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Pattaya

From being a small fishing village, Pattaya has emerged as the favourite Southeast Asian vacation center, and not without reason. It is a fascinating escape for you unfolding an incomparable array of possibilities to unwind during an exotic holiday beach vacation.

Colourful and alive with activities, it is unrivalled as a beach resort, offering more attractions in greater profusion than any other single destination in Southeast Asia. This is the place where you can fill your day, from dusk to dawn, with endless activities, or you may choose to do nothing at all and relax.

Pattaya currently integrates the delights of a 1st class beach resort, city-like dining, shopping and night entertainment facilities with more than 300 assorted hotels, thousands of shops, restaurants and bars. In addition, there are an array of sports and recreational activities offering a broad range of things to do, not to cite its absolutely incredible shopping which is available non-stop both days-and-nights.

Lined up with exotic beaches and islands like Pattaya Beach, Hat Jomtien, Hat Wong Phrachan, Ko Lan, Ko Sak, Ko Phai, Pattaya boasts the unique distinction of a beach resort with a city status. Whereas most other beach resorts rely simply on natural surroundings for their charm, Pattaya makes an all-out attempt to provide the best of everything in an exhaustive mix of facilities.

Pattaya - Factsheet

Explore Pattaya

Attractions

Underwater World Pattaya

Located on Sukhumvit Road, Tambon Nong Prue, this aquarium offers an insight into the area’s rich marine life. Underwater World Pattaya is a modern aquarium with a 100-metre state-of-the-art acrylic tunnel where visitors can walk through an underwater environment filled with dozens of marine species including the rare shovel-nosed ray, a hybrid between a shark and a stingray, providing visitors with the unique experience of viewing the displays at close quarters through crystal-clear water. The aquarium plans to have a variety of dolphin shows in the near future.
Tel: 0 3875 6979

Thunder Rock Dinosaur Park

Located on Sukhumvit Road, 4 km. from South Pattaya, this place brings you face-to-face with life-size replicas of the creatures that lived two hundred million years ago including a Tyrannosaurus Rex, a Velociraptor and a Petinosaurus. Come and wander through the Dinosaur Age, imagining the Earth when it was inhabited by the fierce predator T-Rex. Open daily 10.00 a.m.– .00 p.m. Tel: 0 3870 6055 or mobile phone 0 1576 0035

Khao Chi Chan Carved Buddha Mountain

The cliff face inlaid with gold leaf in the outline of a sitting Sukhothai-Lanna Buddha is dedicated to the commemoration of His Majesty the King’s Golden Jubilee, the 50th anniversary of his accession to the throne. This 130-metre-high Buddha’s royally-bestowed name is Phra Phuttha Maha Wachira Utta Mopat Satsada, which means His Lord Buddha is virtuous and glorious as Maha Wachira (the Great Wisdom). The surroundings are a wide variety of flowering plants and a number of pavilions for meditation and rest. Directly in front of the cliff face are shrines, elaborate gardens and a number of terraced pools stocked with lotus flowers.

Khao Phra Tamnak

This small hill, also known as Khao Phra Bat whose peak can be accessed by an asphalt road, affords panoramic views of Pattaya City and Pattaya Bay. Khao Phra Tamnak has been developed and is currently the site of the So To Ro 5 radio station, where there is a monument to Kromluang Chumphon, known as the 'Father of the Royal Thai Navy'. A Buddha image is enshrined on the hilltop.

Chaloem Phra Kiat Park

Located on Phra Tamnak Road at the foot of Khao Pattaya, the small park is dedicated to the commemoration of His Majesty the King’s sixtieth birthday on 5 December, 1987. The gardens boast a wide variety of flowering plants, while the park also includes jogging trails and exercise facilities.

The Million-Years Stone Park and Pattaya Crocodile Farm

This place is a popular attraction for Thai and foreign tourists. Covering an area of close to 40 acres, the compound comprises rock gardens and a botanical garden of rare plants and beautiful landscapes. Top sights include fossilised plants over a million years in age and a 200-year-old Thai style bonsai, plus dwarf horses, ostriches, crocodile pools and a collection of rare animals such as albino bears. Crocodile round-ups, magic and animal performances are the major attractions. Open daily 8.00 a.m. - 6.30 p.m., with six crocodile shows from 10.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. Tel. 0 3824 9347-9

Royal Theatre

Also at the Royal Garden Plaza, this theatre offers high-tech screenings of motion and movement experienced in real life. Open daily 11.00 a.m. - 11.00 p.m. Tel: 0 3842 8057

Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum

The museum, at the Royal Garden Plaza, Pattaya Beach, houses a collection of more than 300 strange and amazing things from around the world. Open daily 11.00 a.m. - 11.00 p.m. Tel: 0 3871 0294-6, 0 3841 2120-2 Website: www.ripleys.com

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I’ve never been here before, but I’ve been so excited about coming,...

- Katie Dickie

know more

  • Pattaya beach was discovered as it were, by American servicemen during the Vietnam War.
  • Jomtien Beach, which is now a thriving beach of Thailand, was originally a huge paddy field.
  • A statue of HRH Prince of Jumborn, the father of the Royal Thai Navy is situated on top of the Pattaya hill.
  • The line-etched Buddha image on the cliff of Khao Chichan named Phra Phuttha Maha Wachira Uttamophat Satsada meaning "The Buddha is the prophet who enlightens and shines like a diamond" is the largest effigy of its kind.
  • Find a fascinating assortment of weird and wonderful exhibits from around the world at Ripley's Believe It or Not! on the 3rd floor of Royal Garden Plaza Building in Central Pattaya.
  • Mini Siam is Thailand’s first wonder displaying Thai and European on a miniature scale.
  • Take a voyage to the bottom of the sea and explore more than 200 species of marine life at Underwater World Pattaya.