If You Hate Pattaya So Much Why Read The Forum And Post?

[MrRealDeal]

Why do you expect that an open forum would or should only be filled with people who like the place or topic ?

Why are people who dislike pattaya less likely to want to chat about it ?

Me thinks you expect to much from the internet

[simple1]

I think the haters suffer from a superiority complex and want everyone to know that they would never or have never set foot in Pattaya. The truth is they are probably staying in some shit hole bungalow in Issan with a wife who even the most desperate Thai man wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole. The only way they can get some enjoyment out of life is to try and bring down a city that many people enjoy. I am not saying Pattaya is the greatest place in the world, and a lot of Thai's say they hate the place as well and are only there for the money but it is pretty easy to ignore the Pattaya forum or any thread with Pattaya in it if you hate it so much. Or at least restrain the need to keep bashing the place in every thread.

I agree there are quite a few miserable guys around with let's say not very attractive wives. They made the mistake usually of getting married within the time necessary to learn about Thailand, which in my opinion is 5 years.

The truth? Probably most of the women in Pattaya are Isarnese, and that's including all the ones born and raised there.

My wife was born and raised in Pattaya, where I now live. Her father was a fisherman (Muslim) and her mothers family from Ayutthaya (Muslim). She has said when growing up Pattaya was mainly composed of Muslims and Thai Chinese. She used to loath Thai Chinese, said they were thieves and cheats. That opinion is now squarely aimed at the very large Issan population living in Pattaya.

We now live in the predominately Muslim area of Pattaya which feels very safe and never had any problems with the local community or crime. I don't mind Pattaya, but their again I rarely go to the tourist area in Pattaya itself that I must admit is not exactly enthralling or beautiful; unless you're fixated on BG's. Pattaya bashing on this forum is over the top. However, every time their is an incident/issue elsewhere in Thailand you see the same style of posts. In my experience of visiting Pattaya since 1987 & now living here, the pros (no pun intended) still outweigh the cons. To continue staying here will be predicated on how mass tourism changes Pattaya over the coming years.

Many comments on LOS equals land of scams, but you know what, a smile is nearly always returned, cannot say that about my country of origin.

[tropo]

I can see this thread going downhill fast but 10/10 for putting up a robust defence of the city.

Pattaya is an artificial construct born of the R&R sex needs of US troops during the Vietnam war.....Vegas was an artificial construct born of the Mafia need to have pliable politicians to create a gambling Mecca.

Vegas is now a cleaned up big business premier World tourist attraction.....one of these days a mayor is going to come along and transform Pattaya......just like Vegas though, things may need to get worse before they get better.

Interesting terminology "artificial construct"??

Surely most cities in the world could be "artificial constructs" at their time of origin - certainly most new world cities are.

[Dancealot]

In response to a previous poster. I can honestly say that in over 5 years of living in Thailand and two and a half years here I have never met anyone who has left because they feel Pattaya is bad. I know of three people who have left here. One, because of ill health and the other two because they had run out of money! Of those two one has returned after working in England for a year to save. To be fair most of the people I know live in Jomtien or on the Dark Side, so maybe that little bit of distance makes all the difference.

Respect to your OP, that is very original.

Response to your OP: It is all about 'face'. Issues can be discussed, discretely but not shown face2face.

Apparently some farang have assimilated this Thai custom.

[robertthebruce]

My wife (who is not Thai) and I have lived in Thailand, seasonally, for the last 13 years returning to the States each summer for a couple of month to fine tune our business. For the first several years we lived in Bangkok near Asoke and loved it there. I was never much interested in the sex/bar scene being happily married but found plenty of interesting diversion in Bangkok where I met people from all over the world and all walks of life.

In 2007, we had a child and last year, a close friend convinced me that we should move to Pattaya and enroll our child in the same school that his child attends. After living here for the last 7 months I am counting the days until the school term is concluded so that we can leave this awful place.

I avoid Pattaya proper, from Walking Street to Naklua as I realize that this area is geared toward those who come for debaucherous pursuits, but it seems that no matter where you go in this town, you encounter people who tend to be rude, self obsessed and duplicitous. This is true of foreigners and Thais alike. Any veneer of civility is generally pretty thin. Driving here is an absolute nightmare where there is no regard whatsoever for etiquette or respect for the rules of the road.

