Good bye Pattaya

[kristophon]

can`t say as I spend that much time on here so wouldnt know about that...

[bangkokstick]

Have a nice trip.

As you said, too many people here :-)

What I do not get is why people move so far when moving just 30 kms from Pattaya can make you feel like you are living in a private beach resort...

This is true. Living in Pattaya City simply isn't for everyone and it has turned for the worse, no doubt about it. Moving just a little outside, or even to another city makes all the difference in the world.

I honestly don't know how guys can live inside the city these days unless they are parked on a bar stool all day and night. I would have to be drunk all the time to deal with the influx of "high class tourists" and tour buses.

Moving "a little outside" pattaya, whatever that means, is not practical for many due to transportation issues or lifestyle choices. I shop for fresh fruits and veggies and meats almost daily, many of them imported, so being too far from the major farang markets of pattaya is not practical. In addition, if one keeps fit and Ned's a full service gym, again, being too far from central pattaya is not on.

You steareatype of anyone living in pattaya being a barstool denizen is very out of date. My friends all live in pattaya and have full daytime schedules that don't include being near a barstool.

Sorry but it seems that the problem is you, your lifestyle and how you expect your life to be when LIVING ABROAD, not Pattaya area...

Imported fruits, etc... ok, if you need to live like in the west better live there ! Anyway, do you need all the farang convenience everyday ? I guess that doing to farang supermarkets once a week should be enough for most of the people who don't want to live in the bar scene.

[impulse]

Bang Saray is a 15 minute drive away, as stated why have to travel to the other side of the world. I think home sickness is in play here.

Could say the same to a guy that didn't find what he wanted in Ft Worth. Maybe Florida would be better.

Not saying that's the OP's case, but he's not the one going to live on the other side of the world. He's headed back to his side.

Besides, what's Bang Saray going to look like just about the time they'd get settled in again?

He sounds like the proverbial frog that has snapped the the fact the water has been getting noticeably warmer.

Good luck wherever your life takes you!

[swissie]

Bang Saray is a 15 minute drive away, as stated why have to travel to the other side of the world. I think home sickness is in play here.

Not really sure about that...are you selling condos there? On holiday weekends and most of the time during high season, it can be 30 minutes or more or over an hour a return trip. That's allot of time and gas wasted.

9 years ago I visited Bang Saray for the first time. The most charming place anyone can dream of. (And back then it was really only 15 minutes away from Pattaya.) Seeing another Farang there, was a major event. It was a perfect place to live. And, if some neon-light surroundings seemed desirable, Pattaya was only a 15 minute drive away

Was there again 2 months ago. Time has not stood still. The thrill (and the charm) is gone. The town itself is about 5 times as big now and they already named a stretch of the road along the beach "Walking-Street" !!!

Wife and I agree: Some of the best times of our live we spent in Bang Saray. Can't turn back the clock. What remains? Memories and a handful of old fading Fotos.

Cheers.

[Suradit69]

I first went there in 1974, it sure isn't the same place any more, couldn't live there myself, sure many love it, I always say that the best thing about Pattaya is the what you see in your rear view mirror when you are leaving. Perhaps it's my age !!!!!?????

" I always say that the best thing about Pattaya is the what you see in your rear view mirror when you are leaving."

Given your sentiments, if you've fondly looked at it in your rear view mirror more than once ( " I always say"), why would you keep coming back?

Traffic and people-congestion are certainly worse compared to 10 or 15 years ago, but that tends to be an expected consequence any place that is deemed attractive to people for whatever reason. I imagine Beach Rd, Walking Street & environs are as seedy as ever, but how many people who stay here spend any time in such places?

I still can't comprehend the psychology of people who feel compelled to make such negative comments. We've all been places we've not cared for. Generally we don't visit more than once if that is the case and certainly we don't make a career out of generating disparaging comments about the place. I guess it's a bit like the holier-than-thou politicians who pontificate about others they deem to be immoral and then are found out to have mistresses stowed away in love-nests they've paid for from the public till.

Or to misuse Shakespeare: "The lady [or lad ] doth protest too much, methinks."

[NanLaew]

Bang Saray is a 15 minute drive away, as stated why have to travel to the other side of the world. I think home sickness is in play here.

Bang Saray was a 15 minute drive away... oh, probably in 1984 or 85.

I am moving back to Pattaya next month but renting this time, out in the boonies on the dark side, maybe 20 minutes drive to the 'center' between midnight and 7AM but probably closer to an hour at all other times!

If someone bought a house or condo west of Sukhumvit in the past 10-15 years, in Naklua, Pattaya or Jomtien, then I do feel your pain.

