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Fun city Pattaya Thailand resort

September 3, 2013 by David Herd

I love living in Pattaya

Fun city Pattaya Thailand 

Fun city Pattaya ThailandFun city Pattaya Thailand resort with my English friend Bill Austin, where else in the world are you going to find these terrific VW cocktail cars? Pattaya is a city of extremes, anything your heart desires is available here, from fabulous five star hotels & restaurants to down & dirty backstreet beer bars offering sex drugs & rock & roll. OK, so we admit there is sex in the city but there is so much more to this wonderful seaside resort, four million tourists each year can’t be wrong. Only 90 minutes south of Bangkok airport and thousands of miles from stress. Just ask this guy in the photo below. 

No stress on Pattaya beach

Fun city Pattaya Thailand

This guy really does not look comfortable.

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Looking north toward Wongamat

Fun city Pattaya Thailand

Pattaya beach leaves a lot to be desired, too many umbrellas & deck chairs cover most of the sand, very cheap to hire them, only 30 Baht or $1 each. They cost 3 times more in Phuket. At least there is sand on the beach unlike Europe where they prefer pebbles. 😆  Just remember what you have probably already read in the press, hiring a jet ski is flirting with danger, 80% of the operators are running scams, when you return the ski they will claim you have damaged it and try to extort huge sums of money from you. Sadly many police are part of these scams as well, they will pretend they are on your side and negotiate the asking price down from say 60,000 Baht ($2,000) to 20,000 Baht, in Thailand unfortunately they have turned corruption into an art form. However it is no worse than Indonesia, India or Brazil, so just be careful.

Life really is a beach

Fun city Pattaya Thailand

It is low tide and the Thai lad is chatting up the Russian babe, sorry pal I really don’t like your chances of success, but give it your best shot.

Here is my live webcam from my balcony overlooking Pattaya beach in Thailand.

Super low tide in Pattaya  Pattaya beach

Fun city Pattaya Thailand

The beach looks great at low tide.

Thousand of people flock to the boatsFun city Pattaya Thailand resort 

  Every day thousands of tourists prove this really is fun city Pattaya, para sailing and trips to the nearby islands are bar far the most popular tourist activities. Sadly in 2013 4 people have died para sailing, due to irresponsible boat drivers, many of whom are unlicensed.  

Para Sailing in Pattaya.

Fun city Pattaya Thailand 

They buzz around like mosquitoes. 

Great vision of Parasailing in Pattaya, Thailand

Motorised kite

Flying high in Pattaya

Beautiful Pattaya sunset

Fun city Pattaya Thailand

The view of Pattaya bay from my balcony.

Amazing sunset

Fun city Pattaya Thailand  Another amazing sunset from the balcony of my Markland condo, it is almost like the photo is split in two parts.  

Thai street kitchen in Fun city Pattaya Thailand resort

Fun city Pattaya Thailand

  The Thai people are very enterprising, they will set up their little business anywhere, if the police move them on they just set up around the corner.  

 Nong Nooch Tropical Gardens.

Fun city Pattaya Thailand

  Pattaya is not just beaches, bars & restaurants, there are lots of great attractions for all the family. Nong Nooch Tropical Gardens is a great day out. You can ride an elephant here and even see them playing football.  

Bath time for the baby elephant.

Fun city Pattaya Thailand

He is loving every minute.

Siracha Tiger Zoo

Fun city Pattaya Thailand

Siracha Tiger Zoo is only 30 kilometres north of Pattaya, it is very good value with a 180 Baht entry fee for locals.

 

Pattaya Pattaya Song Pattaya Nightlife Thai Girls

Riding on Baht bus in Pattaya.

Fun city Pattaya Thailand 

  Pattaya has a great transport system called Baht busses.  You pay only 10 Baht (40 cents) and press the button when you want to get off.  There are hundreds of them so you never wait any longer than a minute or two.  

Phoenix Golf Club Pattaya.

Fun city Pattaya Thailand

A huge disadvantage when playing golf in fun city Pattaya is being guided by beautiful caddies, it is compulsory to have them accompany you, isn’t that a real downer? OK, so they are not all beautiful like these two, however having them with you makes your bad shots seem unimportant.  😛

Ok, lets get back to the beach.

Fun city Pattaya Thailand

If you look closely and are not distracted, you will see the great lounges for hire at the beach club which is at the Pullman hotel in Wongamat. If you are anything like me you will say “what lounges”?

