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I havent been in 7 years. An old friend recently sold his house at Hua Hin, and that was my go to beach place. Willing to share my experiences, here. Will answer adult type questions, as long as they are respectfully presented. Besides that stuff, I thought you all may be interested in how I got there, getting around, accommodation, food, and other expenses. I am going with an open mind..might hate it, might move there. I just went through a bit of an anxious visa renewal, and I am ready to escape the Big Mango for a few days. Fire away!
I was recently in Pattaya and it's changing quickly! Terminal 21 Shopping Mall and Central Festival Mall are there now too.....along with the one near Walking Street. You should definitely go to Soi 6 as it is way better than Walking Street in Pattaya
Jontien Beach is really built up now, I was blown away. Tons and tons and tons of Russians buying condos all over the city, as well as everyone else.
I went to Pattaya about a decade ago, and it fit it's reputation well. Now however, that's still there 101%, but there is so much more now.
I took the bus from the airport, as opposed to Ekami. The advantage was that it took me all the way to Jomtien. Also, you avoid the Sukhumvit traffic. 2 hours exactly. Disadvantage, the airport was kind of mobbed, and you are travelling with people, who are mostly dead tired from long trips. Walked to hotel, Already hot out there, like they used to say about Florida..the ocean breeze only goes about 100 yards inland. Lots of additions to the skyline, most are not in what I would consider to be good locations, although you would get a view. I used a last minute deal on Agoda (Priceline), and have a decent room for 15 per night..small, 18 SM, balcony, no view. Street is kind of run down, but relatively easy to get to the beach. Some of the restaurants bothered translating their signs into Mandarin, but didn't bother addi g the prices..one of my pet peeves. The cheap Thai meals are 80-150 THB, instead of 40-70 in BKK. Hate to say it, but 711 is my best friend, here. Did buy some great papaya for 20 THB, and a bowl of those small softshell crabs for 30 THB. Did see some great looking squid on a stick..nice portion, for 20 THB on a mobile BBQ..looked great..likely will do that today.
The cheap Thai meals are 80-150 THB, instead of 40-70 in BKK.
Grab Taxi is a ripoff in Pattaya as well. Most of my grab taxis averaged around 100 baht to get around BKK, sometimes far distances in the city. But Pattaya it seemed like it was 250-300 to go relatively short distances. Luckily the Songteows are only 20 baht in PTY, it's just a matter of finding the right ones.
I think Grab is only the best choice in areas where the cabbies refuse to use the meter, which is going to be the biggest tourist areas. In some cases, the taxis also operate as grab cars. I live on the edge of BKK, and it is rarely a problem getting a meter. I was once at the local pier and noticed a farang and his gf standing there for twenty minutes in a place where there were loads of tuktuks, motorsai, and taxicabs..and busses coming by every few minutes. I politely asked if he needed assistance finding his way out..he was waiting on Grab..lol. Could have walked to the MRT Station in that time. Phuket may be the worst in the entire country for cabs. It is often best to pick a location, where you don't need a lot of transport..it really adds up.
Yesterday, I ate great and cheap..found a very tidy shack type place, with superb Thai food. Also, the fruit carts are fresh and cheap..20 THB is the standard for nice portions,. Our local guy charges 10-15, but the portions are a bit smaller. Lots of Russians..they like to spend a lot of time at the beach. Suprisingly few Chinese, but a guy from Harbin introduced himself, while we were waiting for our grilled squid, which also was an A.
Last edited by Hal Roach; 01-07-2020 at 08:47 PM..
I think Grab is only the best choice in areas where the cabbies refuse to use the meter, which is going to be the biggest tourist areas. In some cases, the taxis also operate as grab cars. I live on the edge of BKK, and it is rarely a problem getting a meter. I was once at the local pier and noticed a farang and his gf standing there for twenty minutes in a place where there were loads of tuktuks, motorsai, and taxicabs..and busses coming by every few minutes.
That's basically ME. Even though taxis in non-tourist areas are almost always reliable, I just like seeing the GRAB payment and route.
Little things are interesting, for example, I was in a GRAB that was obviously going in wrong directions (trying to avoid traffic), and if I would have been on the meter, I probably would have been raging assuming he was intentionally driving up the meter. But with Grab, I just know that no matter what he does, I'm paying the fee I agreed to beforehand.
That being said, I did get picked up by taxi meters who also do Grab, and some of them just turn on the meter anyway, and sometimes they would have got me there cheaper on the meter than the grab read-out. But, generally, Grab is usually much cheaper than whatever a cab driver tries to negotiate.
Grab also gives me a reference point to what I should pay if I were to take a taxi. For example, your man waiting 20 minutes, I often brought my Grab Quote, show it to a Taxi Driver, and say I know you want 300, but this says 180, I'll give you 200 if you take me.
Took the airport bus home, today. 130 THB, went direct from Jomtien, and I used the blue songthaew to get there..those are 10 THB and very frequent, quite a bit better than most of the songthaew system in Chiang Mai. Made it to BKK in one hour forty minutes..good ride. Then train in the basement to Phaya Thai BTS, then 14 THB for an air con bus to my condo. Cab would be about 150-180. Unfortunately, there is a bit of a taxi mob at the terminus of the ARL...I actually walked to Victory Monument and caught my bus...great to be able to travel light in country. Glad to be home..they know me by name at my local 711, very nice young people. Monthly water bill waiting for me..110 THB...used 5000 liters of water. Getting hot.
Apparently,, with Grab, you can specify grab car or grab taxi...the grab taxi is about 20% more than the meter. in BKK. People would prevent a lot of problems if they wouldn't try to get picked up at some of the busiest intersections in SE Asia..It could take 15 minutes to get turned around at the Walk intersection, for example.
01-23-2020, 05:10 PM
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I have a question to the audience. Is Pattaya resembling Phuket in Thailand? Are there similarities?
Not just Bangkok to visit. Or Phuket. And Chiang Mai. Is this town comparable to those?
Optimistic with what I am seeing in the pictures. Maybe even nicer than wildly scattered Phuket island. I didn't even know the existence of Pattaya until now. Another seaside coastal resort town worth going inside.
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