Are these really the worst tourist spots in Southeast Asia?

[chrisinth]

Thanks I needed a good laugh, what a joke and he gets paid to write this clap trap.

Agree, but laugh aside, its not the writing that depresses me but the people who take it as gospel/believe the views of an individual relying on 'upvotes' (whatever that is) to reinforce his viewpoint. Almost as bad as politicians......................

Depression continues when i see posts from people who have a deep seeded hatred of Pattaya, based mostly on 2nd or 3rd party story accounts or one day visits. If the posts come from someone living there (or who has lived there), fair enough. Always preferred experience to speculation.

Still, everyone to their own, make the most of what is left of the free speaking world...................

[technologybytes]

Nowhere divides opinions like Pattaya.

Every statement about Pattaya is both true and false, depending on your point of view.

[smotherb]

I wonder how the view is from his high horse.

Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk

I thought he told you.

[MZurf]

Neon and sex, what's not to like!

Crime, disease, violence, lies and desperately lonely blokes trying to fulfill their empty lives by paying for sex with low class farmers daughters, often young enough to be their grandchildren?

And you're a frequent visitor?

[sabaii69]

“Pattaya is a filthy hellhole of neon and sex”.

so being in a city full of beautiful women is a filthy hellhole?

just booked my trip to Vang Vieng. i will check the filth for myself.

Sober up. The 'beautiful women' are actually men. Beware of 'beautiful women' in cocktail dresses..., That is, if you actually want a female.

[puukao]

“Pattaya is a filthy hellhole of neon and sex”

Can you elaborate?

[micmichd]

Guess Greater Pattaya has many more attractions than the neon & sex scene on Pattaya Beach. Medical and dental tourism, eg. And it's certainly a good place to retire.

[Emster23]

“Pattaya is a filthy hellhole of neon and sex”.

Different strokes for different folks. May not be attribute on some folks checklist, but for others it is. Celebrate diversity, <deleted>.

I've lived here more than 10 years: don't drink, don't use ladies services. World's largest open air sanitorium. If one can stay on top of the waves rather than crash on the rocks, can be good source of amusement.

[riverhigh]

Nobody believes me when I tell them I am only here for the benign weather and the cheapness of "everything".

You cannot come here and totally ignore what goes on and not even try things out ! If you ain't done it, don't knock it.

I know a place that has a long sandy beach, very little neon night life, high end resorts, limited trashy malls, it is called Hua Hin......boring does not even begin to describe the atmosphere..... Give me Jomtien any day.

Jomtien is for accountants and the living dead!

[bangsaenguy]

Neon and sex, what's not to like!

Crime, disease, violence, lies and desperately lonely blokes trying to fulfill their empty lives by paying for sex with low class farmers daughters, often young enough to be their grandchildren?

The "holier than thou" brigade to the rescue. These guys have never jaywalked, driven 1kph over the speed limit, looked at a pretty girl,

had sex before marriage, or even sex with the lights on after marriage

[JAG]

People do not go there for the food, or the filthy sea

The Temples?

[EyesWideOpen]

If sex for sale helps create hell, then that raises an interesting question. Any farang

here with thinking ability knows that 90 % of the sex trade in Thailand is set

up to service Thai men, not tourists. Thailand is always trying to put the

fat farang waddling down the street with a gogo girl on his arm as the face

of paid for sex. Complete twaddle, as the Thai sector is massive, from

knock shops in every village to massive massage complexes in Bangkok

to service the high rollers... So why in the hell does Pattaya keep getting

singled out as some some of special hellish bastion of paid for sex ?? Sigh.....

Edited January 19, 2016 by EyesWideOpen

[deckard]

And by the way . The picture posted is not Pattaya , it's Nana Plaza in BKK.

[trogers]

If sex for sale helps create hell, then that raises an interesting question. Any farang

here with thinking ability knows that 90 % of the sex trade in Thailand is set

up to service Thai men, not tourists. Thailand is always trying to put the

fat farang waddling down the street with a gogo girl on his arm as the face

of paid for sex. Complete twaddle, as the Thai sector is massive, from

knock shops in every village to massive massage complexes in Bangkok

to server the high rollers... So why in the hell does Pattaya keep getting

singled out as some some of special bastion of paid for sex ?? Sigh.....

