2022 Summer Trip: Thailand! 我在泰國天氣晴! (Part 1 - Pattaya)🇹🇭
- Hitomi
- Oct 13, 2022
- 8 min read
I have been to several countries before from Japan to Italy and Germany (oh wow the Axis powers) yet never to the Southeast Asia. My friends could not believe it every time when they heard it given that I look tan all year round and Thailand is such a popular tourist country to HKers, but the truth is the closest I've reached is Taichung so far. Since I'm a non-swimmer (ironically I do love water activities), so are my mum, sister & bestie, Thailand hadn't been on the top of our list. This summer, my boyfriend and I decided to go on a one-week vacay to indulge our obsession towards the sun & beaches. It's our first trip together btw and it was the time when human-trafficking was worst in Southeast Asia!
From Aug 20 to 28, we spent 4 days in Pattaya, 3 days on Koh Samet of Rayong and 2 days in Bangkok. We booked our trip around 2-3 months prior and the prices were quite okay. However since it happened during COVID, we spent a bit more for a 3-day quarantine hotel to comply with the stupid policy in Hong Kong. It's been more than 2 years without leaving HK so F it. On a high-level estimation we spent HKD10k each for the whole trip and it's totally worth it!
1st Day: Terminal 21 👉🏻Let's Relax Spa👉🏻Pattaya Night Bazaar👉🏻Beach Road
2nd Day: Koh Larn 👉🏻The Sky Gallery (Restaurant) 👉🏻Walking Street & Baccara A Go Go
3rd Day: ATV👉🏻Elephant Jungle Sanctuary Pattaya👉🏻Alcazar Cabaret Show
Terminal 21🛍️
The shopping mall is located in various cities throughout Thailand and what's special about it is how it is decorated - there is a theme for each floor such as London, Tokyo and Paris and every entrances, exits and escalators are the terminals that connect the themes. Even the washrooms are well-designed and they are all different from each other. You could find most of the world-famous franchise stores in it just any other shopping malls. However we're tired of things we already have in HK, we were more interested in the food market on the ground floor instead. For the same reason we didn't visit any outlets on this trip.
Terminal 21 | 456,777,777 / 1 Moo 6, Pattaya 20150 Thailand
Let's Relax Spa💆🏻♀️
Frequent visitors to Thailand must have heard about the Thai massage franchise. We bought a 2-hour Thai massage package online right on the day which is also located in Terminal 21 (you will keep on seeing how spontaneous we are). You are provided with local hot tea and a warmed towel when you arrive. The masseuses first took off your shoes and give your feet a nice wash. Then you are led to a room where you get changed and the (supposed to be) best part begins. Perhaps we were too unhealthy that every touch caused us mostly pains hahaha I personally prefer the last part where you were treated with mango sticky rice 'cause it tastes soooo good. Will definitely go again!
No. 777 1st Floor ,Room. SH-1054A,1054B Moo 6 Na Kluea, Bang La mung, Chonburi 20150
Pattaya Night Bazaar & Beach Road
We explored a night market nearby after dinner. It's not as crowded as I thought but it's quite a nice place to shop for the infamous elephant-print clothings. Then we headed the Beach Road and strolled along the busy street until we felt like time to go home. It's not a bad idea under the 3x degrees Celsius weather. Side story - we passed by a Cannabis store and out of curiosity, we bought two pieces of brownies. Not gonna lie, they're cheap but delicious as brownies themselves. We didn't feel anything at all. 🌿
Pattaya Night Bazaar| 519/106 Soi Nong Thep, Tambon Bang Lamung, Amphoe Bang Lamung, Chang Wat Chon Buri 20150, Thailand, Pattaya
Koh Larn🚤
It is an outlaying island near Pattaya and tourists usually prefer doing water activities there since the water is clearer. We took a speed boat ride to the island and you don't have to struggle between which shop to go to as they are most of the time operated by the same people and thus, the prices and quality are quite the same. We negotiated a bit with a local and paid for a package at 1500 baht with 3 activities: sea-walking, parasailing and jet skiing. As a non-swimming who was drown in Disneyland at age 7, sea-walking is really a challenge to me. Sea-walking is basically walking undersea wearing a helmet which contained unlimited oxygen that allowed you to breath normally. I was really nervous about the pain in my ears as the last time I had it was trying to do dive in a 2m pool which I almost got myself killed spilling all the air I had trying to balance out the pressure (yes I was dumb). I had to make sure I don't take a wrong move and got myself killed 6m underwater. Everything turned out fine though once I saw the fishy swimming next to me, competing for the bread we fed. It is also the first time knowing urchins actually have 'eyes'. I am so proud of myself after the day in water and now I understand what Drake meant by the foreignness of human disrupting the harmony in the undersea world. I need to go deeper one day and see more!
Walking Street & Baccara A Go Go
My dad did showed me around the Red Light District when we went to Tokyo but I have never got in any bar or club there. In Pattaya, you could see sexy girls (or ladyboys) waving or blowing kisses to passengers, the neon signs that give you headache, tourists looking for preys and even promotions of Pingpong shooting and live sex show. We were kinda skeptical of going into the bars along the street as it's not news that many of the venues there are controlled by triads. Still, I really wanted to see what's going on behind the curtains so I Googled and chose one agogo bar that people recommended - Baccara A Go Go. We ordered beers and sat aside to watch the pole-dancers in white bikini. The stage is in the middle of the bar and 3 batches of girls took turns to go up and wave their slim figures. Some of them tried so hard to impress the audience by taking off their bras (especially those with boob jobs) so that someone would take them home for the night, the other were just swinging soullessly. It's a whole new experience for us and it's like we see the dark-side of humanity, of money and sex. The experience to the forbidden world is only HKD25 per person, depending on how much you drink and how long you stay. I think I will go again in the future.