Pattaya seems to attract the very worst kinds of people and anyone who would choose to raise children here lacks good judgement in my view. This is a town for selfish hedonists. I can't wait to get out of here. It's the worst place I've ever lived.

Totally agree with you, been once, was taken aback for various reasons, and vowed never to go back.

Definetly not my thing, cut my holiday short because of it.

[Traxster]

(Great. When you leaving? )

I agree....

if you can't take the heat

get out of the kitchen.....

[Ticketmaster]

The answer to the OP's question is quite simple. I have never gone to take a look at the Pattaya forum. However, all who subscribe to the "Today's best Thaivisa Topics" list get the Pattaya stuff on the list. Quite often, it is some Pattaya resident complaining about lost mail or corrupt police or some other scam.

Now, it is difficult to say that Pattaya is a typical example of Thailand. It is anything but. Nonetheless, the people living there, when they make their complaints, often make them generically, seeming to blame "Thais" for things that Thais typically do not do.

Pattaya is a cesspit that attracts all the worst characters. That is NOT to say that all the people there are bad characters; that is certainly not true. But since it attracts bad characters, you have bad things going on. These things are typical for places like Pattaya (anywhere in the world, really), but are almost unknown "out in the provinces." This is why those of us "out in the provinces" are tempted to say, "What the hell did you expect?" or "It's your own fault for living there."

[Ulysses G.]

There are no fish and chips, Donner kababs or Go-Go bars out in the boonies!

[pooperscooper]

There is no doubt that mass tourism tend to attract unsavory character and the seediness of Pattaya certainly adds to that. I remember going to Turkey in the summer and then in the winter. What a difference... during the summer season, it was absolutely awful. Scammers and awful tourists alike were all over the place. When I returned in the winter, it was a completely different experience. The same can be said about Pattaya... depending when and where you go, the experience can be vastly different. On top of it everyone's expectations are also very different.

I don't disagree nor am I offended by the poster wanting to leave with his kid however it is rude and condescending to pretend that one lacks judgment wanting to raise children in Pattaya. It is certainly not anyone's prerogative to pretend to know how other people's children should be raised. I respect his perception and his choices as long as he makes no judgment on the ones of others.

[sgunn65]

Why do you expect that an open forum would or should only be filled with people who like the place or topic ?

Why are people who dislike pattaya less likely to want to chat about it ?

Me thinks you expect to much from the internet

I think you have misunderstood the point I was trying to make in my original post. Having been posting (albeit rarely) on this forum since 2006 I have certainly not come to expect too much. However I have asked for, and received, excellent advice from people here. On the flip side I have been flamed for offering work when I had my own business!

I am certainly not an apologist for Pattaya nor do I see it through rose coloured spectacles. In fact when it was suggested i move here I, at first, refused on the basis of three weekends here when I stayed in the Soi 8 area. I hated it (and at that time I was availing myself of the goods on offer in that area so it wasn't the bars that put me off). . But a friend suggested I come here and look at it from a locals perspective, so I did. I checked out several residential areas, the shopping, services and entertainment (non bar) and saw a different aspect.

Since moving here I have settled down with a woman and no longer play the field. I last went to Walking St well over a year ago and never go to bars which have ladies for hire (unless visitors want to go there). I don't get hassled by the girls when i tell them, in Thai, that I am not available so there is little to bother me. I have a good well paid job and live a fairly normal life (similar to my previous life in london) and can honestly say that I see little of the corruption, scams and crime that tourists might encountour. But that does not mean I am immune to it. A friend was murdered here 4 months ago by a Swedish guy in front of Soi Diana and lots of witnesses. But his chequebook was big enough to get bail (for murder?) and he is in the wind. That is crime and corruption big enough for anyone.

I also hate the traffic, the stupidity, crap roads and the general hassle of getting things done in a country where my idea of logic is alien. But I have found that this is true in nearly all parts of Thailand that I have lived. The traffic maybe lighter elsewhere but the driving is still the same.

I welcome debate. Lets hear about the good and the bad. But debate requires reason and reason requires explanation. "Pattaya is S**t" is not debate. It is a 5 year old saying, "Because i want it!" Also it does not offer a public service as one previous poster suggested. Letting people know what Pattaya is like so they don't go there. Again it doesn't really do that.

