Pattaya Beach, Thailand 2011

Pattaya Beach, Thailand

Information by Rough Guides

With its streets full of high-rise hotels and hustlers on every corner, PATTAYA is the epitome of exploitative tourism gone mad, but most of Pattaya's two million annual visitors don't mind that the place looks like the Costa del Sol because what they are here for is sex. The city swarms with male, female and transsexual prostitutes, and Western men flock here to enjoy their services in the rash of hostess bar-beers, go-go clubs and massage parlours. The signs trumpeting "Viagra for Sale" say it all. Pattaya also has the largest gay scene in Thailand, with several exclusively gay hotels and an entire zone devoted to gay sex bars.
Pattaya's evolution into sin city began with the Vietnam War, when it got fat on selling sex to American servicemen. Ex-servicemen later returned to run the sort of joints they had once blown their dollars in and these days at least half the bars and restaurants in Pattaya are foreign-run. More recently, there has been an influx of criminal gangs from Germany, Russia and Japan, who reportedly find Pattaya a convenient centre for running their rackets in passport and credit-card fraud, as well as child pornography and prostitution; expat murders are a regular news item in the Pattaya Mail.
Meanwhile, local tourism authorities are trying hard to improve Pattaya's image, and with surprising success have begun enticing families and older couples with a catalogue of more wholesome entertainments such as theme parks, golf courses, shopping plazas and year-round diving. Russian holidaymakers seem particularly keen and Cyrillic script is now much in evidence around the resort. A recent flush of more sophisticated boutique hotels and restaurants is also starting to bring in a younger Thai crowd, which has brightened the picture a little. But in truth the beach here is far from pristine so after-hours "entertainment" is still the primary inducement.
from:travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-489341-pattaya_beach_vacations-i;_ylt=Aop.SScMRrQy_iuTVGU782RiFWoL