Is Pattaya a popular destination for backpackers, flash packers and budget families?

[Mobi]

A friend is building a new travel website/App for South East Asia which is primarily aimed at backpackers, flashpackers, and families on budget holidays. His map of destinations in Thailand, (which is very thorough and detailed), completely excludes Pattaya. It is as if Pattaya doesn't exist, as in his opinion, all the visitors belonging to his target market give Pattaya a wide birth.

 

Is he correct? Maybe he is.

 

Total tourists to Thailand are now peaking at 30 million, but it is quite difficult to come up with any meaningful stats on how many of those come to Pattaya. The only thing I can find online is an article in 2012 which stated that 8 million came to Pattaya that year – who knows if this is a reliable figure!

 

Without a doubt, there are still plenty of European sex tourists coming here along with the increasing numbers of Asian tourists (mainly Chinese) as well as the Russians and a high number of European 'residents', many of whom are on tourists visas of one kind or another.

 

But are there any backpackers, flashpackers, and budget families?  (Flashpackers are similar to backpackers but have more money to splash (flash) on accommodation and enjoying themselves).

 

My gut feeling is that he is probably correct, which is a shame because there is a lot in and around Pattaya that would interest young people in their gap years etc…as well as the ladies…

 

But I rarely go out, and never venture into areas where young tourists may congregate, so I don' really know. When I ran my bar for six months, there were a number of young people who used to drop by occasionally in large groups for a drink – but they may have been residents – with their parents etc.

 

Anyone in the action who might have a feel for this?  Are there any cheap hostels or budget rooms?

 

Is my friend right?

 

Just curious....

 

Thanks

 

Mobi

Edited October 13, 2016 by Mobi
Thai Visa's new format does not insert spaces between paras, even though they were there in my draft. There is also nowhere to check the final post, prior to going live, like there used to be on the old site...ah well...that's progress for you...

[johng]

I have seen a few ( very few )  back packers around   and an increasing number of families,  cheap rooms can still be found  500 baht  upwards per night...there are an increasing number of venues catering to the family around the Pattaya/Jomtien area

bars and gogos are being squeezed out slowly but surely.

[ScotBkk]

I have seen a few ( very few )  back packers around   and an increasing number of families,  cheap rooms can still be found  500 baht  upwards per night...there are an increasing number of venues catering to the family around the Pattaya/Jomtien area
bars and gogos are being squeezed out slowly but surely.

Tourism
More likely to see Flash Peckers in Pattaya and IMHO not a place for family Nightlife


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[johng]

18 minutes ago, ScotBkk said:

family Nightlife

 

family nightlife ???   I thought most family stuff was done during the day    suppose you could go to see a late movie and get out of the theatre about 1AM is that late enough ?

[KittenKong]

Pattaya is a top destination for backpackers, flash-packers, fudge packers, picnickers and nitpickers.

[ScotBkk]

 
family nightlife ???   I thought most family stuff was done during the day    suppose you could go to see a late movie and get out of the theatre about 1AM is that late enough ?

Most families stroll along the coast at night but don't suggest beach road or walking street it's not exactly Blackpool !!



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[johng]

Admittedly beach road can be a bit dodgy in certain places in the early hours of the morning.

 

I have seen many families  walking along walking street with kids and pushchairs its probably/arguably   one of the safest places to be  as the road is closed to traffic.

[grumbleweed]

He's spot on. Pattaya is more for the discerning traveler, people who are seeking a more challenging environment. Namely those who have no problem attracting women 1/3 their age and 1/4 their weight in their own countries.

Edited October 13, 2016 by grumbleweed

[Rimmer]

An off topic slur /troll post has been removed

[NoshowJones]

(Flashpackers are similar to backpackers but have more money to splash (flash).

 

Oh dear, I thought Flashpackers meant something else, the subject being Pattaya.

[bark]

Just let your friend spend his money. Learn for himself.

[Thaidream]

Very few backpackers would come to Pattaya due to its pollution and filthy sea water. Pattaya is way overbuilt. However within 10 years time we should see a completely different Pattaya that will attract more Asian tourists ; middle class Thais with families . The Western sex tourist won't be coming because that type of business is being forced out by the powers in charge.

You will see more boutique type hotels; Thai restaurants; shopping malls and a general clean up of the city and sea. I doubt Walking Stret will exist in its current shape- The GoGo bars and sex bars are pretty well finished and will either move to a less obvious place or simply go out of business. It's already happening.

