A holiday in Pattaya...

[kiwicouple]

This is just my honest account of our holiday in Pattaya.

My wife and I had been looking forward to a three week holiday in Thailand (Pattaya) for ages. It was my wife’s choice, and yes, we have been to Thailand before, even though it was about ten years ago. That was Bangkok, and we really enjoyed it.

This time however, we were so very disappointed, that we said we would never go back again.

We had planned to stay in a hotel, which we had booked online, a four and a half star hotel situated on Beach Road about one km or thereabouts North of Walking Street.

Our first impression was that the hotel choice was okay, if not great. The restaurant part of the hotel, where we had our pre-paid breakfasts, was ‘open’ to the main road, and also one side street. Unfortunately, the food prep/kitchen area was also ‘open’ to the streets 24/7, which was a concern for me. I noticed also that the walls of the “kitchen” were open slatted wood (like trellis fencing) painted white. Gave me a feeling that any rodents/vermin/insects would have an easy time scuttling around the place.

The breakfasts looked lavish, but the inadequate electrical services often meant that the food (including meat and fish dishes) was left sitting at ambient temperatures for hours at a time, instead of being served hot. My wife was the first to get a sick stomach. Mine came later, even though I was as careful as possible about what I ate, and using hand sanitizers etc.

Generally speaking, people give very little consideration to other peoples health and welfare, and in many cases even their own. This is obvious when you see some people preparing food for consumption by others. They have little regard that not washing their hands might cause some folk to become ill, or cross contamination of raw/cooked food stuffs can actually be lethal. At the very best it can ruin an expensive vacation. This also goes for poorly designed waste management.

To my point, we were shocked at the semi-open sewers, just a meter or so away from our hotels food prep area, in fact EVERYWHERE! The stench was awful. During one urgent visit to a toilet in one of the smaller shopping malls, I was stunned how bad the conditions were. It was a single toilet, reeking of human waste, a bucket full of used (shitty) toilet paper overflowing, at the side of the WC, and hole in the wall that a person could walk through at the side. Oh, and no working sink to wash your hands after!!! The same mall also had food vendors who would also be sharing this facility.

I was nearly sick just thinking about it. I could go on and give many other examples, but you get the picture I’m sure.

One evening we walked over the road to the beach, just a few meters from our hotel. We watched as rats scuttled out from the wooden walkway overhang (the one we were stood on), just ten meters from us, and scurried over and around a pile of deckchairs and played in the sand feeding on food that people had left scattered around the beach. Not ‘a’ rat, but rats plural. This, and the state of the beach, and the stink… oh, and a huge open (being worked on) main sewer just next to Walking Street, which was too close to the sea for my liking, was the reason we didn’t go down and take a dip in the ocean… that and the rats… did I mention the rats?

Our first walk down Walking Street was during the day, just after breakfast.

OMG!!!

If you try and imagine what the contents of a syphilitic 65 year old incontinent transvestites knickers would look/smell like, if she/he had been wearing them for a month, then you are pretty darn close to understanding what we were experiencing...

We looked upon the stragglers. The last nights “leftovers” as they sauntered zombie like about the place. The street awash with spew, rubbish, half eaten food, manky looking dogs (the four legged kind too), and the stench, well you could cut it with a knife. We actually saw Walking Street in its naked state, in the clear light of day, and it was disgusting. We did walk through a couple of times after dark during our holiday, and yes, shielded by the cloak of darkness, and given an outlandish makeover of neon and laser lighting, it looked “entertaining” of sorts. Sorry to say that having seen it in the cold light of day, we weren’t overawed by what we saw in the evening.

A few days into our “holiday” my wife became sick, and needed bed rest for a few days. One evening, without warning, about ten o’clock, There started a monsterously loud noise that rattled the hotel widows, which we later found out was a “live” band. They had set up directly opposite our hotel on Beach Road, and were to be “playing” (if you could call it that) for six nights!!! They had a HUGE sound system, full “mixing” deck, and speakers that were about two meters tall, and which would have been more at home in a full sized stadium. The noise and deep bass (which seems to pass for music these days) went on until 3.30am. Long story short, on the third evening, after complaining to the hotel management, who refused to consider having a word with these selfish noisy bastards, we couldn’t take it anymore, and we demanded a refund for the rest of our stay, and we subsequently moved to a different hotel. I say demanded a refund, as when we initially arrived, we were asked to pay up in full for our room, before we had even set foot inside it. This is the first time ever that we have been asked for prior payment in a “quality” hotel. All very suspicious.

