redwood13 Posted August 20, 2005 Report Share Posted August 20, 2005 "Take a walk down Beach Road, Pattaya's main promenade. Its renovation is comically never-ending and so unsightly that you must remind yourself it was Phuket, not Pattaya, that was hit by the Dec. 26 tsunami. Every 50 meters or so, bewildered Thai laborers peer into newly excavated holes like bad performance artists, while plants wilt in unfinished flower beds. (The city is plagued by water shortages.) The long, gracefully sweeping beach?Pattaya's raison d'être?is fringed with shabby parasols and lapped by trash-peppered waves. It's rush hour out in the bay: dive boats weigh anchor and chug off in search of undestroyed coral; speedboats drag shrieking tourists on inflatable bananas; jet skis whine and slalom insanely, excreting plumes of water." http://www.time.com/time/asia/2005/journey/pattaya.html -redwood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nervous_Dog Posted August 20, 2005 Report Share Posted August 20, 2005 Great read! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Central Scrutinizer Posted August 20, 2005 Report Share Posted August 20, 2005 ND, redwood, Yeah, and not overly sensationalized as I'd expected it to be either. Fairly level journalism. Some interesting info as well that I hadn't heard before too. Cent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwood13 Posted August 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 20, 2005 Yes, everyone here in Pattaya that I've talked who've read the article found it really pretty balanced. The author, Andrew Marshall, is described in another article as being a long time Bangkok resident, so it was not just another article based on a writer jetting into Thailand spending a couple of days in Pattaya and then going home and it certainly shows. -redwood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pattaya127 Posted August 26, 2005 Report Share Posted August 26, 2005 Good article, and he puts Pattaya within the trends of global tourism, that is discovering a whole new population that could not travel before. We tend to forget these millions when we suppose thai tourism is down because westerners have second-thoughts. Still, the one quip, that spoke volumes, as to who are the master chauvinist of Asia: "Thailand is not as nice as China, and I'm still waiting to see something really exciting." Don't brace yourself, woman, we ain't waiting for you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damen Posted August 27, 2005 Report Share Posted August 27, 2005 Nice for a change. I mentioned Pattaya recently on a travel board and was hit with "Whorehouse of the world, Sex-Tourist Destination, Smut by the Sea" comments. No doubt from uptight westerners who have probably never set foot there I pointed out that Pattaya is not only for whoremongers, but BKK families looking for a weekend escape, a growing vacation destination for Russian families and a great place to play golf. I'll admit that I dont live in BKK, I'm not from Russia and have never set foot on a PTY golf course but the place does have more to offer than bargirls :: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pattaya127 Posted August 27, 2005 Report Share Posted August 27, 2005 Pattaya is Pattaya: "always, criticized, never equalled"! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shit-Spattered Dog Posted August 27, 2005 Report Share Posted August 27, 2005 damen said:Nice for a change. I mentioned Pattaya recently on a travel board and was hit with "Whorehouse of the world, Sex-Tourist Destination, Smut by the Sea" comments. :: Bang-on description, nice to some real truth in advertising. ( Yes, I've been there, left after 5 minutes.) I realized what I had gotten myself into. Not critizing it just that I was expecting something else. What's that line going thru my head? " I do my killin before breakfeast, McFly" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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