[khunPer]

When it comes to young backpackers, I think your app-friend is absolutely right...

[does]

In and around Pattaya there are more and more family attractions, from the Underwater World to Ramayana Water World (from Cartoon Network, near Bang Saray). Thaidream's comment above seems very accurate. I would add that the entire coast from Chonbury to Trat will be build up like the Costa Brava in a decade or so, with Chinese and Indian tourists outnumbering Western tourist by far.

 

 

[Rimmer]

One Slur/Troll post and a reply has been removed

[Mobi]

2 hours ago, Thaidream said:

Very few backpackers would come to Pattaya due to its pollution and filthy sea water. Pattaya is way overbuilt. However within 10 years time we should see a completely different Pattaya that will attract more Asian tourists ; middle class Thais with families . The Western sex tourist won't be coming because that type of business is being forced out by the powers in charge.

You will see more boutique type hotels; Thai restaurants; shopping malls and a general clean up of the city and sea. I doubt Walking Stret will exist in its current shape- The GoGo bars and sex bars are pretty well finished and will either move to a less obvious place or simply go out of business. It's already happening.

 

 You may be right, but I suspect it will not  turn out quite how you think..

 

I've always predicted that one day Walking Street will come down - after all, more than half of it is on public (beach) land.

 

It will probably be redeveloped into high-end resorts, with beach access by the Thai establishment billionaires, and the local mafia/cops/foreign gangs will get the heave-ho.

 

But the red light district will not go away - it will simply be moved to somewhere less high profile (maybe the Darkside) -  and the sex-pats will continue to patronise the town along with the rich and famous, but there is unlikely to be anywhere for backpackers.

 

I doubt I'll be around to see it. 

 

But I do like  your theory and I think you have exactly the right name

[morrobay]

16 minutes ago, hyku1147 said:

The key questions are: A. will the female back/flash packers suntan naked on Pattaya Bay and Wong Amat beaches? B. Will this cornucopia of scrumptious muliebrous naturism compel the Pattaya artistic community to reconnoiter the copious nubiles - thus triggering a mass diaspora to Dong Tan beach?

 

Inquiring minds need to know!

 

 

Outside of the Russians and Asians most foreign females in Pattaya could make a freight train take a dirt road.

Edited October 14, 2016 by morrobay

[i claudius]

Lets face it ,for tourists Pattaya is quite expensive , most attractions you have to get transport to and then pay quite a high entry fee  also the sort of places they eat are usually not the cheaper end of the market , so its not the place for poor tourists .

but if you live here ,you know where to shop ,eat and all the other things you do when not on holiday

[thaibeachlovers]

19 hours ago, Mobi said:

 You may be right, but I suspect it will not  turn out quite how you think..

 

I've always predicted that one day Walking Street will come down - after all, more than half of it is on public (beach) land.

 

It will probably be redeveloped into high-end resorts, with beach access by the Thai establishment billionaires, and the local mafia/cops/foreign gangs will get the heave-ho.

 

But the red light district will not go away - it will simply be moved to somewhere less high profile (maybe the Darkside) -  and the sex-pats will continue to patronise the town along with the rich and famous, but there is unlikely to be anywhere for backpackers.

 

I doubt I'll be around to see it. 

 

But I do like  your theory and I think you have exactly the right name

While I don't disagree that Pattaya will change, if only because they have already driven away many mongers with ridiculous prices, and bored girls yakking on phones isn't going to change that, I can't see why you think high end resorts would move in. Look at Samui, which has been ruined by high end resorts- it has decent beaches. Look at Pattaya- it has a revolting little bit of sand and nothing to make any high spending tourist want to come anywhere near it. The infrastructure is broken and decrepit, the traffic is insane and dangerous- they can't even put working pedestrian crossings in. News flash- rich people go to the Maldives and Dubai, they don't go to a stinking broken hole with a rubbish beach ( I like it like that- keeps the families away ) and thousands of t shirt shops .

 

Back to the OP- the sight of western youths packing huge backpacks is fortunately not present now, and is highly unlikely to afflict Pattaya in the future.

Getting threatened for lying on the sand without paying the deck chair guys is not a good way to encourage the banana pancake sheeple to visit.

Flashpackers implies wives and families ergo, the same.

