Experiencing Pattaya Beach, Thailand

On a Saturday morning, we got on a trip to Pattaya from Bangkok. After a few hours of early morning shopping at the Pratunam wholesale market, we arranged for a taxi to take us to Pattaya. As we were pressed for time, we decided to take the hotel taxi offered at 3,000 baht to take us to Pattaya.

We left Indra Regent Hotel at about 930am, ready for a Pattaya experience. We planned to spend the whole day there. We prepared an itinerary beforehand, and we had a list of the must-visit places and sights. The trip was a bit long. It took about 2 hours, and we arrived in Pattaya Beach just in time for lunch.

There were a lot of restaurants to choose from, and plenty of them were offering European and Thai food at the same time. As we were hungry when we got to Pattaya, our driver took us to the beach side to look for a restaurant. We settled for a simple cafe that served Thai food. The staff were very friendly. They even gave us a free map to guide us in Pattaya, since our driver wasn't too familiar with all of Pattaya's places. We ordered our favorite Thai dishes -- Pad Thai Noodles, Tom Yum soup, Chicken with Cashew and Thai Milk Tea. The food was very delicious! I swear, no one could go wrong with these dishes in Thailand.

Pattaya Beach Thailand food experience

After a hearty lunch, we decided to check out the Pattaya beach before heading to Nong Nooch Gardens. We just had to cross the street from the restaurant to head over to the beach. The sight that greeted us was this:

Pattaya Beach Thailand

People were sitting next to each other under large beach umbrellas. People were pretty much doing their own thing. Those in groups chatted with each other. There were people who read books as they relaxed by their beach chairs. There were some who were getting massages on the sand near the sidewalk. It was pretty crowded! The shore was filled up with all these people that you can barely walk by the shore to get a clear view of Pattaya Beach. The first row of beach chairs were already very near the water, and it was hard to move without passing by people.

Seeing this scene dropped my expectations of Pattaya beaches. I hope this doesn't hold true for all of Pattaya beach, since I've only explored one part of Pattaya. I was really very surprised that the beach was so crowded that people could hardly enjoy the sights that Pattaya beach offered. This made me appreciate the Philippines' own set of beaches more. Most of our beach destinations may not be as popular as Pattaya Beach Thailand, but we could definitely get a better experience of the sea and sand as our beaches are not too crowded like this.

Check out these links to my posts on some beach destinations in the Philippines:

Pattaya Beach

Pattaya Beach some 4 kilometers long, this beach faces Pattaya Bay, the major venue from where boats visit Pattaya's offshore islands. The beach curves from north to south and is largely paralleled by a tree-lined promenade and beach road, which is lined, in the northern and central parts, by hotels and restaurants.
The northern section of the beach is largely tranquil, while the central and southern parts become increasingly lively, thanks to a juxtaposition of shops, department stores, boutiques, beauty salons, supermarkets, bars, discotheques, restaurants and night clubs. The central area of the beach is a major shopping area, while the southern end is one of Pattaya's major nightlife areas.

Sex in Pattaya, Sexy Thai Girls in Pattaya, Sexy Pattaya Girls

There are hundreds of websites about Pattaya. Websites about hotels in Pattaya, websites about bars in Pattaya and yes websites about sexy Thai girls in Pattaya. Seek and you will find.

This site is more about the practicalities of living here, yes I live here well just over the hill in Jomtien beach anyways.

So I plan to put up some resources, write some articles, answer some important questions like:
Where can I buy Yorkshire Puddings in Pattaya?
Where is the best Buffet?
Where is the best English breakfast?
Where are the sexiest girls? - whoops I said I wasn't going to talk about sexy girls. Ah well didn't take long to stray from the straight and narrow did it. Living in Pattaya warps the mind somewhat. You go out in the morning for a good breakfast nosh at the Apex and as you walk out a sexy lady emerges from the lift just finishing her "night shift" so to speak. She smiles, you smile and all thoughts of shopping in the market fly out the window.

So always good to know the essential information like:
Where is the best shortime hotel close to the Apex?
Answer - easy - The Apex has rooms for 550 Baht in low season. So why waste time looking for a short time hotel for 300 Baht for two hours when you are in the foyer of a hotel that charges 550 Baht for long time.

Make the day of it, relax, long time is better. Call the girlfriend and tell her you had an emergency call from the office in Bangkok and you got to rush to the bus station. Don't be shy, dont be embarrased. Thai girls are born to lie - get your own back and don't feel guilty as you turn the girl around give her a playful slap on the bum and steer her back up in the lift.