I think in conclusion that I probably do expect too much. I follow the old adage, "If you have nothing useful to say, say nothing". But it's a free world and there is nothing to stop anyone writing one liners however inane they are, that is freedom of speech. I would love to hear from them why they do it.

[Rimmer]

Off topic post removed

[Fookhaht]

If You Hate Pattaya So Much Why Read The Forum And Post?

...because a thread title like this attracts us like the flies on the tons of garbage and flotsam all over Pattaya's beaches...

[Rimmer]

A baiting post removed

[rott]

My wife (who is not Thai) and I have lived in Thailand, seasonally, for the last 13 years returning to the States each summer for a couple of month to fine tune our business. For the first several years we lived in Bangkok near Asoke and loved it there. I was never much interested in the sex/bar scene being happily married but found plenty of interesting diversion in Bangkok where I met people from all over the world and all walks of life.

In 2007, we had a child and last year, a close friend convinced me that we should move to Pattaya and enroll our child in the same school that his child attends. After living here for the last 7 months I am counting the days until the school term is concluded so that we can leave this awful place.

I avoid Pattaya proper, from Walking Street to Naklua as I realize that this area is geared toward those who come for debaucherous pursuits, but it seems that no matter where you go in this town, you encounter people who tend to be rude, self obsessed and duplicitous. This is true of foreigners and Thais alike. Any veneer of civility is generally pretty thin. Driving here is an absolute nightmare where there is no regard whatsoever for etiquette or respect for the rules of the road.

Pattaya seems to attract the very worst kinds of people and anyone who would choose to raise children here lacks good judgement in my view. This is a town for selfish hedonists. I can't wait to get out of here. It's the worst place I've ever lived.

Totally agree with you, been once, was taken aback for various reasons, and vowed never to go back.

Definetly not my thing, cut my holiday short because of it.

Why did you cut your holiday short??

There are plenty of other places to go if you decide Pattaya is not for you.

if you were taken aback you presumably had not looked into the place much, which is surprising for what would normally be an expensive trip. What in particular took you by surprise?

[marstons]

My wife (who is not Thai) and I have lived in Thailand, seasonally, for the last 13 years returning to the States each summer for a couple of month to fine tune our business. For the first several years we lived in Bangkok near Asoke and loved it there. I was never much interested in the sex/bar scene being happily married but found plenty of interesting diversion in Bangkok where I met people from all over the world and all walks of life.

In 2007, we had a child and last year, a close friend convinced me that we should move to Pattaya and enroll our child in the same school that his child attends. After living here for the last 7 months I am counting the days until the school term is concluded so that we can leave this awful place.

I avoid Pattaya proper, from Walking Street to Naklua as I realize that this area is geared toward those who come for debaucherous pursuits, but it seems that no matter where you go in this town, you encounter people who tend to be rude, self obsessed and duplicitous. This is true of foreigners and Thais alike. Any veneer of civility is generally pretty thin. Driving here is an absolute nightmare where there is no regard whatsoever for etiquette or respect for the rules of the road.

Pattaya seems to attract the very worst kinds of people and anyone who would choose to raise children here lacks good judgement in my view. This is a town for selfish hedonists. I can't wait to get out of here. It's the worst place I've ever lived.

So the drivers in BKK Asoke area drove with etiquitte and respectl!!! Last time i was in the Asoke area soi cowboy was doing a good job at catering for debaucherous pursuits and just up the road Nana was full of the dreggs of the earth. Are you not presently raising a child here?, does BKK not have decent schools? Assumption etc. A friend persuaded you to upsticks and come here and you did it without comeing for a look see first. Cant see any difference between Pattaya and Bangkok in the area's you have pointed out. All your upsides of Bangkok are here and all the downsides of Pattaya are also present in BKK.

[simple1]

What many distractors of Pattaya don't seem to understand is the rudeness of some Westerners towards Thais, that creates a negative attitude to foreigners with a flow on effect to their enjoyment of Pattaya. My wife has told me of a number of instances when driving her motorbike. She has used her horn to warn people when overtaking. They have yelled <deleted> at her. <deleted> is the worst insult you can use in Thai society. She has observed other instances of this behaviour and Thais yelling back threatening to kill them, with the foreigner completely unaware of what being said.

