Pattaya Thailand

Pattaya Thailand is a rather wonderful city in Thailand.  In many ways it can be anything you want it to be.  

Pattaya can easily be divided into three different areas.  There is the Pattaya Beach area which includes Walking Street.  There is Jomtien, which is also a long beach area and then there is the Central Commercial and Business area.

Pattaya Beach is incredibly busy day and night and is the red light part of town for sure and includes Walking Street.  Jomtien has a nicer beach and is much quieter.  The Central Commercial area is where you find most big stores and shops and is inland from the beaches.

The night life in Pattaya is pretty much every day of the week.  Back in America or other Western Countries, a busy night life is usually found Friday, Saturday and perhaps one or two other nights depending.  In Pattaya, a busy night life is every night.

You might think that the quieter area of Jomtien has no night life or that it is limited.  In reality, there are bars and night clubs open and a party to be found each and every night.  Jomtien is just quieter in comparison to the Central Pattaya/ Walking Street area.

You will always find someone who complains that the costs of things in Pattaya are rising.  However, in my opinion, reality of costs for most things are very low.

You can easily get a condo on the beach for between $400 and $600 USD for the month.  If you are willing to stay a block or two back from the beach you can get a nice condo for between $100 and $300 USD.  All the condos I have checked were nice and I would be comfortable staying in.

Hotels on the beach have a wide range in prices.  I found hotels running $10 USD per night all the way to $200 USD.  You can find many nice hotels on the beach in the range of $60 to $100 per night.  I have not stayed at a $10 a night hotel so cannot speak to their quality.

The two things that cost more than you might expect are:  alcohol and western food.  If you eat Thai local food prices are really cheap. I can eat three meals a day for less than $10 per day.  

If you want to eat at a regular, sit down restaurant, prices are much higher.  Also Western food is more costly. For a comparison you can find a Pad Thai Chicken dinner for about $1.5 USD.  However if you want just one hamburger it might cost you $3 to $5 USD.  That is a huge difference.  

My recommendation is, you are in Thailand, east Thai food.

When you mention Pattaya to anyone outside of Thailand, the first thing people thing of is Walking Street.  Walking Street is pretty much every crazy thing you thought of before arriving and many other things.

Walking Street is dead during the day.  You can walk down Walking Street and barely see anyone.

Come night time, Walking Street is filled with people and every crazy activity you might imagine.

The surround area up the beach, over to the Mall Terminal 21 and other areas within about a 5 or 6 blocks are all really busy.  If you intent is to get a good night sleep, you probably do not want to get a hotel in this area.

It is really about what you want.  If you are up for constant crazy then this is your area.  Otherwise I recommend staying in Jomtien and then visiting the Central Pattaya / Walking Street area and then returning to Jomtien for a quiet night of sleep.

Today was a special day.  Yes, I am aware you do not know what day today actually is, but trust me it was special.  Today I had my first medical or dental experience outside of America.

I was a bit nervous.  After doing some research on finding a good dentist in Pattaya, I finally settled upon Smile Dental Center.  dentalcenterpattaya.com

From the outside it did not look all that nice.  My experience however, was really great and inside was pleasant.  I was surprised at the quality of the treatment. I had my teeth cleaned for $40 USD.  No insurance.  For an additional $10 USD I had them take X Rays.   

My treatment was super affordable and as far as I can tell, the quality equaled what I have had in America.  Totally recommend these guys.

The ferry to Koh Larn is found at the end of Walking Street.

Life is a gift and every day an adventure.