I also felt that we (the tourists) were basically just there to be fed off and bled. Just as the mosquitoes made a meal of me (but I always have this problem), it seemed that the locals for the most, didn’t like foreigners, but just wanted to suck them dry, pun not intended. Just once while having a beer at a open bar mid day, after leaving my wife to “shop”, I think I caught a bar girl off guard. It also saddened me too I have to say. It wasn’t a busy time at the bar, and after having a beer dropped in front of me I simply smiled and said to her “you look unhappy”. She knew I wasn’t trying it on as she had seen my wife kiss me on the cheek only a minute before. She replied “it is impossible to smile all the time, it is so hard”. I said, it must not be good having to serve and deal with all the foreigners here”. She said, “it is not easy for us, not easy for me”. At that she gave me a genuine smile, one which I felt privileged to see. It was at this point that my heart went out for these people. Victims of circumstance. Yes they are out to get as much as they can out of the fat rich foreigners who flock to their country, but also they have to deal with the overburden of crime, pollution and other issues that these cash cows bring with them.

I guess the last thing that we really didn’t like was the overall sleazyness of the place. Yes we are well over 25, yes we are married, no we are not prudes and we have seen it all before, but my god, it was too much. My eyes were taking in that much “sleaze” that on the return to our hotel room each night, I felt I should have been taking my eyeballs out and giving them a dip in a peroxide bath!

All in all not a great vacation by any stretch. If nothing more, it made me truly appreciate the comfort of my own home, the freshness of a non-polluted New Zealand atmosphere, fresh “drink-from-the-tap” water, and no sewer smells.

My feelings for Thailand are mixed. Most of the locals we met were not the “happy welcoming smiling people” that their tourist board would have you believe they are. But hell, I can understand why. The place is dirty/sleazy and rank, with thin veneers of opulence when you walk into the better hotels, restaurants and shopping malls, but that’s Asia for you.

I also came away with a sadness, being that of a realization that as a tourist, I too am slightly responsible for turning a simple people, and a beautiful country into a heaving mass of confusion, sleaze and overly polluted mess.

Thanks for reading.

[Radar501]

Pattaya is not Thailand, and Thailand is not Pattaya.

Please come again, but maybe do more on-line research first.

Forewarned is forearmed.

Edited January 17, 2014 by Radar501

[canman]

Sorry to hear you had such a bad trip, Pattaya is not for everyone. It sounds like you would have been better off someplace like Koh Chang. Your description of the hotel certainly does not sound like a 4.5 star one. There are plenty of very good hotels in Pattaya with excellent service, sounds to me like you got taken with your choice of accomodation. I lived in Pattaya for 4 years with my family and never once had food poisonig or any other illness for that matter.

Yes the beach is crap but there are very good beaches an hour south. Walking street is full of 'sleaze' that's what it is all about. Pattaya is not a beach destination nor is it a family destination, even though they seem to be trying to turn it into one. Your description of stinking open sewers is not something I ever encountered in Pattaya, maybe you were unlucky and arrived during some "upgrading" works.

[manarak]

OP:

Well, yeah, Pattaya is not for everyone.

Especially not for 2 mainstream spouses that aren't into what Pattaya has best to offer.

In such a situation you are bound to only experience the worst sides of Pattaya.

So... how did your refund go and where did you move to after checking out of the 4.5 star hotel?

I hope you did not have to stay the full 3 weeks?

On second thought, I wonder what could possibly have made you book a hotel on beach road, when there is so much information around, including google street view?

You should have booked a resort, such as the Rabbit Resort in Dongtan Beach in Jomtien or something.

