Holiday in Pattaya & Double Pricing

[lee]

My gf and I have just recently returned from a pleasant trip to Pattaya albeit very expensive. The journey down took just 7 hours and about 70% of the road was very good which made driving very easy.
Holidaying in Pattaya is not cheap, however accommodation was very reasonable, we booked into a nice hotel near the beach for 750bt per night which included a very good buffet breakfast, swimming pool, cable TV and all the other usual facilities in a very clean room.

We spent a few days lazing on the beach and eating out at various restaurants then one day we decided to visit the tourist attractions out of town.

After living in Udon Thani for quite some time I forgot about the dual pricing of Thai and farangs. We arrived at Pattaya's Crocodile and stone museum and booked our tickets 300bt farang 100bt Thai that's a staggering 200% more that Thai's.

Then we made our way to Little Siam, this was a little more reasonable 100bt for my Thai gf and 200bt for myself. The bottle museum was next on our list, 50bt Thai 100bt farang.

Later that night we decided to hit Pattaya's nightlife, although there is so much to do I couldn't help thinking how expensive it all was. Small bottles on Heinekens at some of the bars were an average of 120bt. I also couldn't help noticing the poor foreigners that had probably only just arrived in Pattaya being pestered for money time and time again. Well I guess most of us were probably in that position one day until we wised up to the ways of the land.

We hit the disco next and on entry I had to pay 200bt but my Thai gf was allowed in free. With that I got 1 bottle of Heineken then bottles after that were 150bt. Udon's discos only charge 90bt and there is no entry fee for foreigners!

Anyway to summarize, Pattaya's an ok place to go if you have a fat wallet however I prefer Jomtien just down the road because it's quieter and a little cheaper. I hate the crazy dual pricing but we have to accept it, it's seems that foreigners are penalized where ever you go in Thailand, but so much more so in Pattaya.

I'm happy to be back in Udon where the people are more genuine and friendly, the price of a beer or meal is not ridiculously expensive and there is no crazy dual pricing when you visit tourist attractions.

Lee

[Zidane]

Yeah,when me and the missus go to Pattaya we always stay in Jomtien.Its quieter and at least the beach is reasonable.
We reckon its okay to visit for a few weeks holiday but not to live permanently.
As for the prices,why pay 120 baht for a bottle of beer when you can get the same for 40 baht in Udon......you get trolleyed just the same for 30% of the price !!

[Paul]

How on earth did you get to Pattaya in 7 hours ???
I just drove to Chonburi last week which is before Pattaya and it took me 9 hours. And that was travelling at 113 km/h !!!
How can I be so accurate - well the nice gestapo policeman told me when he pulled me over, in between Khon Kaen and Korat.

Thats another tale though when I have more time !

sadly the journey back took even longer thanks to a nerve-wrecking trip through central Bangkok. There were simply no road signs to tell me otherwise and I ended up smack in the centre. And also got pulled over there too by those boys in brown. It was an expensive few days lol.

[Prenders88]

Ah! double pricing in Pattaya.
Nothing changes.
Ban Hoy market have a duel pricing policy for white folk, when Mrs Prenders gets the fruit and veg, I stay in the pick-up.
Any one have more examples of double pricing in Udon??

Khun Chang

[lee]

Yep, 7 hours all the way to the beach in Pattaya stopping once for a quick bite to eat, speed between 110-120 km/h.

The road is pretty good appart from the Khon Kaen to Khorat stretch.

I wouldn't hesitate to do the journey again by car, quite pleasent.

Lee

[BangkokButcher]

Are there decent road maps for journeys like that Lee?

Or is it just a case of follow the road signs and hopefully I will get there...

[Paul]

I had a road map and wrote down each place I needed to head for (ie. Khon Kaen/Korat/Saraburi etc etc.) but the problem was the road direction signs were either not there or extremely ambiguous. There was one which said Khon Kaen this way - so i took it and then shortly after the road forked so you could go left or right - with arrows indicating left fork or right fork, well it was 50/50 so I took the left one and it was wrong I should have taken the right fork but it was not signposted. I had to double back a few km's up the road.

I would have a better idea if I did the trip again (perish the thought), but as mentioned above, some of the roads even made Udon's roads look good - lol

[ruktur]

then why you want to go to Pattaya?? Why not go to for example "to Chonburi" or "Ko Chang"? Chonburi is much less expensive and also more "Relax", not many falangs, specially if the Thai have holiday is getting crowded with locals and the price for everything is good!

But I think you have a reason for going there! Otherwise who want to??

Cheers,

RukTur