[thaibeachlovers]

5 hours ago, morrobay said:

 

Outside of the Russians and Asians most foreign females in Pattaya could make a freight train take a dirt road.

Which is one more reason why bagpackers won't come to Pattaya. They are usually in a couple, and seeing her partner drooling over cute Thai girls doesn't go down well with western women.

[Sooo Upto Me]

On 13/10/2016 at 2:56 PM, ScotBkk said:

Most families stroll along the coast at night but don't suggest beach road or walking street it's not exactly Blackpool !!



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Yes Blackpool is worse. With all the Northern drunken thugs staggering around.  ?

[ScotBkk]

 
Yes Blackpool is worse. With all the Northern drunken thugs staggering around.  [emoji53]

Yeah Right'
But at least they don't K.O Granny & Granpa for them to earn the obligatory TAT fruit basket


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[Sooo Upto Me]

On 13/10/2016 at 2:23 PM, johng said:

I have seen a few ( very few )  back packers around   and an increasing number of families,  cheap rooms can still be found  500 baht  upwards per night...there are an increasing number of venues catering to the family around the Pattaya/Jomtien area

bars and gogos are being squeezed out slowly but surely.

 

Will be a long long time till the bars an gogos are squeezed  out. They are here to stay.

[Mobi]

49 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

While I don't disagree that Pattaya will change, if only because they have already driven away many mongers with ridiculous prices, and bored girls yakking on phones isn't going to change that, I can't see why you think high end resorts would move in. Look at Samui, which has been ruined by high end resorts- it has decent beaches. Look at Pattaya- it has a revolting little bit of sand and nothing to make any high spending tourist want to come anywhere near it. The infrastructure is broken and decrepit, the traffic is insane and dangerous- they can't even put working pedestrian crossings in. News flash- rich people go to the Maldives and Dubai, they don't go to a stinking broken hole with a rubbish beach ( I like it like that- keeps the families away ) and thousands of t shirt shops .

 

Back to the OP- the sight of western youths packing huge backpacks is fortunately not present now, and is highly unlikely to afflict Pattaya in the future.

Getting threatened for lying on the sand without paying the deck chair guys is not a good way to encourage the banana pancake sheeple to visit.

Flashpackers implies wives and families ergo, the same.

 

 

It could be changed - with the right money and sufficient will. The military has already made some progress in Phuket and Hua Hin although there is still a long way to go  to deal permanently with the vested  interests.

 

But the potential of Pattaya for high-end tourists, with its proximity to Bangkok, is irresistible. The new motorway infrastructure and proposed high-speed train service etc could make this little corner a gold mine to the establishment mega-billionaires which is 90 mins or less, door to door from Bangkok.

 

Clean up the beach, take a bulldozer to Walking Street and most of the riff-raff beer bars on Beach, Second and Third road, and start over. 

 

With 30 million tourists a year coming to  Thailand - and rising - it's a win-win business venture if they ever get all their ducks in a row. 

 

There is already a number of high-end hotels here - Hilton, Holiday Inn etc. and  It's only a matter of time - be it five years or twenty years, one day it will happen.

 

Maybe the alleged implosion of Walking Street will speed up the process....

[thaibeachlovers]

19 hours ago, Mobi said:

 

It could be changed - with the right money and sufficient will. The military has already made some progress in Phuket and Hua Hin although there is still a long way to go  to deal permanently with the vested  interests.

 

But the potential of Pattaya for high-end tourists, with its proximity to Bangkok, is irresistible. The new motorway infrastructure and proposed high-speed train service etc could make this little corner a gold mine to the establishment mega-billionaires which is 90 mins or less, door to door from Bangkok.

 

Clean up the beach, take a bulldozer to Walking Street and most of the riff-raff beer bars on Beach, Second and Third road, and start over. 

 

With 30 million tourists a year coming to  Thailand - and rising - it's a win-win business venture if they ever get all their ducks in a row. 

 

There is already a number of high-end hotels here - Hilton, Holiday Inn etc. and  It's only a matter of time - be it five years or twenty years, one day it will happen.

 

Maybe the alleged implosion of Walking Street will speed up the process....

I have remarked many times that if the mega rich want a place for the world's wealthy to come and play they should start from scratch south of Chumphon, where the beaches have nearly no infrastructure.