Edited January 17, 2014 by manarak

[Naam]

Pattaya is not Thailand, and Thailand is not Pattaya.

Please come again, but maybe do more on-line research first.

Forewarned is forearmed.

come again and don't bring your wife

[Fabulousheart]

Very nicely worded and an accurate description of Pattaya life.

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[kiwicouple]

Pattaya is not Thailand, and Thailand is not Pattaya.

Please come again, but maybe do a bit of on-line research first.

Maybe so, but if you have a bad oyster, it may put you off eating them again, as much as you thought you liked them up to that time, so next time you have a steak.

There are so many destinations, we don’t feel like we would want to return again, so why would we? This trip cost us a fortune (flights cost $12,000NZ alone).

The holiday wasn’t all bad, we did visit a few places, but our overall feeling is that it was neither a relaxing or “great” holiday. We have holidayed closer to home and for $9,000 or so less, so that’s what we will be doing for a while. Foods better/safer, beaches cleaner, water safe etc….

[naidraw66]

Pattaya is certainly not a place to bring your wife, in fact it must be Thailand's most wife unfriendly location. Why did you choose Pattaya when there are so many fantastic places to take your wife . . . . . . . ! Like a previous post says "Pattaya is not Thailand, and Thailand is not Pattaya" and that is such a true statement. I live very close by in Na Jomtien, and have been here for 8 years +, I very rarely go into Pattaya unless its an emergency favoring shopping in Bangkok when required and using periphery shopping for our daily needs. Jomtien is quickly turning into another Pattaya but has a little way to go yet.

It is clear that Pattaya is the toilet of Thailand in many forms but we who live here understand that and have very little say in the matter. The local authorities say that that are cleaning up the city but don't actually understand the meaning of clean, in any respect!!

As a foreigner here, especially a tourist you have the odds stocked up against you in so many ways. You are a commodity, a walking ATM to be exploited in whichever way possible humanity has nothing to do with it . . .

If you return to Thailand again please consider all the nice places to go to there are so many so far removed from the Pattaya experience. Pattaya was created for one thing exploitation, and its still going strong . . . . .

[HeavyDrinker]

We looked upon the stragglers. The last nights “leftovers” as they sauntered zombie like about the place. The street awash with spew, rubbish, half eaten food, manky looking dogs (the four legged kind too), and the stench, well you could cut it with a knife. We actually saw Walking Street in its naked state, in the clear light of day, and it was disgusting.

Have you ever walked through any holiday resort in the morning?

"Reports" like this always make me wonder that if the people who write them had put half as much effort into researching their trips before they went, they wouldn't have to waste so much time whining...clearly lacking common sense.

[kiwicouple]

OP:

Well, yeah, Pattaya is not for everyone.

Especially not for 2 mainstream spouses that aren't into what Pattaya has best to offer.

In such a situation you are bound to only experience the worst sides of Pattaya.

So... how did your refund go and where did you move to after checking out of the 4.5 star hotel?

I hope you did not have to stay the full 3 weeks?

We moved to the LK Miracle Suite (near Arab quarter). Yes much better, and we had over a week there, as most of the holiday we had been in the other hotel.

Yes Patayya was a bad choice, I cant agree more.

[Fabulousheart]

Can man have you lost all sense of smell there are running open sewers all over pattaya. He may have been referring to the smelly open "storm drains" along every road. I have been coming to Thailand for over 12 years and every trip have had stomach issue. Keep in mind most of the dishes are "washed" in cold water if jot just rinsed in a dirty bucket. You can see slabs of pork and bacon laying out all day with flys crawling over it. Not to mention chicken, eggs,etc. also salads are washed in local unfiltered water if washed at all. The only hope you have is build up your immune system. I also have gotten sick at the "high" end restaurants in pattaya because of poor food preparation conditions. The poster was fair and accurate

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[kiwicouple]

come again and don't bring your wife

Not worth a response really.

[HeavyDrinker]

come again and don't bring your wife

Not worth a response really.

Valid point though, You wouldn't need to 'wash your eyeballs at 'all the "sleaze" and may be able to check out the one part of Pattaya life which seldom gets bad reviews...

