Pattaya is located 2hrs from Bangkok. It is developed from the bay. Initially, it was a fishing village with a lot of restaurants, bars, discotheques, hotels, spa parlours, massage centres & women!
Been there march last year and stayed at Long Beach Garden Hotel & Spa which is about 10minutes from Pattaya town. Not exactly in town as town will be too hectic & busy with people & running vehicles.
Hotel was ok but pretty small room. View was fantastic looking up direct to the ocean and thumbs up to the garden landscape - beautiful! The worst was the communication! even the 4star hotel staff couldn't speak english well :-(
I became confused and so so confuseddd when hotel staff (front desk & housekeeping) did not understand a basic & normal hotel amenity request - an "IRON"! I even went down to explain & described to them what an iron is since they didn't get it when i tried to explain thru the phone :-(( still the front desk even the duty officer can't understand an iron. Huh! poor people. They have ruined my day as i cannot wear what i supposed to wear.
Another problem was food! arghhhhhh! no halal food served at most of the hotels. I knew & noted about this before departed...and that was why i carried number of packs of maggie mee & chocolate bars! huhuhuuhu...it is definitely not a holiday if you can't enjoy local good food! other than that I only took seafood & fresh fruits.
From clockwise: my room view 1, massage by the beach at the hotel, walkway to the pool, my room view 2
Pattaya beach is dirty & unattractive but no worries, just take 30minutes boat ride to the nearest island called Koh Lan. It's not a surprise if this island become so crowded especially around 11am - 2pm as this island promises you white sandy beaches with crystal clear blue water, number of seafood restaurants, gift & handcraft shops located along the beach and a lot of water sport activities - just name it.
While here I went to Ripley's Believe It or Not museum located inside Royal Garden Plaza in front of Beach Road. The museum features 10 individually themed galleries with over 300 fascinating & weird real exhibits. Exactly what we seen on TV! I meant not the items but Dean Cain...hahahhaha
Shopping was ok but Thailanese is a bit rough & not friendly compare to Indonesian. You can bargain but don't expect much and their concept is either you take it or leave it. They won't call u back. Maybe because Pattaya is a year round tourist attraction, so they are a bit demanding...but no regret since most of the items are cap ayam ;-* unless you go to upscale shopping malls.
Koh Lan Island @ noon time
Seafood lunch while at Koh Lan island. Yummilicious but not for the mud crabs :-P (most left) - cannot eat leiii