Pattaya can never be made from a pig's ear into a silk purse without razing vast parts of the built up areas and widening roads etc. What is the chance of that happening?

Just cramming more and more flash buildings in without improving the traffic access and providing wider, unbroken footpaths without overhead wiring just isn't going to work if you want a first class international resort town.

 

With 30 million tourists a year coming to  Thailand - and rising -

Sure about that?

If Burma gets it's act together, it will destroy LOS as a tourist destination for westerners. It has far more untouched beaches than Thailand ever had just waiting to be developed.

Edited October 15, 2016 by thaibeachlovers

[ScotBkk]

 
It could be changed - with the right money and sufficient will. The military has already made some progress in Phuket and Hua Hin although there is still a long way to go  to deal permanently with the vested  interests.
 
But the potential of Pattaya for high-end tourists, with its proximity to Bangkok, is irresistible. The new motorway infrastructure and proposed high-speed train service etc could make this little corner a gold mine to the establishment mega-billionaires which is 90 mins or less, door to door from Bangkok.
 
Clean up the beach, take a bulldozer to Walking Street and most of the riff-raff beer bars on Beach, Second and Third road, and start over. 
 
With 30 million tourists a year coming to  Thailand - and rising - it's a win-win business venture if they ever get all their ducks in a row. 
 
There is already a number of high-end hotels here - Hilton, Holiday Inn etc. and  It's only a matter of time - be it five years or twenty years, one day it will happen.
 
Maybe the alleged implosion of Walking Street will speed up the process....

You sound like a marketer for Real Estate !!!


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[Mobi]

People have been predicting the demise of tourism in Thailand and in Pattaya in particular for as far back as I can recall, yet still, the numbers keep rising - year on year - despite coups, violent demonstrations, airport closures, floods, and goodness knows what else.

 

Sure Burma will become a rival, as is Cambodia, Vietnam, and Malaysia, but for every disillusioned tourist who throws his fake Rolexes and Armani suits out of his pram, there are several more to replace him.

 

There is something about Thailand that keeps'em coming - regardless... and the Thais know it, which is why they couldn't give a toss if there is some bad publicity about a couple of backpackers getting murdered int the sand. Koh Tao has just had its best tourist year... ever!

 

As for a world class International tourist resort in Thailand - name  me one. Phuket? Where you get beaten up for parking your car? I doubt it, but there's plenty of millionaires  and rich and famous, pop stars, movie stars et al who spend a week or two in that area.They don't care - its' all part of the "Thai charm" - Mafia, human trafficking an'all...

 

 

I still believe that one day it will happen in Pattaya, or maybe you think you know better than The Hilton, The Holiday Inn, The Dusit, The Marriot, and The Intercontinental to name but five, 5-star international hotels who have already set up in the Pattaya area?

 

And that's before the make-over.

Edited October 15, 2016 by Mobi

[sharecropper]

I've seen more Khaosan Road type backpackers around town this low season than at any time in the past 14 years. Backpacker hostels on Soi Bukhao have probably helped.

[thaibeachlovers]

10 hours ago, Mobi said:

 

 

 

I still believe that one day it will happen in Pattaya, or maybe you think you know better than The Hilton, The Holiday Inn, The Dusit, The Marriot, and The Intercontinental to name but five, 5-star international hotels who have already set up in the Pattaya area?

 

And that's before the make-over.

Quote edited for brevity.

 

I don't know why the Hilton set up where it did, but 5 star resorts have set up in Pattaya for over 30 years and never changed anything. The problem with the new order going on in Pattaya is that they are seeking to drastically change the existing situation, and without improving EVERYTHING it's not going to succeed in making Pattaya a 5* destination. So, worst of both worlds; a 'hole with broken infrastructure and a rubbish beach that has expensive accommodation.

 

There is no secret as to why package tourists come to Pattaya. Any gullible person can be fooled in a travel agent's by looking at a brochure of pretty hotels with a nice swimming pool.

The sheeple are easily led.

 

 

[NanLaew]

14 hours ago, sharecropper said:

I've seen more Khaosan Road type backpackers around town this low season than at any time in the past 14 years. Backpacker hostels on Soi Bukhao have probably helped.

Agreed and there's also backpacker places up near the bus station on Nua. The OP's mate should consider adding Pattaya as this is all part of gradual change in the Pattaya visitor/tourist demographic. Be ahead of the curve.