|
|
|
|
|
Ancient history |
|
|
| Pattaya got its name from the march of Phraya
Tak, (later King Taksin), from Ayutthaya to Chantaburi, just before the fall of the
earlier capital (Ayutthaya) to the Burmese invaders in 1767. |
|
|
| When Phraya Tak's army arrived in the area what
now is Pattaya, they confronted with the troops of Nai Klom, but it came to no fighting
because Nai Klom was awed both by Phraya Tak's dignified manners and his army strict
discipline, so Nai Klom surrendered without fight. |
|
|
| The place where the two armies confronted was
later called Thap Phraya, which means the Army of Phraya, this was later changed to
Phatthaya, which means the wind blowing from the southwest to the northeast, which appears
in the beginning of the raining season. |
|
|
| Thap Phraya is still not forgotten, there is a
road connecting South Pattaya and Jomtien Beach called Tappraya Road, and it has probably
been somewhere in that area the two armies confronted, and from what I have been told from
native citizens of Pattaya, the south Pattaya area is where the original old Pattaya city
was, but modern buildings has replaced the fishermen's huts. |
|
|
| Phatthaya, is actually the most correct
spelling of the name of the city, but simplified it ended to be spelled Pattaya. |
|
|
|
| Last 50
years history |
|
|
| The history forming Pattaya to what Pattaya is
now starts in the 1960s, when some Bangkok residents start to go to Pattaya for the
weekend, and some still do, you will see the traffic increase, specially on Jomtien
Beachroad, from Friday afternoon and till Sunday evening, also the parking areas in front
of the most popular discotheques will be filled with cars. |
|
|
| Before that Pattaya was a sleepy fishing
village, just like many other places you still will be able to find if you follow the
coastline around the country. |
|
|
| When the Vietnam war was going on, American
soldiers were flown to the U-Tapao airport near by, the airport was build for American
use, and the soldiers found their way to Pattaya. |
|
|
| And that started the entertainment industry
Pattaya is most known for, around the world, people started to come from all over the
country, specially from the poor Esaan Province, to work in Pattaya, so most of the
population you will find in Pattaya are not locals, but they live and work here. |
|
|
| Hotels were build and started the first beach
resort in Thailand, and they are still building new hotels, traffic is getting more and
more intensive, specially Second Road and Beach Road in Pattaya are often chaotic, but
also the Tappraya Road that connect Pattaya and Jomtien Beach is the scene of heavy
traffic daily, specially in the afternoon. |
|
|
| In the 1980s the tourist boom came, Thailand
was now a popular destination for exotic vacations, and it was cheap too, so the city
continued growing, and many westerners fascinated by the country, moved down here and
started their restaurants and bars, and took part in forming Pattaya as a primary tourist
area, if they not had made all these western places, Pattaya's development might not got
to what it is today. |
|
|
|
| Where is
the original Pattaya? |
|
|
| The original cityarea of Pattaya you find in
the south end, in the area between Walking Street and Pratamnak road, there is nothing
left of the original buildings in the area, everything has been replaced with the concrete
buildingstyle houses you see all over town, but the Soi's (small roads) are here smaller,
than in the northern part of the city. |
|
|
| Take a walk in Soi Diamond, it is impossible to
get a car through the street, and some other soi's around in the area are almost the same,
just as you will find it in villages upcountry. |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| The sad
side of the history |
|
|
| In the 1990s the western press focused on the
sexual industry in Pattaya and specially on worst side of that industry, children in
prostitution, but the problem has been taken very good care of, by the authorities in
Thailand, and now it is history, but unfortunately the western press still try to keep
that sad story alive, but everything made by the smart scandal journalists during the last
years, it is not always the truth. |
|
|
| All those bad things showed in TV and
newspapers, made many travelangencies to stop using Pattaya as a destination, but the
worst thing in this sad story is, that they stopped after the problem was eliminated, so
actually there was no meaning in stopping the group tours to Pattaya, they should had
continued, and maybe also taken part in giving the correct information about what Pattaya
is. |
|
|
| Since 2001 the Tourist Authorities of Thailand
has started on a campaign to give Pattaya a better reputation, the city is becoming a
facelift, a lot of constructionwork is going on, and the purposes are to get more
families, sport events and conferences to town. |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| The future
history of Pattaya |
|
|
|
Pattaya is now a modern city, with own cityhall, a mayor, own
administration, a fast growing industry in the surrounding areas, and a
lot of expats concerning the future of the town. |
|
|
| When the new Bangkok Airport opens near
Chonburi, in October 2005, then it will be just a one hour car or bus transfer to Pattaya,
and will increase the tourism in the area. |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|