One word - concentration... ?

[luckyman]

Pattaya is a filthy hellhole of neon and sex

So true - that is what attracted me to it

My thoughts as well and the excellent food of course. Another detail that Bergland got wrong. And dont forget the great choice in wonderful hotels. You see what you wanna see hey?

[luckyman]

If sex for sale helps create hell, then that raises an interesting question. Any farang

here with thinking ability knows that 90 % of the sex trade in Thailand is set

up to service Thai men, not tourists. Thailand is always trying to put the

fat farang waddling down the street with a gogo girl on his arm as the face

of paid for sex. Complete twaddle, as the Thai sector is massive, from

knock shops in every village to massive massage complexes in Bangkok

to service the high rollers... So why in the hell does Pattaya keep getting

singled out as some some of special hellish bastion of paid for sex ?? Sigh.....

Indeed, my friend you are so right !

Less than 10% of the sex trade in Thailand caters to farang. But to understand that takes time which Bergdick didnot have obviously !

[luckyman]

Pnom Penh and Koh Pangan would be top of my list.

[mikiea]

“Pattaya is a filthy hellhole of neon and sex”.

so being in a city full of beautiful women is a filthy hellhole?

just booked my trip to Vang Vieng. i will check the filth for myself.

hold on there buckaroo , beautiful women ? really ? half of them are packing a peperoni sausage.... ehhh... when you are man # 3454 in her life this year , please keep in mind it is only January . many terds floating at the beaches , scams , tiny wannabe pimp thugs scampering all over like cockroaches . "every man thinks his bird the fairest " Confucius said that and I am sure he was not talking about pattaya butt ugly ho's ......bada bada bing ................

[DM07]

Yaaaaaaawn!

One more time, somebody's pointing out the obvious, followed by claptrap like "when I first came to this beautiful country in 1856, after the Great Tomato War at the Klondike, the breast of the girls where all ample and fried chickens flew directly into your mouth!"

I don't like Pattaya, that's why I don't go there!

I don't like some other places in Thailand, that's why I stay away!

Simple as that!

Making the same comments, over and over again, doesn't change anything and does not turn the wheel of time back to way-back-when!

And please: some educate the good Mr. Bergland: prostitution is EV-ERY-WHERE in Thailand!

[ttthailand]

Most tourists and Thais going to Pattaya know exactly what goes on there. They go because they want to and so be it .... Live and let live !

[louse1953]

Nobody believes me when I tell them I am only here for the benign weather and the cheapness of "everything".

You cannot come here and totally ignore what goes on and not even try things out ! If you ain't done it, don't knock it.

I know a place that has a long sandy beach, very little neon night life, high end resorts, limited trashy malls, it is called Hua Hin......boring does not even begin to describe the atmosphere..... Give me Jomtien any day.

At least you can swim at HH.A beach you can't swim at because of pollution is a sad place.1986 was the last time i went in the water at Patts until a Bondi cigar floated by.Then moved around the corner to Jomtien but now that's stuffed.So down the coast i go.

[NoBrainer]

Good try. The picture is the entrance to Soi Diamond, off of Walking Street.

Shark in Bangkok is at Soi Cowboy, not Nana as well.

And by the way . The picture posted is not Pattaya , it's Nana Plaza in BKK.

[sandrabbit]

louse1953, on 19 Jan 2016 - 11:21, said:

lonewolf99, on 18 Jan 2016 - 19:49, said:

Nobody believes me when I tell them I am only here for the benign weather and the cheapness of "everything".

You cannot come here and totally ignore what goes on and not even try things out ! If you ain't done it, don't knock it.

I know a place that has a long sandy beach, very little neon night life, high end resorts, limited trashy malls, it is called Hua Hin......boring does not even begin to describe the atmosphere..... Give me Jomtien any day.