Sunset in Pattaya.

Fun city Pattaya Thailand

    Pattaya sunsets are quite amazing.

Centara Grand Mirage Hotel Pattaya.

Fun city Pattaya Thailand

 One of the many luxury five star hotels in Pattaya, the grounds here are like the lost city of Atlantis.  

Naklua fish market.

Fun city Pattaya Thailand

 Here is my friend John “Pothole” Martin buying 4 live fish for $18, they scale & gut them then pack them in ice for the trip home.  

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I do not shop here for my food.

Fun city Pattaya Thailand

The photo above is at one of Pattaya’s fresh food markets, be sure about two things, there is no refrigeration here, and the Thai people eat anything and everything. 😆 Now I guarantee the pork knuckle below did not come from this market. It is about to be demolished by Muay Thai World Champion Nathan Corbett, who is here in Pattaya training at Fairtex gym for his next bout in Chicago on October 12th against Tyrone Sprong from the Netherlands.


Nathan Corbett versus Pork Knuckle.

Fun city Pattaya Thailand

Nathan was  Muay Thai world champion 11 times in 3 weight divisions.  

My friend Trevor training hard.

Fun city Pattaya Thailand

 This is my friend Trevor still training hard at 50 years of age, his passion however is golf & he plays off a handicap of 4.

The famous Thai Lady-Boys

Fun city Pattaya Thailand

 Thailand is famous for Lady-boys, here is my friend Joan Baptiste from England with two of the performers from Alcazar cabaret in 2nd Rd Pattaya.
Lady-Boy, you can’t be serious?

Fun city Pattaya Thailand

 My two friends from Australia had their photo taken with the most beautiful Lady-Boy I have ever seen in the 37 years I have been coming to Pattaya.
                          Beach Road pattaya

  Fun city Pattaya Thailand

 Every morning without fail I walk 25 minutes on Beach Rd, have breakfast & read the Bangkok Post, sometimes I walk back, sometimes I catch the Baht bus. 😎

A beautiful towel draped over the lounge, see more here.

Fun city Pattaya Thailand

 What a lovely towel draped over the lounge, I hope I can find the store where she bought it. Sorry folks but this bis a post about Pattaya, so I must promote the mood & pulse of the city.  😆

   What is the best time of the year to travel to Thailand?  

Fun city Pattaya Thailand foot massage.

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This lovely girl with the big smile is Jane, she gives me about 4 foot massages every week, $8 per hour, priceless. Sadly she has left & had a baby.

Pedicure from lovely Boom

Fun city Pattaya Thailand

 My pedicure & haircut specialist.

Sabai Wing Soi 1 North Pattaya

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Sabai Wing Soi 1, 3 swimming pools and nice rooms, 100 meters from BigC, great value at only $23 usd per night as of August 15. I live in the high-rise in the background, Markland. For a great room rate book here

Against the traffic on a busy one way street.

Fun city Pattaya Thailand resort

This is a classic way to travel to work on busy Beach Rd Pattaya. Against the traffic on a one way street, nothing surprises me here.

Use this link for great hotel room rates near Beach road.

Walking St, famous worldwide.

Fun city Pattaya Thailand

Here is my latest photo blog on Walking St 2016.

Hooters arrives

Fun city Pattaya Thailand

New Years Eve 2015 and Hooters arrives in Pattaya.

That’s all folks, thanks for visiting, good hotel deals here.

Fun city Pattaya Thailand resort

here we are at Gulliver’s on Beach Rd enjoying a cold beer.

My favourite selfie 

Pattaya life FiveStarVagabond 2017

 

An overcast Friday morning in Pattaya did not stop this princess from going to the beach to take 100 selfies.

Taken March 24 2017.

Pattaya life FiveStarVagabond 2017

For a more upmarket hotel on Beach Rd

 

Just use THIS LINK for a terrific rate at the Wave Hotel.

 

 

 

 

  The above video captures the essence of Pattaya when 4 English guys arrive for a holiday in January 2013, naturally I had to play tour guide.    Well folks, many thanks for visiting my fun city pattaya photo blog, which is now my home town, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoy living here. Please send the link to friends http://fivestarvagabond.com/

As you can see there is a lot more to Fun city Pattaya Thailand than you see in the travel brochures.

