Pattaya villas, Thailand

Pattaya villas has an extensive selection of inexpensive mid-range accommodation, and a good variety of more up market options. For families or small groups, three bedroom holiday villas from 30000 baht/month can be found at Jomtien. For better rates for longer stays, and for higher standard villas and accommodation, stick with Pattaya villas.

High season dates vary from accommodation to accommodation, but typically prices go up considerably during the Christmas-New Years period (which co-insides neatly with the season of best weather), and are lower between February and October/November. In recent years some accommodations have started to insist that March is also covered by 'high season' prices - presumably because professional western men are usually most free to visit during a long Easter holiday break from work, and are happy to do so despite the worsening weather.

Pattaya

Pattaya is famous for its go-go and beer bars, and is also one of Thailand's best locations for all manner of sports and activities. Located on the North Gulf Coast of Eastern Thailand, 150km south-east of Bangkok. Some of the beaches are poor compared to those in southern Thailand, and amenity development and entertainments have replaced natural beauty. Its many hotels and guesthouses and convenient location with quick and easy access from the capital make it a popular weekend getaway. Pattaya also offers an excellent range of eating choices and a wide variety of things to do and see. Pattaya villas are as modern and luxurious as you’ll find anywhere in the kingdom.

Since 1978, Pattaya has been administered, under a system with an autonomous 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. Pattaya first boomed as a sex tourist spot during the Vietnam War, with American soldiers exploiting the proximity of poor and desperate northeastern girls during breaks in warfare, and has been a sex tourism destination ever since. The new Suvarnabhumi Airport (located to the east of Bangkok, alongside the expressway to Pattaya) created increases in tourism revenues and the town is booming.

Pattaya is a broad ranging holiday destination. 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 - plus a wide variety of watersports such as scuba diving, jet-skiing, sailing, water skiing, windsurfing and kite surfing, and a whole lot more. Pattaya is also very popular as a conference, convention and seminar venue, and future developments may include a horse racing track, casinos, and a tram system.

Greater Pattaya occupies most of the coastline of the Banglamung district of Chonburi Province. It is divided into a larger northern section which covers the areas to the east of Naklua Beach, the northern most beach, and Pattaya Beach, which is the main beach, plus the Buddha Hill headland - immediately south of Pattaya Beach - and a smaller southern section covering the area to the east of Jomtien Beach, which lies directly south of Buddha Hill, including Dongtan Beach. Jomtien's beaches are broader and in better condition, and the atmosphere locally quieter and family-oriented, than at Pattaya Beach.

Pattaya's sub-district names sometimes cause confusion, usually when the official Pattaya Bay area titles of North Pattaya, Central Pattaya and South Pattaya are misunderstood. These names do not relate to Pattaya as a whole. They refer to the sections of Pattaya Beach to which each sub-district is aligned.

Pattaya's coastal side is divided longitudinally into five contiguous sub-districts (or six, if also including Jomtien). Each one is named after the section of beach or headland at its seaboard.

North Pattaya is the section of Pattaya adjacent to the northern end of Pattaya Beach and extending inland to both the north and south of North Pattaya Road.

South Pattaya is the section of Pattaya adjacent to the southern end of Pattaya Beach and extending inland to both the north and south of South Pattaya Road.

Central Pattaya is the section of Pattaya adjacent to the middle of Pattaya Beach and extending inland to both the north and south of Central Pattaya Road. Pattaya's downtown area is easy to get around. Running north-south, a few hundred metres apart, are Beach Road, Thanon Hat Pattaya, which borders the main beach, Pattaya Second Road and Pattaya Third Road, with the smaller but busy Soi Buakhao in between, and the main Sukhumvit Road coastal highway. Beach Road is one-way, southbound, as is Second Road - northbound. North Pattaya Road is a dual carriageway and carries the highest volume of traffic to and from Sukhumvit Road.

Provided it's a weekday, the most economical way to travel between Pattaya and Bangkok by public transport is by rail - the one-way fare is just 31 baht! If luxury is your thing, Pattaya is well connected by air to the rest of Thailand.