Another foreigner smashed in a window of a female Thai drivers car with a bottle. What he did not know was the driver is the daughter of a senior member of the local community and was arrested & imprisoned by RTP. This incident was covered by Thai TV.

One last example which was why I bother with this post. Today at a pharmacy two westerners were very hostile when presented with the bill saying in loud voices they had been overcharged. In both cases the charges were proved to be correct. Watching the Thais facial expression you could see this was a regular experience for them.

Edited January 4, 2013 by simple1

[sgunn65]

I was just reading about the Russians who were robbed and saw this marvelous insight;

Anybody who goes to Soddom & Gommorah, I mean Pattaya deserves what they get.

What possible contribution does that make to anything. We get it, you don't like Pattaya so why not get on with your life wherever it may be and leave us to this wretched hole we call home. I really don't think that robbing me at gunpoint is something I deserve because my job happens to be here.

[JSixpack]

It's very simple: those who hate Pattaya post here to express their hate.

Mind you, most don't actually hate Pattaya. The largest group of bashers are just trolling--on the sly, as this is a moderated forum. If it were not moderated, you'd see them unleashed a la Usenet and the forum would quickly become unreadable. (Some Usenet groups are moderated but most are not.)

Of those who are in fact sincere, or think they are, they fall into various categories such as

• the religionists and moralists
  
• the fussy old women (if born male), oft from cloudy climes, prone to continual whining--a large number
  
• the envious, who'd secretly like to live here but can't, therefore sour grapes
  
• the disappointed, who'd expected paradise but inevitably found reality
  
• the obsessed among the disappointed who are forever grinding an axe such as "Big C sucks"
  
• the personality disordered--another large group often overlapping with the disappointed
  

After you've been here awhile, you know what they'll say on most topics--and many topics are recurring, or variations of old topics. Hence I don't usually bother to read more than one or two posts of the topics I bother to enter, and post less and less. Mobi wrote a great post about this situation a year or so ago.

[PoodMaiDai]

Because watching the Pattaya apologists get their panties in a bunch and continually try to defend the world's largest brothel entertainment district is incredibly cheap entertainment.

There is a reason Pattaya is constantly bashed by both falang and Thais alike, and you don't see it happening to any other city in the entire country. That should be your first clue. But to each his own. One man's garbage is another man's treasure.

[simple1]

Because watching the Pattaya apologists get their panties in a bunch and continually try to defend the world's largest brothel entertainment district is incredibly cheap entertainment.

There is a reason Pattaya is constantly bashed by both falang and Thais alike, and you don't see it happening to any other city in the entire country. That should be your first clue. But to each his own. One man's garbage is another man's treasure.

At least in Pattaya it's in the open and not hypocritical. Where I used to live, in Australia, the major cities telephone directories have pages and pages of adverts for "escort services". Must be thousands accessing the sex industry every day. As you know the sex industry in Thailand is mainly utilised by Thai's (90 percent plus of the sex industry?) mainly in the facade of karaoke bars, discos and restaurants. How many Thai's criticise their own people who avail themselves?

You can easily not go to the Pattaya downtown area where the bar beers are concentrated. However it seems it's one of the major tourist attractions to do so.

Edited January 5, 2013 by simple1

[thaibeachlovers]

There's nothing wrong with Pattaya other than the usual Thai reluctance to actually fix the infrastructure.

Better public transport than anywhere outside Bkk, decent nightlife, affordable accomodation etc etc.

What is wrong, is that uptight people want to make it into a clone of somewhere else that they do like, and I wish they'd go there and leave Pattaya alone.

Unfortunately, the package tourist industry keeps lying to unaware tourists about the beach to try and fill all the big hotels that should never have been built in the first place. Jomptien is far more suitable, but they keep trying to invade Pattaya.

[thaibeachlovers]

Because watching the Pattaya apologists get their panties in a bunch and continually try to defend the world's largest brothel entertainment district is incredibly cheap entertainment.

There is a reason Pattaya is constantly bashed by both falang and Thais alike, and you don't see it happening to any other city in the entire country. That should be your first clue. But to each his own. One man's garbage is another man's treasure.

Are the thousands of THAIS that come to Pattaya every weekend bashing the place? I don't think so.

Are you calling Thais garbage?