I'm greatly pleased and encouraged by this review though; If Pattaya is going to repel the pretentious middle class types who have almost destroyed the raw edge of Benidorm (and some of the more fruitier Med resorts) by inventing some faux media inspired, post-ironic 'revival' in these places, at least Pattaya is one place which will be allowed to retain it's raw edge and not become 'poncified' by the chinless chattering classes.

Edited January 17, 2014 by HeavyDrinker

[Tolley]

Pattaya is particularly dirty at the moment given that it hasn't rained for some time so the smells emanating from the drains are pretty disgusting.

I have noticed that quite a few people are wearing face masks which is probably a good idea.

Not sure why a married couple would choose to spend three weeks in a hotel in Pattaya?

If you are not into night life then a couple of nights in Patts and then move on surely?

I mean it is not like there isn't copious information about Pattaya on the net.

[kiwicouple]

Can man have you lost all sense of smell there are running open sewers all over pattaya. He may have been referring to the smelly open "storm drains" along every road. I have been coming to Thailand for over 12 years and every trip have had stomach issue. Keep in mind most of the dishes are "washed" in cold water if jot just rinsed in a dirty bucket. You can see slabs of pork and bacon laying out all day with flys crawling over it. Not to mention chicken, eggs,etc. also salads are washed in local unfiltered water if washed at all. The only hope you have is build up your immune system. I also have gotten sick at the "high" end restaurants in pattaya because of poor food preparation conditions. The poster was fair and accurate Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

Sir you have it nailed. I couldn’t agree with you more.

Some folk don’t notice health issues, which works great until they get sick.

[simple1]

OP: Out of interest why did your wife select Pattaya as a destination, from your post you could afford to go anywhere in Asia. I live in Pattaya and have had none of the issues you raise, there again I do not go to the 'red light' areas in central Pattaya nor the Pattaya/Jomtien beaches for swimming. It is well documented that the environ of Pattaya is polluted and has one of the largest concentrations of 'open' prostitution in Asia. As someone mentioned you have to travel out of the central Pattaya area for clean sea & hopefully not to much rubbish on the beaches. All of this info is easily available on the main international internet travel sites.

BTW do not believe the sob stories of bar beer girls.

[kiwicouple]

come again and don't bring your wife

Not worth a response really.

Valid point though, You wouldn't need to 'wash your eyeballs at 'all the "sleaze" and may be able to check out the one part of Pattaya life which seldom gets bad reviews...

I'm greatly pleased and encouraged by this review though; If Pattaya is going to repel the pretentious middle class types who have almost destroyed the raw edge of Benidorm (and some of the more fruitier Med resorts) by inventing some faux media inspired, post-ironic 'revival' in these places, at least Pattaya is one place which will be allowed to retain it's raw edge and not become 'poncified' by the chinless chattering classes.

Haha… very amusing. I take it by this as you consider us to be “pretentious chinless chattering poncified middle-class…types”? If this is the case, you assume a lot.

[canman]

Can man have you lost all sense of smell there are running open sewers all over pattaya. He may have been referring to the smelly open "storm drains" along every road. I have been coming to Thailand for over 12 years and every trip have had stomach issue. Keep in mind most of the dishes are "washed" in cold water if jot just rinsed in a dirty bucket. You can see slabs of pork and bacon laying out all day with flys crawling over it. Not to mention chicken, eggs,etc. also salads are washed in local unfiltered water if washed at all. The only hope you have is build up your immune system. I also have gotten sick at the "high" end restaurants in pattaya because of poor food preparation conditions. The poster was fair and accurate Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

Sir you have it nailed. I couldn’t agree with you more.

Some folk don’t notice health issues, which works great until they get sick.

Quite possibly after 20 years of living and working in asia I have become tolerant of the smells and immune to the food bugs. Like I said Pattaya is not for everyone.

