abandoned/closed Shopping center.....There was on old wooden pier in South Pattaya before Walking....This was only 15yrs ago. In conclusion, different demographics now- a lot of Russians/Chinese/ Indians....better restaurants/shopping but more congested....It was more laid back then and now more aggressive.....Life changes accept it or get left behind.

All I can say is get used to the rudeness..

[ARGUSEYE]

1978.... The Sukhumvit highway was just completed to be four - lane, the orange non - air Borkorsor bus was 19 Baht from Ekkamai.

Walking street of course wasn't a walking street, at night it had big roaring tenwheel trucks loaded with ice supplying the fishing boats moored at where the "Tankae" seafood is. The ice crusher was deafening.

The Marine Bar was the center of nightlife, all other bars had to close at midnight. It had a roaring trade then, just before the arrival of the great Arab hordes. Over a thousand bar stools and almost everyone occupied.

Directly opposit was the Sophon Hotel, 80 Baht a night. In the lobby they sold Beer Singh for 15 Baht, in the Marine it was 25. Hence many attempts to smuggle it in from across the road. The Marine watchman was on the lookout though.

Soi Post Office had only just been built, and they had trouble for years finding tennants for the shophouses.

Of course we had tons of fun in those days... But we were young and full of energy. I suppose a young energetic man can have as much fun nowadays, even if he is as "financially challenged" as I was then.

[Payboy]

Anyone remember the unofficial bamboo tollgate on Sukhumvit road to Pattaya?

[chonabot]

1988 - Used to hang out in the Cheers Bar and Sugar Shack. The Billion bar and Blue Light bar were places you could also 'hang out' in

Stayed at the Jenny Bar on Soi Pattayaland 1 - before it was a Gay area and the Bar had cheap rooms where you could rent by the month.

Just revisited Patts last week with my 14 year old son - not the same but still a bloody good laugh.

I would not have brought him here in 1988 that's for sure.....

[IamNotaNumber]

Ah, the good old days of 30 years ago.

No traffic, no scams, no real estate agents, no Western women, no Western families, no Russians, no hookers older than 20 (and precious few even that old).

Just nice people and lots of fun and smiles. It was miles better back then and I for one am delighted to be as old as I am and to have had the opportunity of experiencing it when it was worth it. Pattaya these days is completely banal and boring in comparison. I would describe it as a convenient place to retire but no more.

But of course most other places and countries have gone way downhill over the last 30+ years also.

[ARGUSEYE]

Uuuuhh... The Billion Bar 30 years ago.....

Naughty, naughty!