               

Pattaya – Hua Hin Mini Van

If you are in Pattaya and want to go to Hua Hin there is now a daily minivan service, they have offices in Pattaya, Hua Hin and Cha Am, for Hua Hin the mini van leaves at 8:00, 10:00, 12:00 and takes 4 hours to get to Hua Hin, priced at only 400baht. The Pattaya office is on South Pattaya Road, if your heading towards Sukhumvit road go over 3rd Road and past Soi Ko Pai/ Soi Bongkot and it’s on the left hand side at soi 10, which is around 300 meters or more from Sukhumvit Road. Pattaya Office 088 709 2365 Hua Hin Office 088 709 2364 Cha Am Office 089 254 1399 Bus leaves Pattaya 8:00, 10:00, 12:00

pattaya_to_hua_hin_minivan (1)

As of late 2015 there is now a tour bus to Hui Hin from the bust station daily at 11 am for B400.
                 
      Please check out these fabulous posts     

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 Gold Coast                              Pattaya                          Cinque Terre
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Rio de Janeiro                  Singapore                    Eastern Europe
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    Bangkok Bars                         Tokyo                      Cape Town Safari
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               Great hotel room rates anywhere in the world if you book
                  through these links below.  Book now & pay later.
Free Cancellation. 
Bangkok Hotels                    Pattaya Hotels
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 That’s all folks

1g Duck

 

Pattaya live webcam
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Click bottom right hand corner for full screen.

 

 

 

Here is my post on Phuket LadyBoys in 2005.

 

Here is a little back street beer bar.

 

Street food in Pattaya

 

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Best Pattaya Japanese restaurants

July 24, 2013 by David Herd

My favourite cuisine.

Best Pattaya Japanese restaurants

Best Pattaya Japanese restaurants

Best Pattaya Japanese restaurants, there are many  to choose from, however you can never go wrong at Fuji, excellent Japanese food at reasonable prices. Spotlessly clean with well trained staff. The Caterpillar roll above is my favorite dish, however their menu offers so many good choices of beautiful fresh Japanese food. There are almost 100 restaurants in this chain throughout Thailand, to see their locations please click here.

Salmon at Fuji

Best Pattaya Japanese restaurants

One of the many mouth watering dishes at Fuji in Big C shopping mall on 2nd rd.

Fuji chefs at Big C in 2nd rd.

Best Pattaya Japanese restaurants

Agoda is a great place to book your Pattaya hotel.

Oishi Ramen low cost Japanese.

Best Pattaya Japanese restaurants

Oishi Ramen is another chain of very low cost Japanese & Thai food, I have lunch at least twice a week at the Big C mall on 2nd road north Pattaya. The Salmon and salad shown above with bottomless Green Tea costs 220 Baht or $7 usd, great value. More information about Oishi click here.

Oishi Japanese Buffet Restaurant

Best Pattaya Japanese restaurants

The buffet is excellent value at around 500 Baht or $15, eat as much as you want. I don’t rate the food as highly as Fuji however you can’t beat the value.

Tuna Ichiban

Best Pattaya Japanese restaurants

There is a new shopping mall in Pattaya Klang with many good Japanese restaurants to choose from, my salmon sashimi was absolutely fabulous.

Tuna Ichiban at Harbor shopping mall

Best Pattaya Japanese restaurants

High quality food at a reasonable price, what more could you ask for?   

Tokyo Teppanyaki

Best Pattaya Japanese restaurants

I was surprised at the number of Japanese restaurants here.    I had an excellent prawn teppanyaki and miso soup for lunch.

Anego

Best Pattaya Japanese restaurants

 Excellent food here at Anego however I still think 200 Baht for a glass of wine is too high.

Anego Gioza

Best Pattaya Japanese restaurants

Anego was at 226/11 (soi 5 BeachRd.) Pattaya. Now in 2nd Rd behind Lisa bar in North Pattaya.

Chamiko in Soi 3 North Pattaya.

Best Pattaya Japanese restaurants   

Finally hidden away in Soi 3 North Pattaya is Chamiko, it is kind of like eating in a private home. Good food, low cost and friendly staff. I walked past this strange little restaurant for 3 years without entering, now I eat there at least once a week. Open for lunch and dinner and closed on Mondays. Good food at a very low price, the best chicken Yakatori in Pattaya for about $3.  😀 Another example is you can order the two plates shown above + two glasses of South African wine for a total cost of $20 including tip, priceless.

Chamiko is a very casual atmosphere.