Good luck to the OP. Texas... it's like a whole other country!

[hotandhumid]

Trawling through the forum it seems like everyone like here is sick of the traffic these days...it is a real problem now. I live dark side and yesterday I took my daughter to Big C on the Pattaya Tai junction. Coming home it took about 40 minutes, suk between Tai and Klang was gridlocked. Said to the the missus when I got home that I'm not driving into Pattya on the weekend anymore unless I/we really need to do go for a good reason.

[yoslim]

I live in central pattaya and love it, I can walk to the supermarket, bike to the gym etcc.. I live in a quiet soi with not much traffic. I hate going outside of town, traffic is so bad and really dangerous, at least in central pattaya the idiots can't drive like crazies

[NanLaew]

The last couple of posts indicate the barrier that Sukhumvit presents. However, my buddy who lives out Huayyai copes by getting up early on a Saturday (he works Mon-Fri, 9-5) and gets into Foodland around 7 AM for breakfast and then embarks on all his organised Pattaya shopping (Friendship, Tops, etc.) as well as other stuff at HomeWorks or Tukcom, etc., and is back home by 11 AM, well before the traffic glues up.

Those that live 'inside' Pattaya can be similarly organised and use their car, motorbike, songtaew or shank's pony to do the same well before the gridlock kicks off.

It is a shame that certain lifestyles such as bar-hopping or serial dining out has to be planned around the traffic chaos but to be honest, there's only a couple of bars that I consider worth visiting and the overall Pattaya/Jomtien dining experience can be underwhelming enough to make cooking most meals at home much more practical and economical.

[OMGImInPattaya]

The last couple of posts indicate the barrier that Sukhumvit presents. However, my buddy who lives out Huayyai copes by getting up early on a Saturday (he works Mon-Fri, 9-5) and gets into Foodland around 7 AM for breakfast and then embarks on all his organised Pattaya shopping (Friendship, Tops, etc.) as well as other stuff at HomeWorks or Tukcom, etc., and is back home by 11 AM, well before the traffic glues up.

Those that live 'inside' Pattaya can be similarly organised and use their car, motorbike, songtaew or shank's pony to do the same well before the gridlock kicks off.

It is a shame that certain lifestyles such as bar-hopping or serial dining out has to be planned around the traffic chaos but to be honest, there's only a couple of bars that I consider worth visiting and the overall Pattaya/Jomtien dining experience can be underwhelming enough to make cooking most meals at home much more practical and economical.

Agree, except with the economical part...but one can control the quality of ingredients and the e-coli count.

[OMGImInPattaya]

Trawling through the forum it seems like everyone like here is sick of the traffic these days...it is a real problem now. I live dark side and yesterday I took my daughter to Big C on the Pattaya Tai junction. Coming home it took about 40 minutes, suk between Tai and Klang was gridlocked. Said to the the missus when I got home that I'm not driving into Pattya on the weekend anymore unless I/we really need to do go for a good reason.

...and it is still low season.

For the past month or so...almost coinciding with the end of Songkran, I've noticed a marked decrease in traffic, even on weekends. This includes both cars and tour busses. I attribute this to it being low season, keeping many euro snowbirds home and it now being rainy season, even the Bangkok weekend and day-trippers staying away.

I'm just enjoying it while it lasts and dread the onset of November.

[lemel]

Lived here for 12 years been coming since 1981 and seen many changes! traffic getting worse and people not as friendly but I live 2 miles across Suhkumvit, enjoy been close to the sea, my boat, plenty of good & not so good restaurants, golf courses, falang company is a few bars etc etc... is there better places to live, sure, will I ever leave, maybe. I could move to somewere quieter, less traffic restaurants etc but what for? everywhere you go life changes and either you change with it or get out of dodge. To the OP goodbye I wish you well in your move, you enjoyed it for a while and at least you tried it many people never have the guts, the willingness or the opportunity or even worse at least your not one of those sanctimonious dickwads who slag it off, but have never been, but love to post crap from the otherside of their world(desk & Computer) and never have a good thing to say about anything. have a safe journey!

[PoodMaiDai]

Moving "a little outside" pattaya, whatever that means, is not practical for many due to transportation issues or lifestyle choices. I shop for fresh fruits and veggies and meats almost daily, many of them imported, so being too far from the major farang markets of pattaya is not practical. In addition, if one keeps fit and Ned's a full service gym, again, being too far from central pattaya is not on.

You steareatype of anyone living in pattaya being a barstool denizen is very out of date. My friends all live in pattaya and have full daytime schedules that don't include being near a barstool.

