Pattaya Thailand

• Pattaya is a major tourist beach resort location on the South East Coast of the Gulf of Siam Thailand several hours drive south east from Bangkok. Here the coast line has many similar beach resort locations all the way south and to the east and the border with Cambodia near the resort of Trang and the Island and Marine National Park of Ko Chang.
  
• The beach quality can vary depending upon the direction it faces, whether it is sheltered from wind, the quality of the sand and the depth of the sea close to shore for water activities. Each location can also vary depending upon the quality of the tourists and their preferences for entertainment, night life and food.
• The best locations are immediately south of Pattaya beach, on and within the cliffs before Jomtien Beach. Here the hotels and apartments have the best views and cleanest onshore locations. It is also the most expensive area.
• The poorest locations are along Jomtien beach. Here the beach is not so clean and it can be a small stretch of sand. Between the sand and the beach road are scrub trees, as can be seen in the image here.
• The northern portion of Pattaya beach is good but towards the southern end before the Cliffs the beach is covered in extended buildings now used for restaurants and numerous bars with the usual ''girls''. This end is less desirable for families.

Pattaya has three separate beaches:

• Naklua Beach. Naklua Beach is the northern beach, also facing west. It is not so crowded with tourists and is good for swimming and sunbathing. It is about 1 kilometer long and is also a local fishing spot.
  
• Pattaya Beach. Pattaya Beach is a crescent shaped Beach facing west and runs for 4 kilometers along Beach Road and the beach side road. On the opposite side of the beach side road are the Hotels, restaurants and night life attractions. This is the entertainment area. It is in the center and to the west of the suburb called Central Pattaya. At the southern end is the pier from which one can take any of many tour boats to a local Island offshore. As depicted in the image here, these boats are small and operators often over crowd them beyond safety limits. South from Pattaya Beach and before Jomtien Beach is a strip of coast line with high cliffs and some inlet beaches. This is the premier hotel region.
  
• Jomtien Beach. Jomtien Beach runs for 7 kilometers south of Pattaya and also faces west. Here the winds are strong providing for surfing, sailing and windsurfing. The beach strip is lined with stalls and shops. Here the beach is not good and often windy. It is not worth a long trip to Thailand or within Thailand when other other two Beaches are a better choice.