[chiangmaikelly]

My wife (who is not Thai) and I have lived in Thailand, seasonally, for the last 13 years returning to the States each summer for a couple of month to fine tune our business. For the first several years we lived in Bangkok near Asoke and loved it there. I was never much interested in the sex/bar scene being happily married but found plenty of interesting diversion in Bangkok where I met people from all over the world and all walks of life.

In 2007, we had a child and last year, a close friend convinced me that we should move to Pattaya and enroll our child in the same school that his child attends. After living here for the last 7 months I am counting the days until the school term is concluded so that we can leave this awful place.

I avoid Pattaya proper, from Walking Street to Naklua as I realize that this area is geared toward those who come for debaucherous pursuits, but it seems that no matter where you go in this town, you encounter people who tend to be rude, self obsessed and duplicitous. This is true of foreigners and Thais alike. Any veneer of civility is generally pretty thin. Driving here is an absolute nightmare where there is no regard whatsoever for etiquette or respect for the rules of the road.

Pattaya seems to attract the very worst kinds of people and anyone who would choose to raise children here lacks good judgement in my view. This is a town for selfish hedonists. I can't wait to get out of here. It's the worst place I've ever lived.

Could always send your kids to school in the USA where they run the risk of being shot............... Swings and roundabouts.

What percent of American school children get shot? Is America number one? What is the most dangerous country for children to go to school in?

Edited January 5, 2013 by chiangmaikelly

[somtampet]

My wife (who is not Thai) and I have lived in Thailand, seasonally, for the last 13 years returning to the States each summer for a couple of month to fine tune our business. For the first several years we lived in Bangkok near Asoke and loved it there. I was never much interested in the sex/bar scene being happily married but found plenty of interesting diversion in Bangkok where I met people from all over the world and all walks of life.

In 2007, we had a child and last year, a close friend convinced me that we should move to Pattaya and enroll our child in the same school that his child attends. After living here for the last 7 months I am counting the days until the school term is concluded so that we can leave this awful place.

I avoid Pattaya proper, from Walking Street to Naklua as I realize that this area is geared toward those who come for debaucherous pursuits, but it seems that no matter where you go in this town, you encounter people who tend to be rude, self obsessed and duplicitous. This is true of foreigners and Thais alike. Any veneer of civility is generally pretty thin. Driving here is an absolute nightmare where there is no regard whatsoever for etiquette or respect for the rules of the road.

Pattaya seems to attract the very worst kinds of people and anyone who would choose to raise children here lacks good judgement in my view. This is a town for selfish hedonists. I can't wait to get out of here. It's the worst place I've ever lived.

Could always send your kids to school in the USA where they run the risk of being shot............... Swings and roundabouts.

What percent of American school children get shot? Is America number one? What is the most dangerous country for children to go to school in?

He wont be calling thais garbage,he doesnt even know that the weekend invasion of bangkok thais gridlocks the place.

[maturebrit]

its all choice.... one doesnt have to bad mouth any location... vote with your feet.. I have spent 32 years in S E Asia and when a place gets to me that much I move on... Been in Thailand 8 yrs now and if and when I have had enough I will move with the wife and kids to another place

does no good trashing any country... nobody forces you to stay anywhere

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Thaivisa Connect App

[Fookhaht]

its all choice.... one doesnt have to bad mouth any location... vote with your feet....

But without being able to whine and bitch about their host country, what would 70% of TV membership do all day?

[marchawkes]

Pattaya is 50 sq. kms according to Land survey records. The warren of little Soi's running off Beach Road,1st Road, 2nd Road and the surrounds is a tiny tongue of land 3kms x 3kms. Drive around the perimeter and your dashboard will tell you just that.

Relative to this tiny tongue of land and small population the violence, accidents and other mishaps is significant. In "percentage terms" the crime rate for this tiny stretch exceeds every other ASEAN country. We can gild the lily, pretend there are stars in the sky upon which to gaze or even imagine a UFO will drop something sweet smelling over this tiny tongue of land - 3kms x 3 kms. Its all quite delusional and will remain the stuff of essay-writing.

Balance in essay-writing is important. Its something you have done well. However, comments by bloggers (which you mock) are "in response to" newspaper stories of murder & mayhem in Pattaya this past month. To ask bloggers sommenting on a news item to look at the bright side when offering comment on acts of mindless violence is quite idiotic. Your article is akin to asking bloggers who come home and discover a body on the kitchen floor to then look up at the sky and count the colors of the rainbow. I'd need to be drugged to do that.