[kiwicouple]

Can man have you lost all sense of smell there are running open sewers all over pattaya. He may have been referring to the smelly open "storm drains" along every road. I have been coming to Thailand for over 12 years and every trip have had stomach issue. Keep in mind most of the dishes are "washed" in cold water if jot just rinsed in a dirty bucket. You can see slabs of pork and bacon laying out all day with flys crawling over it. Not to mention chicken, eggs,etc. also salads are washed in local unfiltered water if washed at all. The only hope you have is build up your immune system. I also have gotten sick at the "high" end restaurants in pattaya because of poor food preparation conditions. The poster was fair and accurate Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

Sir you have it nailed. I couldn’t agree with you more.

Some folk don’t notice health issues, which works great until they get sick.

Quite possibly after 20 years of living and working in asia I have become tolerant of the smells and immune to the food bugs. Like I said Pattaya is not for everyone.

You are probably correct, I guess you get used to it after a while, and do build up an immunity to some degree also.

I remember a school trip to a sewage works when I was small, and the teacher asked a worker how do you put up with the smell, to which he perplied "what smell"?

[Fabulousheart]

There also are numerous posts from the Thai government that there are significant air quality issues in many cities in Thailand recommending all people wear air filter masks. What they do not say is you need to change the masks at min daily. As the previous poster stated the poor environmental quality is very well documented by numerous Thai agencies but the governments lack of solutions to improve environmental quality of life for all is not on the financial agenda!

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[HeavyDrinker]

Haha… very amusing. I take it by this as you consider us to be “pretentious chinless chattering poncified middle-class…types”? If this is the case, you assume a lot.

Going from experience, people who tend to write rambling adjective stuffed rhetoric usually fit right in that pigeon-hole.

[Spalpeen]

Commendable standard of prose. However it sounds like the OP skimped on the pre-holiday research. It's no secret what Pattaya is. Tripadvisor will give you a good heads up on the hotel. You can see Walking Street by day on streetview. Asking this forum for advice before travelling would have been wise. Anyone here would have advised that Jomtien is a better choice for a family holiday, with day trips over to Pattaya to see the circus.

Loitering around Beach Road and Walking Street is unimaginative. No mention here of day trips to Nong Nooch, Silverlake, Sanctuary of Truth, Million Year Stone Park, golf, sea fishing, snorkeling or horse riding at Horseshoe Point. Easily accessible shopping malls and cinemas. Good restaurants if you know where to go.

[PattayaPhom]

Its a shame that a hard earned holiday wasnt enjoyed and you are dissapointed, however for every one dissapointed visitor to Pattaya there is 1,000 happy ones. A lot seems to be down to the original hotel which is unfortunate. The Pattaya area does have a lot to offer with fantastic beaches only a few kilometers to the South. Maybe I am used to the smells etc and dont notice them anymore. Just this morning I took a shower with a large cockroach and asked him if he wanted soap or gel.

[kiwicouple]

Its a shame that a hard earned holiday wasnt enjoyed and you are dissapointed, however for every one dissapointed visitor to Pattaya there is 1,000 happy ones. A lot seems to be down to the original hotel which is unfortunate. The Pattaya area does have a lot to offer with fantastic beaches only a few kilometers to the South. Maybe I am used to the smells etc and dont notice them anymore. Just this morning I took a shower with a large cockroach and asked him if he wanted soap or gel.

Haha... love it!

We had "pet" crabs (no,,, real ones) in our showers in Vanuatu a couple of years ago. Scared the heck out of the wife when one came out of the rock shower wall first day we were there... we just got used to seeing them after that.

Edited January 17, 2014 by kiwicouple

[kiwicouple]

Haha… very amusing. I take it by this as you consider us to be “pretentious chinless chattering poncified middle-class…types”? If this is the case, you assume a lot.

Going from experience, people who tend to write rambling adjective stuffed rhetoric usually fit right in that pigeon-hole.

You have the right to your opinion, as I do to mine.

However, my original post wasn’t aimed at you or any “individual” personally. I didn’t set out to be abusive rude or insulting to any individual on the forum, unlike you that is. My “rambling adjective stuffed rhetoric” as you call it, was an honest attempt to recount our holiday time in Pattaya. I wasn’t throwing out curses or personal insults in any way shape or form. If you think I was rambling, don’t bother reading it. Sometimes people like to express themselves clearly, and with form and maybe just a little wit. Some folk even like to read more than just one liners, we don’t all like comics you know.

