Pattaya grows up
Some forty-five years ago a small convoy of US Army trucks rolled into the fishing village of Pad Tha Ya on the Gulf of Thailand. Out tumbled its cargo, American servicemen on “R&R” (rest and recreation leave) who had heard about this long, empty beach some 150 km southeast of Bangkok and its balmy waters. The rumour was true. They spent their leave along the tree-shaded shore, swimming, drinking and doing whatever. Word of the place spread. More GIs on leave soon followed and, within a decade, previously snoozy Pad Tha Ya had become famous as party town Pattaya.
“Pattaya, the Extreme City”, says the welcome arch, even though the town has long out-grown its Apocalypse Now adolescence. These days it is an ever-expanding city of around 200,000 permanent residents with a growing sophistication that attracts Thai families, Western expats, retirees and some six million annual tourists to its theme parks, golf courses, five-star hotels and shopping malls.
Pattaya’s main beach is not what it used to be. Today, instead of Americans, you’ll find mainly Russian tourists spit-roasting their tans along the narrow sands that are now covered with rental loungers. To the north, past the Dusit Thani Hotel, are the quieter, rocky coves of Naklua and Wong Amat. Or, for even more space, you head south, over the hill to long, wide Jomtien Beach.
“Nightlife” is still Pattaya’s middle name and parts of the town don’t really get going until after sunset when scores of beer bars start pumping out the music. Hotel California, the Eagles’ poignant homage to mislaid innocence, is the ubiquitous sound track.
Taking a walk on the mildly wild side means an evening stroll down famous Walking Street, the pulsing neon heart of South Pattaya, a half-kilometre of pole dancers and wanna-be romancers. You don’t even need to enter a club, just pull up a pew at a street-side bar and contemplate the passing circus a go-go in all its beauty and bawdiness.
Once you’re “over” the boogie nights spectacle (which doesn’t take long), you’ll find plenty of other nightlife options, including good dining on both Thai and international cuisine. Upmarket, try the Marriott’s Garden Cafe or, more casual, the bay-front Pattaya Beer Garden adjacent to Walking Street. The city’s entertainment menu caters for every budget and all three sexes. Its long-running Tiffany Show is a lavish cabaret starring high-kicking kathoey (lady-boys) whose stunning looks take any sense of “drag” out of the occasion. Yes, it is family-rated.
Pattaya’s surrounding Chonburi province, too, is distinctly family-friendly, with a number of tourist markets and theme parks that kids love. The Nong Nooch Tropical Gardens’ cultural spectacular is fun – and even more so for kids when the elephants play basketball and soccer. At Wong Amat, just north of town, you’ll find the Sanctuary of Truth, a huge, intricately carved wooden temple honouring multiple eastern religions that’s topped by a 100-metre spire.
For adults, the Gulf here could almost be the Golf of Thailand, such is the game’s popularity at the six courses within some 20 minutes’ drive of the city. After, before or instead of golf, you can enjoy Thai-style massages almost everywhere. The quality varies, but at 300 baht an hour you can afford to sample a few until you find a favourite. Try a “blind massage” at the Thai Blind Massage Institute in Jomtien Complex shopping centre, just south of Pattaya; or, more stylishly, at Breeze Spa in the Amari hotel on Beach Road.