Pattaya- Am I missing something?

[Jerome]

I've shared here before that I am no fan of Pattaya. Nevertheless I find myself here again- this time my third time here.

My first time was on my honeymoon just after the tsunami hit in 2003 when the hotel we had booked (and many others) were washed away.

This time I am here because we are traveling with a 5 year old and are looking for a place with a nice pool and a kid's club. The girls wanted a place with a beach and this was the closest to Bangkok.

I had heard before that Jomtien was a lot nicer than the beach in Pattaya, but after spending 400 Baht on a cab (40 Baht back into Pattaya in a sontaew) it looked exactly the same as Pattaya beach, just less prostitutes waiting for johns by the beach.

Surely there is something here to do apart from walking up and down Beach Road / Walking Street? Can somebody who doesn't hate Pattaya tell me what is good about it please?

[Khun Don]

Can't think of much that would be of interest to a 5 year old-but I did morning tour which included a granite rock carving yard-Chinese lion statues with balls between their teeth-amazingly carved insitu, mortice & pestles of all sizes etc , a visit to "monkey mountain"-characterised by nasty thieving monkeys.
The aquarium WAS very good, however-as was the visit to the docks to watch the fishing boats unload-this may satisfy even a 5 year old!
"Rough Guide to Thailand" also lists The museum of bottle art 100m south of the bus station on Thanon Sukhumvit-which is probably what is says it is.
Nong Nooch village-culture reconstruction etc,
Mini Siam North of North Pattaya Road/Thanon Sukhumvit 1:25 scale models of Thailand's monuments
Best to check out the places that do local tours for more ideas

[visionchaser45]

Kids who like water would probably enjoy Pattaya Park water park in Jomtien. Nong Nooch (sp?) tropical garden might also be interesting (exotic animals, elepant rides, shows, etc.), but it is a little ways outside the city.

[hoistman]

I
Can somebody who doesn't hate Pattaya tell me what is good about it please?

Hi Jerome

I guess we go to Pattaya quite often .. We live about an hour away ... For the record ... Bang Saen is the nearest beach resort heading this way ... A good 40 minutes nearer to Bangkok than Pattaya.
I have just returned from Krabi ... And again this is a place that if you have young children ... Well I wouldn't say there is anything more there to entertain children. What Pattaya has for me ... Nice hotels at a good price ... The beaches are OK ... Plenty of restaurants to cater for any budget ... I always thought kids love the beach .... Plus the hotels normally have a decent swimming pool ... There is a Tiger Zoo in Si Racha ... Not far from Pattaya ... Plus you can do the boat trips to another island ... I know Pattaya is not everyone's cup of tea ... But we don't mind it ... In fact we are staying there this weekend with some friends from Sweden ...

[Wolfy]

I remember nipping over to Koh Larn from Pattaya several years ago. Mai's son was 3-4 years old. Lovely beach, smooth calm water -great for kids to splash around in safely.

If you can't find something to do in Pattaya well i think you will struggle to find anything to do anywhere really. Don't think you'll find too many "kids clubs" to palm your kids off for a few hours, it's not really a "Kids" type of place is it ?

I took my kids to Majorca once when they were very young, same scenario not that much for kids but they were happy to be playing on the beach and splashing about in the water.

Keeping a 5 year old amused can be difficult eh ?

[billk]

I haven't been in that direction ever but friends from BKK tell me Rayong is really nice and not that much further than Pattaya.

[hoistman]

Rayong is about 30 minutes further on than Pattaya ... We stayed at a nice little resort called Ban Chang .. Just before you get to Rayong ... Its a lot quieter than Pattaya.

[ian71]

If you can't find something to do in Pattaya well i think you will struggle to find anything to do anywhere really

This comment says it all really, why bother coming to somewhere you have so many negative thoughts about? Jomtien beach is a 100 times better than pattaya beach no different from most places just a different grade of sand,

but this does not stop thai family's swarming to pattaya beach daily, there are lots of Island trips from bali hai pier offering Phuket and better style beaches if thats your thing.

As you probably know pattaya was nothing more than a fishing village not that long ago, but if only prostitutes as your thinking has brought the billions of bht of development into the now huge place i think thats slightly misplaced thinking, only 4 years ago i could only spend a week or so here and the rest of the time in phuket,

now i can spend a month here easy, as there is plenty to do and see, just open your eyes and dont be blinded by the old stero type of this place. as what happens here that you dont like go's on in every thai town to a certain degree but mostly without farang.

[hoistman]

Interesting comments Ian .. And quite correct. Its unfortunate that Pattaya has a bad name ... I think its quite often called the sex capital of the world ... But as you rightly say, there is a lot more to Pattaya ... I like the place ... As I said before it has some really nice hotels ... The beaches are ok ... Food and drink is cheap enough .. I don't ever feel ripped off there. You can get a deckchair and shade for 60 baht a day ... Compare that to my last Med holiday in Menorca about 4 years ago when they wanted 8 euro's !!!! Its not everybody's cup of tea ... I understand that ... I used to live next to a seaside resort in the UK .... I wouldn't want to have a holiday there ... But for some people they loved to go there for there vacation ...

As for the adult side of things ... Well we just don't go into those type of bars ... But its a part of Thailand ... When we went to Koh Chang late 2010 ... There was one go go bar ... When we went a few months ago ... There must be 20 of them now ... Its a real shame ... But it wont stop us returning.

[mikeheart]

Hi Jerome
The last time i was in Pattaya I went to Nong Nooch gardens. I had a great day and there were many kids there seeing the annimals including cultural and elephant shows.

http://nongnoochgarden.com/