Dodgers Trip Report

[Manforallseasons]

In my opinion, your friends are right and Francois and arsenal are wrong. Don't bother with Pattaya. Visit Bangkok, Chaing Mai and Phuket for more fun.

I don't think anyone is right or wrong, it is all a matter of personal preference, I like Pattaya, enjoy BKK for no more than 3 days at a time, used to like Chaing Mai till gay scene fizzeled out, been to Phuket 1 time would not return....Up 2 U, Up 2 Me.

[arsenal]

Minimee wrote:
"In my opinion, your friends are right and Francois and arsenal are wrong. Don't bother with Pattaya. Visit Bangkok, Chaing Mai and Phuket for more fun."

I haven't been to Bangkok for over a decade but I've always found it rather tiresome and my one visit to Chaing Mai was so long ago that I can't remember anything about the place. Phuket has quite limited nightlife but is wonderful to ride around on a motorbike. For me Pattaya has everything I want in buckets. However Sglad is only 24 so he can probably find all the fun he wants anywhere.

[francois]

In my opinion, your friends are right and Francois and arsenal are wrong. Don't bother with Pattaya. Visit Bangkok, Chaing Mai and Phuket for more fun.

Chiang Mai and Phuket fun? If I were a 24 yo student, again, I wouldn't miss the chance to visit Pattaya for some real fun. Bangkok too expensive.

[Dodger]

I like Phuket, Chiang Mai and Bangkok for short visits but Pattaya has always been where it's happening for me. One of the reasons I chose Bang Saray as my retirement home is because it is a short 30 minute motorbike ride around the bay to Pattaya, and Utapao Airport (which is 15 minutes from my place) provides low cost direct flights to Phuket and Chiang Mai when I feel the urge for a short trip.

The traffic alone in Bangkok is enough to keep my visits short, Phuket has too many tourists and too expensive for long-term living and Pattaya has imploded with a gay scene that's dwindling at the speed-of-light. Before my priorities were always centered on "Where the Boys are"...but since they've all relocated to cyber space all you need is a smart phone and a few cruising apps to find them.

[sglad]

Chiang Mai and Phuket fun? If I were a 24 yo student, again, I wouldn't miss the chance to visit Pattaya for some real fun. Bangkok too expensive.

Hmmm yeah but wouldn't you get bored? I read that Pattaya was only a tiny backwater back then and didn't become an entertainment city until 30-40 years ago. Bangkok is really not that expensive if you stay out of Silom/Sukhumvit/Thonglor/Khaosan. I barely spent 500Bt a day when I was there last year and I went out often. Granted breakfast and another meal, usually dinner, were had with my homestay family but I did hang out at cafes a lot. I spent a bit more on weekends if I went clubbing but even then it rarely exceeded 1000Bt. But we did go out as a group and everybody chipped in.

[arsenal]

Francois: In case you didn't notice Sglad said you're very very old. ROFL.

[francois]

Francois: In case you didn't notice Sglad said you're very very old. ROFL.

For a 24 yo student who doesn't know where to go and what to do sglad sounds very knowledgeable of the scene in Thailand. He should be giving lessons, not asking for advice.
Almost sounds like cdnmatt, another know it all.

[fountainhall]

Chiang Mai and Phuket fun? If I were a 24 yo student, again, I wouldn't miss the chance to visit Pattaya for some real fun. Bangkok too expensive.

Real fun for a 24 yo student? Remember your age and experience of gay life before you came to Thailand, dear francois. Personally I can't imagine many Asian students finding much fun at all in a place like Pattaya. Naked flesh and sex can now be found in lots of gay saunas in Singapore, Taipei and elsewhere around Asia (and in Taipei a lot more naked flesh if you want to find it than you'll see in Pattaya!). Sex shows with tied off dicks may be all but exclusive to Thailand but they get boring quickly and are surely far more common in Bangkok than in Pattaya. Despite the gay scene in Chiang Mai having all but collapsed in recent years, I'd still rather spend time there than in Pattaya!

[sglad]

Thanks for all the feedback and suggestions. I hope I have derailed Dodger's thread in a positive way.

I don't think there's a right or wrong answer as to whether I should visit Pattaya. If I were to go, it'd be for three nights max and the worst that could happen is that I'd hate it and never visit again or I'd like it and go often or like most places I'd find it to be a mixed bag of goods. I'm well aware of Pattaya's reputation and like most visitors to the city will be going there to visit the temples. I'm not sure but I think some Thai people can get very defensive about Pattaya even though they haven't visited it themselves. In that same vein, I have expressed interest to Thai friends from Isaan in visiting Udon, Nong Khai and Khon Khaen but they would rather lead the way to the latest steel and glass malls of Bangkok. Nothing could interest me less as I come from a city of shopping malls and we have some of the best in the world. But that's for another discussion.

[francois]

I'm well aware of Pattaya's reputation and like most visitors to the city will be going there to visit the temples.

Good for you, there are many temples of love for you to visit.