Walking Street (Soi Happy) Pattaya Chonburi 20150
ATV & Buggy Adventures
One of the most exciting activities in Pattaya! I've always enjoyed driving but this is really something else. I was stuck at slope and mud paddle and I kept myself at 15km/h, cap at 24km/h. I guess Drake wondered how I got my license after seeing how bad I drove. Never mind, I think we are not really legal on the way anyways. DO NOT WEAR WHITE SNEAKERS & LIGHT-COLOURED PANTS. Those are the elephant-print pants I wore and I regretted. The experience package is not cheap but consider it includes pick-up & drop off at hotel, a 2-hour guided fun ride with all the equipment & locker, bottled water and a set lunch of beef burger (with fresh tropical fruits!), I give it a 10/10. We booked it only one day in advanced.
A very happy experience suitable for all ages of feeding elephants, giving elephants mud spa and using elephants dungs to make recycling papers. Drake: elephant skin is not as soft as he imagined, more like carton paper. I like the fact that they don't allow you to ride on them as the sanctuary aims to educate the public to protect the enormous animals. The package includes pick up & drop off at hotel, a guided tour, a local meal, cola, free photos for you to download from Facebook page and souvenirs. Do remember to bring bathing suit and a towel as you will get into the muddy water with the elephants! Again, we booked it the day before.
Office 3, 347 Pattaya 3rd Rd, Pattaya City, Bang Lamung District, Chon Buri 20150
Alcazar Cabaret Show
Another must-watch event in Thailand! Just like Tiffany's Show, Alcazar is one of the best ladyboy performances in town. Our tickets from Tripadvisor were cancelled the day before the show as the show was full. Tiffany's Show and other ladyboy shows in Bangkok were either closed or full, I was upset at that time. But since I really really wanted to watch a ladyboy show on this trip, I called Alcazar and try to ask for a ticket. To my surprise they actually still had seats for the night at 1800 baht. Shut up & take my money! It's a double of the original tickets we had but well, it's VVIP which includes drinks, snacks, souvenir, first row seating and unlimited photos with the cast. The show is not bad as a once-in-a-lifetime experience but I guess I will skip it next time. I'd say it's more interesting to go to A Go Go bar.
Alcazar | 78/14 Moo 9, Pattaya Sai Song Road Bang Lamung, Chon Buri
Food
We both don't eat spicy so what we prefer might be different from a lot of people. I think the number one Thai food we enjoy is Soft Shell Crab Curry🥘. We would order it whenever it is available on the menu. On the left hand side is the decent Nara Thai Cuisine in Terminal 21. The curry is just perfect (and not spicy!). Apart from snatching chips & seaweeds from 7-11, treet food in Thailand is also excellent for snack time crave. Drake especially loves grilled chicken and he bought the chicken thigh for 70 baht on Koh Larn.
Nara Thai Cuisine | Terminal 21, 2 Fl. Tokyo Zone Moo.6, N Pattaya Road T์ambon Na Kluer, La Mung, Bang Lamung District, Chon Buri 20150
Beside the mango sticky rice that we love, check out the banana pancake. You can find it from any street food stalls! See how the skillful lady cooked our order! Extra chocolate, butte & sugar pleaseeeeee
Drake took me to a pretty seaside restaurant that he found online with good reviews before we headed to the Walking Street. It was indeed a beautiful one for date (& photos). It offers both Thai and Western cuisines from Pad Thai to pasta. The decorations of the restaurant match with its name - The Sky Gallery. We had different kind of seafood such as scallops and squids with lemonade and Thai milk tea. Thanks love for taking me here!
The Sky Gallery | Pratumnak 400 M.12 Kasetsin 2 Alley, Pattaya City, Bang Lamung District, Chon Buri 20150
Transportation
We took off on a Saturday night with Emirates and landed Suvarnabhumi Airport at around 11pm. We hired an airport-owned vehicle (AOT Limousine) to reach Holiday Inn at Pattaya (2,700 baht) and we didn't dare to fall asleep. We checked Google Map to ensure we were heading to the correct direction instead of Chiangmai since news had that travellers were abducted to KK Park from Thailand. Luckily the driver did take us to the destination safe and sound.
Flight meal, the careful travel partner, arrival at Holiday Inn (HKD290/night) & the midnight snack-snatcher
In Pattaya, we used Grab to travel around as prices are quite cheap and the records kind of ensure our safety. Plus, you don't have to worry about any change of prices like taxi does.
Accommodation
Ahah, this is the best part. We didn't spend much on the first night accommodation since we were checking in at late night which all we asked was a bathroom and a bed. The breakfast of Holiday Inn was included but we were too tired to wake up for it. The remaining days in Pattaya we had spent the days in this villa - Tropicana Pool Villa Pattaya (HKD700/night). We have our own swimming pool with jacuzzi & bathtub. Imagine in the morning you could just take off all your clothes and jump into the pool, NAKED! The villa also provides paid in-room breakfast at 199 baht. We just love it!
284/158 Moo 12, Jomtien 2nd Road, Nong Prue, Banglamung chonburi 20150
Remarks
Thai is not easy to learn but at least try to greet with 'sah wah dee khrap (male)/ khaa (female)' and say Thank You as 'khop khun khrap (male)/khaa (female)'.
Don't forget about tipping whoever serves you :)
Take life slowly in Pattaya, relax, don't rush or you will miss more than you think!
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