Best Pattaya Japanese restaurants

Here are some crazy friends of mine enjoying dinner at Chamiko. From left to right is Juergen (German), Larry (Austrian RIP), Dah (Thai) & John a.k.a Pothole (Australian).

Sushi at Chamiko

Best Pattaya Japanese restaurants

Only about B300 or $12 aud.

Sadly Chamiko is now closed permanently.

Genki in Soi 4.

Best Pattaya Japanese restaurants

A little gem hidden away in Soi 4 next to a row of shops which include Saithorn massage, is Genki. A very authentic Japanese restaurant with a nice outdoor area. Last night there were 50 Japanese male diners and one Caucasian, me.

That is always a testament to the quality of the cuisine, just count the number of Japanese diners.                      

An interesting dish at Genki.

Best Pattaya Japanese restaurants

Baby clams were delicious.

Sadly Genko is now closed permanently.

Sukishi at Central Festival.

Best Pattaya Japanese restaurants

Sukishi is an excellent Japanese BBQ restaurant in Central Festival shopping mall.          

Another favourite at Central Festival

Best Pattaya Japanese restaurants

Hachiban Ramen, the Gyoza & Teriyaki chicken is to die for, only 153 Baht for the two, priceless. There is another branch on the ground floor of Tukcom at the rear.

June 27 at Ronin Soi 16/2 Naklua

Best Pattaya Japanese restaurants

Hamish & I both thought Ronin was an excellent sushi restaurant with tonnes of atmosphere.

Shakariki 432

Pattaya Life Absolutely Perfect

An excellent authentic Japanese restaurant in 2nd Rd opposite Mike Hotel. 

Upmarket & sophisticated.

Best Pattaya Japanese restaurants

We both agreed we prefer the rowdy atmosphere at Genki in Soi 4.

Miyazaki at Central Marina

Miyazaki Japanese Teppanyaki restaurant

I can’t believe how lucky we are living in Pattaya with so many great places to eat, every possible cuisine & price range, from five star hotels to street food. Since Terminal 21 opened on October 19 2018 Central Marina has lost half it’s customers, I do feel sorry for their loss of business, on the other had it’s much quieter & more peaceful. 

NZ tender beef.

Miyazaki Japanese Teppanyaki restaurantRare, juicy & tender, cooked to perfection. 🙂 I ordered the special set of NZ beef, vegetables, miso soup & rice at a low price of B280 or $11.70 AUD.

Sabai Wing Soi 1 North Pattaya

Pattaya low cost budget hotels

Sabai Wing Soi 1, 3 swimming pools and nice rooms, 100 meters from BigC, great value at only $30 usd per night as of August 15. I live in the high-rise in the background, Markland. For a great room rate book here.

Thanks for visiting my Best Pattaya Japanese restaurants photo blog.                         

Please check out some of the most popular below, and thank you for visiting.

 

Holiday Inn

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Fabulous views, excellent restaurants & a very good room rate if you book through THIS LINK.

The building in the middle is the Holiday Inn, on the left is the Amari Hotel which is another very good five star hotel. Use THIS LINK to book for a very good room rate.

Sabai Wing North Pattaya

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The best Pattaya budget hotel, 3 pools & opposite Central Marina shopping mall. For a great room rate just book through THIS LINK.

Sutus Court is a great budget hotel right i the heart of one of Pattaya’s main bar areas, just use THIS LINK for a terrific room rate. 420/100 Moo 9 Soi Buakhao.

Pattaya Hilton

Pattaya hotels, Hilton & Holiday Inn

This is the view from Horizons the amazing rooftop bar. A great five star hotel located opposte the beach & above the Central Festival shopping mall. Just book through THIS LINK for an excellent room rate. 

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    Bangkok Bars                         Tokyo                      Cape Town Safari
d0c59ff5-7f2b-41b5-9312-4556d4a62037          f5e9441a-4154-44e0-a362-18b662d40b48          2a2b79ea-bc5f-46e3-8448-2e71658eff14 
               Great hotel room rates anywhere in the world if you book
                  through these links below.  Book now & pay later.
Free Cancellation. 
Bangkok Hotels                    Pattaya Hotels
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 That’s all folks

1g Duck

 

Pattaya live webcam
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Check out one of the most famous streets in Pattaya

 

Here is a very interesting Pattaya hotel

 

One of the best shopping malls in Bangkok

 

Krabi is one of my favourite places in Thailand

 

Here is my post on a tiger in Thailand

 

 
 
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