Many love Pattaya. Nobody has a monopoly on this affection. However, many refuse to be one-eyed Pattaya diehards. Most are balanced in their views. Comments on blog sites refer to a particular new item such as death or violence. They can be blunt, succinct, sound exasperated. Not everyone turns poetic and dreamy when reading crime stories much as people may love Pattaya. In fact the acidic scathing tones of bloggers are intended to draw attention so that a clean-up (hopefully) ensues.

Your little essay reads well. I liked the prose and choice of words. However, mocking people with concerns about spiraling crime is puerile. It will hardly stifle honest, blunt comments from people on this blog site to mindless violence. Taking their comments out of context and asking them to write about a rainbow each time they are commenting on a grisly murder is quite mad.

I do know at least 4 people who have left these past six months for Bali, Bantam and Manila. I'd need to live on another planet not to know long term residents of Pattaya who move. With the ease of travel and so many markets opening up Pattaya is just one of many resorts. Importantly, there are no sacred cows.

[stevef]

thank you i love that post

[chiangmaikelly]

Pattaya is 50 sq. kms according to Land survey records. The warren of little Soi's running off Beach Road,1st Road, 2nd Road and the surrounds is a tiny tongue of land 3kms x 3kms. Drive around the perimeter and your dashboard will tell you just that.

Relative to this tiny tongue of land and small population the violence, accidents and other mishaps is significant. In "percentage terms" the crime rate for this tiny stretch exceeds every other ASEAN country. We can gild the lily, pretend there are stars in the sky upon which to gaze or even imagine a UFO will drop something sweet smelling over this tiny tongue of land - 3kms x 3 kms. Its all quite delusional and will remain the stuff of essay-writing.

Balance in essay-writing is important. Its something you have done well. However, comments by bloggers (which you mock) are "in response to" newspaper stories of murder & mayhem in Pattaya this past month. To ask bloggers sommenting on a news item to look at the bright side when offering comment on acts of mindless violence is quite idiotic. Your article is akin to asking bloggers who come home and discover a body on the kitchen floor to then look up at the sky and count the colors of the rainbow. I'd need to be drugged to do that.

Many love Pattaya. Nobody has a monopoly on this affection. However, many refuse to be one-eyed Pattaya diehards. Most are balanced in their views. Comments on blog sites refer to a particular new item such as death or violence. They can be blunt, succinct, sound exasperated. Not everyone turns poetic and dreamy when reading crime stories much as people may love Pattaya. In fact the acidic scathing tones of bloggers are intended to draw attention so that a clean-up (hopefully) ensues.

Your little essay reads well. I liked the prose and choice of words. However, mocking people with concerns about spiraling crime is puerile. It will hardly stifle honest, blunt comments from people on this blog site to mindless violence. Taking their comments out of context and asking them to write about a rainbow each time they are commenting on a grisly murder is quite mad.

I do know at least 4 people who have left these past six months for Bali, Bantam and Manila. I'd need to live on another planet not to know long term residents of Pattaya who move. With the ease of travel and so many markets opening up Pattaya is just one of many resorts. Importantly, there are no sacred cows.

You wrote, "Taking their comments out of context and asking them to write about a rainbow each time they are commenting on a grisly murder is quite mad." But the OP wrote, "My bottom line is, it is good to debate the pro's and cons as well as raise awareness but, "Pattaya is disgusting, period" serves no purpose other than to increase your posting numbers and decrease your credibility."

I don't think he was asking anyone to write about a rainbow. He has a problem for those who only condemn with no explanation. For example Pooddaimai says, "There is a reason Pattaya is constantly bashed by both falang and Thais alike." That says nothing. It implies that Pooddaimai is the expert and bashing a place establishes guilt.

[tropo]

One last example which was why I bother with this post. Today at a pharmacy two westerners were very hostile when presented with the bill saying in loud voices they had been overcharged. In both cases the charges were proved to be correct. Watching the Thais facial expression you could see this was a regular experience for them.

The Thais who set up businesses in the Pattaya tourist zone know full well what they're getting themselves into. I don't think a little "aggression" from a couple of foreigners would bother them at all. They're mainly concerned with their takings at the end of the day.