Understand Pattaya
Pattaya's name was originally Thap Phraya, meaning Army of the Phraya - commemorating the surrender of Nai Klom's army to that of Phraya Tak (later King Taksin the Great), without a fight. Thap Phraya became Phatthaya (the name of the
north-easterly wind at the beginning of the rainy season), and then Phatthaya (the true phonetic spelling).
Since 1978, Pattaya has been administered under a special autonomous system with a status comparable to that of a
municipality by the mayor of Pattaya City, who has overall responsibility for policies, public services, and supervision of all City Hall employees.
Tourism
Once a sleepy fishing town, Pattaya boomed as an R&R spot during the Vietnam War and has been a sex tourism destination trying to improve its image ever since. It's popular with both Thai and foreign tourists, 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. Currently, tourism overall in Pattaya is booming -
official statistics for 2004/2005 show a 3.38% drop in the number of visitors (to 4,816,678) compared with the previous year, but a 7.41% increase in income (over 50 billion baht) for the same period, and the grapevine hosts rumours of
future developments of varying degrees of plausibility, such as a horse racing track, casinos, and a tram system.
The Tourist Authority of Thailand (TAT) Information Office is just outside the centre - head south along Second Road and then Pratamnak Road and then continue straight up the hill, and when the road turns sharp right part way up, turn left into the small side-soi. Worth a visit if you're in Pattaya for an extended period and want to browse for fresh ideas for new things to do/see. Open daily 08:30-16:30, tel. +66-38428750 / 8990 / 7667 or use the TAT freephone number: dial 1672 or e-mail: tatchon@tat.or.th
Local news
Foreign language newspapers:
Pattaya Blatt - in German - 25 baht, weekly
Pattaya Mail - in English - 25 baht, weekly
Pattaya People (Pattaya Aktuell) - mainly in English, some German, a little Thai - 25 baht, weekly
Pattaya Today - in English - 20 baht, fortnightly
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FIRST BAR
soi chaiyapoon
is now open.
Come take a drink !