At least you can swim at HH.A beach you can't swim at because of pollution is a sad place.1986 was the last time i went in the water at Patts until a Bondi cigar floated by.Then moved around the corner to Jomtien but now that's stuffed.So down the coast i go.

You have to move a long way down the coast, past Ban Phe to Laem Mae Phim and surroundings as Rayong has a lot of industry on the coast.

[Prbkk]

They'll all be cast into a lake of eternal flame.

[CantSpell]

If he doesn't want to go there, why he is making a blog about it....

Attention wh-re?

[jacky54]

Most tourists and Thais going to Pattaya know exactly what goes on there. They go because they want to and so be it .... Live and let live !

So let live scum going there to look for kids? and don't fool yourself that does not still go on. It's all illegal of course, so let live that as well? Let live the parade on beach road where pensioners can be seen slobbering over tattooed hags and girls of dubious age, really stomach turning, still live at let live

[DM07]

Most tourists and Thais going to Pattaya know exactly what goes on there. They go because they want to and so be it .... Live and let live !

So let live scum going there to look for kids? and don't fool yourself that does not still go on. It's all illegal of course, so let live that as well? Let live the parade on beach road where pensioners can be seen slobbering over tattooed hags and girls of dubious age, really stomach turning, still live at let live

Be sure that this part of the sex- industry is really the smallest part of what goes on in Thailand.

Biggest number of praying on underaged girls are still the Thais themselves!

Wake up from your cozy dream and small the coffee!

[Canuk23]

I thought Vang Vieng got cleaned up a few years ago, as in no more bars along the river and an early curfew regarding any loud music. Has this changed?

I'm headed there next month, regardless, but will definitely cut my time short if the scene is anything like a full moon party.

If you read the whole story, and go to the links for more you will see an edit from the writer: 7 hours ago

EDIT: it appears that the Lao government beat me to this, and they've cleaned up Vang Vieng to some degree. Nonetheless, proceed at your own risk, and take these as cautionary tales to be applied to your travels at large.

The full story is here:

https://www.quora.com/What-tourist-areas-should-be-avoided-in-Southeast-Asia

Have a nice trip and would be nice to here about your trip as I plan to go to LAOS in the near future.

[jacky54]

Most tourists and Thais going to Pattaya know exactly what goes on there. They go because they want to and so be it .... Live and let live !

So let live scum going there to look for kids? and don't fool yourself that does not still go on. It's all illegal of course, so let live that as well? Let live the parade on beach road where pensioners can be seen slobbering over tattooed hags and girls of dubious age, really stomach turning, still live at let live

Be sure that this part of the sex- industry is really the smallest part of what goes on in Thailand.

Biggest number of praying on underaged girls are still the Thais themselves!

Wake up from your cozy dream and small the coffee!

Small the coffee is it? you have no idea at all what goes on in Thailand and just because Thais do something wrong does not make it right for westerners to do the same, or is it a case of when in lome do as the lomans do?

Edited January 19, 2016 by jacky54

[Youaredoomed]

I've had good times aplenty on both places. Vang Vieng was, an excellent place to escape the heat and chaos of Bangkok to, for a few days and prey on dumb backpacker women, getting off their skulls night in, night out.

We used to have a saying 'if you can't score in VV, you are beyond hope'.

Was a good scene for a few years until it the early - mid 2000s when became infested with aggressive African males who, once they had made Khao San Road in BKK too hot for them, began to see the hunting of backpacker women in Vang Vieng as strictly their exclusive territory and would cut up in a nasty way at any competition, especially at lone Western men and the coppers didn't seem too concerned or too scared to act either.

Pattaya, is Pattaya, is Pattaya. For me it is still the place I can still find the old Thailand - wild, free and fun - I fell in love with two decades ago now which seems to have almost vanished from BKK now bar the odd isolated nook or cranny.

The saving factor between the two places is that in Vang Vieng one can buy a bottle of nip, a bag of ice, slip some top tunes on the old MP3 player, slide out of 'town' into the stunning countryside, find yourself a quiet spot and chill out...