1) Ever hear of motorized transportation? That is how people get around when they live "a little outside" a city where it has things they may need. Works that way all around the world. You go in and get what you need, or do what you have to do, then you leave and go back to your sanctuary where tour bus parades, drunken idiots, hordes of Russians, and deformed street beggars don't exist. Countless people live like this in the areas surrounding Pattaya.

2) Your friends are in the minority and you know it. Pattaya is what it is. No need to try make excuses for it. People don't go there for pristine beaches and Thai culture. But I don't want to turn this into a Pattaya bashing thread, as there are already plenty of those.

[PoodMaiDai]

Bang Saray is a 15 minute drive away, as stated why have to travel to the other side of the world. I think home sickness is in play here.

I am moving back to Pattaya next month but renting this time, out in the boonies on the dark side, maybe 20 minutes drive to the 'center' between midnight and 7AM but probably closer to an hour at all other times!

The dark side is perfect. It's quiet enough to have a normal, peaceful life when you want it, and close enough to the madhouse that you can be at ground zero in 10 minutes or less, depending on traffic of course.

[salty]

I like Pattaya ,to visit.Don't want to live there

I would echo those sentiments.

[mostcurious]

I like Pattaya ,to visit.Don't want to live there

I would echo those sentiments.

Yes, I agree to.

Pattaya is great for a bit of shopping, a visit to the dentist, or the opticians, and maybe a quick jiggi jiggil. and that's it.

The longer you stay the more you will spend.

[Tiger7Moth]

After 7 years in Thailand, I moved back to the US - Fort Collins, Colorado - rated by CNN/Money as the 6th best place to live in the US - before moving to Thailand, I had lived for 4 years in Boulder, Colorado for 4 years, just down the road from Fort Collins.

Anyway, I lasted less than 6 months in the US, then, I tried Phnom Penh for a year and am back in Pattaya.

If you think Pattaya has changed, you will find the US has also changed.

I am not trying to be critical in any way, I hope you find great happiness in the US. But, I can assure you, you won't find the US that you left.

[rubberduck]

https://www.facebook.com/thainorthtexas Home away from home.

[guzzi850m2]

After 7 years in Thailand, I moved back to the US - Fort Collins, Colorado - rated by CNN/Money as the 6th best place to live in the US - before moving to Thailand, I had lived for 4 years in Boulder, Colorado for 4 years, just down the road from Fort Collins.

Anyway, I lasted less than 6 months in the US, then, I tried Phnom Penh for a year and am back in Pattaya.

If you think Pattaya has changed, you will find the US has also changed.

I am not trying to be critical in any way, I hope you find great happiness in the US. But, I can assure you, you won't find the US that you left.

This is not the first time I hear about somebody moved back home from where they came from and then moved back to Thailand/Pattaya again.

I guess you can call it a "study" trip and yes everywhere things change, like it or not, nothing we can do about it.

I been living on Phuket and in Bangkok before moving here and Pattaya suits me best of the 3 places.

[lovetotravel]

My good friends just left Pattaya for France, Nice. He's French, but lived all over the world for the past 50 years. They bought a nice condo, sold theirs here, and are now talking about coming back. Visiting a place for a few weeks isn't the same as living there.

They complained about the traffic, corruption, etc, here in Thailand and are now finding out dealing with the French government isn't easy either! Too funny. They miss Thailand.

[smooth expat]

Ummm. Costs a bit too much for lays there. The only real reason to live in Pattaya is to save on mongering costs. I know we can't discuss *that* sort of thing on TV but it is a fact of life and needs to be considered as part of a man's overall budget.

Edited June 30, 2013 by smooth expat

[Tiger7Moth]

Ummm. Costs a bit too much for lays there. The only real reason to live in Pattaya is to save on mongering costs. I know we can't discuss *that* sort of thing on TV but it is a fact of life and needs to be considered as part of a man's overall budget.

OK, I don't want to insult you or your perspective. Maybe this is basically true for you based upon your interests and experience.

But, I rent a suite in a small hotel. It is bigger and much nicer than the apartment I rented in Colorado, USA when I moved back their 2 years ago. I pay $400 for the place I am now living in and $1,200 for the place in the US.

I am fortunate in that there is a restaurant a two minute walk from where I am living. The staff, 3 Thai women in their 40's who are very happy to see me each time I show up. Yesterday, as an example, I ordered chicken and rice and vegetable along with two eggs. The cost was 70 baht and was more than I normally eat in a day (normally, I eat two meals a day - this time, enough food for 3 meals). Well, simply, 3 good meals in one day in the USA will cost you a lot more than $2.50 with tip.

I could give many more examples, but, much less expensive to live here - mongering aside.