"Pattaya" a Pattaya Travel Page by phil_uk_net

What to say about Pattaya? My first visit was in 1987 and it was good fun. It was also my first trip to Thailand and I was smitten with the people, culture and way of life.
There were lots of bars and lots of girls. I remember that it was almost impossible to walk past a bar without being physically dragged in by attractive females.
This was rather novel coming, as I do, from a country where the girls are colder than a cold day in a Siberian winter.

I returned to Thailand 5 years later in 1992 and, out of interest, visited Pattaya for a few days while in Bangkok. I was amazed how much it had changed. Another road parallel to the beach had been built and I couldn't recognise anything. Bars I could remember had disappeared. More concerning though was how much the people had changed. The sense of fun was not present and I was constantly being told that everyone had gone to Patong beach in Phuket.

I haven't been back to Pattaya since 1992 and have no desire to go despite having returned to Thailand several times. My perception is that it consists just of seedy bars catering to seedy old farangs.