It’s funny how most all of the comments have been good ones, constructive, even questioning. Apart from yours that is, which is nothing more than a sarcastic venomous attack, One that was neither asked for, nor required.

[i claudius]

Well i live just outside Pattaya on the dark side ,i dont go to sleazy bars in walking street or hang around there in the early morning ,so for us ,my wife son and I ,Pattaya is a very different place to the one you came to for a holiday ,play with the dogs ,you catch fleas.

[HeavyDrinker]

The only uncalled for 'venomous attack' I see here is your OP which, as pointed out many times already, with a little effort on your part could have been rendered unnecessary.

There has been enough bytes wasted on the pros and cons of Pattaya that you could have found out all you found so repugnant about Pattaya in moments, then gone to Samui instead which would possibly have been more attuned to your sensibilities.

[kiwicouple]

Well i live just outside Pattaya on the dark side ,i dont go to sleazy bars in walking street or hang around there in the early morning ,so for us ,my wife son and I ,Pattaya is a very different place to the one you came to for a holiday ,play with the dogs ,you catch fleas.

Yes, I guess its like our main city back home. We are told that there are some dodgy areas, but don’t go there. We don’t go out drinking in ‘red light’ areas, but we hear of tourists that have occasionally come unstuck when they have mistakenly done just that. The quotation 'If you lie down with dogs, you will get up with fleas' didn’t apply to us in Pattaya I think, as we didn’t do anything along those lines, if I assume correctly what you mean. We didn’t go looking for trouble, in any sense of the word. The reference I made to a bar girl was only an ordinary open air bar on the beach front (away from Walking Street), near the shops. Also, although everyone seems to be making reference to the fact that we should have known about Pattaya, that it is a seedy place and not for couples, and also that Walking Street is one big brothel… well that’s not how it reads on most of the places we looked. Obviously we were looking at the wrong web sites. We saw attractions, restaurants and the like, even quoting the best fish restaurants on “Walking Street”. Obviously you guys on here are far more knowledgeable about the subject, but we went on what we read, albeit misleadingly so. Yes we were foolish to some degree, caught out a little, but my original post wasn’t to say that we were duped or anything like that. Just an opinion of a couple who holidayed in Pattaya, for whatever the reason.

There will be folk here who want to defend Pattaya, and who may not like it if someone writs in with a less than glowing report of their “home” city, and I get it. And also, if we had stayed away from the bright lights, we wouldn’t have seen so much sleeze, but then again, walking around is all part of the holiday, else what else do you do? You cant constantly be on excursions (and we did do some of those)…

[kiwicouple]

The only uncalled for 'venomous attack' I see here is your OP which, as pointed out many times already, with a little effort on your part could have been rendered unnecessary.

There has been enough bytes wasted on the pros and cons of Pattaya that you could have found out all you found so repugnant about Pattaya in moments, then gone to Samui instead which would possibly have been more attuned to your sensibilities.

My original post wasn’t a personal attack of any sort. Unlike your reference to me being a rambling chinless chattering poncified middle-class type.

Edited January 17, 2014 by Rimmer

[besth]

Like some others, I find it very difficult to understand why the OP's wife would choose Pattaya for a holiday.

Even more difficult to understand why she/they would choose that hotel's particular location.

Totally agree that Pattaya isn't a good holiday destination for a married middle aged couple, but just going

to nearby areas (Jomtien, Na Jomtien, Naklua) would have made it quite different for you.

Regarding your breakfasts, wouldn't it have made sense to forfeit the prepaid rubbish-surrounded, stinky, unhygienic and

unhealthy offer from the hotel and go and eat somewhere you might have enjoyed? Plenty of places offer nice breakfasts

at very small costs considering the whole expense of your holiday. Even more importantly, considering the effect that had

on your health.

Unfortunate that you had a bad time during a holiday that I'm sure you had been looking forward to, but you made bad choices

and it was not because of the lack of available information. I wish next time you have a combination of better luck and specially better preparation.