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Pattaya General Information

Pattaya was simply a small fishing village until it was discovered as a beach resort by Bangkok residents in the 1960s. Soon thereafter, American servicemen from the U.S. Air Force base at U-Tapao in neighbouring Rayong province began using the area for "rest and recouperation" (R&R), causing a huge boom in prostitution. When the Americans left following the end of the Vietnam War, the city fell into a crisis. However, modern mass tourism, particularly Sex tourism from Europe and America brought a new lease of life to Pattaya. In recent years the City has pushed hard to clean up its image and family-focussed entertainment is increasingly available, however the core-sex industry has ensured that Pattaya retains its position as one of the World's largest red light districts.

In 2005, more than 35,000 hotel rooms were available in Pattaya. Pattaya has seen a large increase in family tourism in recent years, thanks to efforts to present a more wholesome image. Pattaya is an especially popular vacation destination for families from Russia, Eastern Europe and Scandinavia. Pattaya also has a large international expatriate population and many services meet international standards.

The rapid growth of tourism brought about many negative consequences, such as petty crime and prostitution. These problems seemed beyond the capabilities of the Central Government. In 1976, the Pattaya City Act was passed by the Thai legislature, making Pattaya a self-administrating municipality governed by a Council-manager government. However, many argue that this administration system has drawbacks (for example, the mayor may disagree with the city manager). Critics have recommended abolishing the system.

Historically, Pattaya has had comparatively high levels of crime, sometimes attributed to organised crime in the sex industry. In addition, a string of apparently related murders, all western tourists, occurred around Pattaya in 1975, are now believed to have been committed by the Frenchman Charles Sobhraj.

In recent years, Pattaya has served as a hideaway for foreigners with connections to organized crime, and dozens have been murdered in gang-related disputes.[5] The authorities are also increasingly cracking down on paedophiles and a number of high profile arrests have been made in recent years, an announcement to this effect was made in 2004. In 1996, a six-member gang was arrested for repeatedly robbing tourists that had been drugged by prostitutes.

Visitors are more likely to encounter petty crime, usually limited to pickpocketing and confidence tricks, particularly in and around major tourist areas such as Jomtien and Pattaya Beaches. To help curb this problem, a special Tourist Police division has been established to aid foreign tourists (farang) who are victims of crime.

Pattaya, along with the rest of Thailand, is also known for its abundance of pirated DVD movies, music CDs and software. Such vendors can be found anywhere along main tourist areas, having their own booths or simply approaching customers in bars and restaurants and on the beaches.

Many foreign tourists come to Pattaya for dental and medical care, for first class treatment at reasonable prices. Large hospitals in the area include Bangkok Pattaya Hospital, Pattaya International Hospital, Banglamung Hospital, and Pattaya Memorial Hospital.

Once a sleepy fishing town, Pattaya first boomed as an R&R spot during the Vietnam War and has been a sex tourism destination trying to improve its image ever since. Currently, Pattaya is booming again: TAT claims 5,338,000 visitors for 2005 (up 6.5% from 2004), of which two-thirds were foreigners, and the takeover by the new Suvarnabhumi Airport (located to the east of Bangkok, alongside the expressway to Pattaya) from the more distant Don Muang Airport at the end of September 2006 will undoubtedly make further increases in tourism revenues inevitable.

Pattaya is popular not only as a beach resort and for its entertainment, nightlife and shopping, but also for the broad selection of pastimes it caters for, from golf and horseback riding to bungee jumping, karting and shooting - not to mention a wide variety of watersports such as scuba diving, jet-skiing, sailing, water skiing, windsurfing and kitesurfing, and a whole lot more. Pattaya is also very popular as a conference, convention and seminar venue, and the grapevine hosts rumours of future developments of varying degrees of plausibility, such as a horse racing track, casinos, and a tram system.