Thai's refer to Pattaya as 'the ever popular Pattaya' and that's exactly what it is. The city is popular because it is a mixture of 'East meets West'. We have all the benefits of Thailand but also all the advantages of the Western world. Thai's love it because they can leave Bangkok behind and foreigner's love it because it's summer all year round. In Pattaya they have everything they have back home and more.
The affordable health & dentistry care is far better and so is care for the elderly. Pattaya has an ever expanding infrastructure with medical facilities that are rarely found in the Western world. Living in Pattaya improves ones overall quality of life. This is why an increasing number of retired couples settle in Pattaya to enjoy the life style of sea and sun.
Pattaya is a melting pot of nationalities where English is well understood. Each nationality seems to have started a club of native expats, creating a social circle of people where each can speak his native language. It creates a certain 'home feeling' and because of this, everything people loved in their home country is available in Pattaya - be it food, fashion, even your favourite TV show. In general you can say: "If you can afford it - it's yours".
Pattaya City is located on the Eastern Seaboard which reaches from Bangkok right down to the eastern tip of Thailand.
The Eastern Seaboard is where you find the center of commercial activities, home to many huge industrial estates and the export oriented industries of Thailand. Laem Chabang port plays a key role as it is Thailand largest port for international marine shipping.
The Eastern Seaboard has a diverse economy comprising of emerging tourism, construction, and retail industries. Here the most money is concentrated, generating also a large part of the Thailand's GNP (Gross National Product). Due to the economical importance of this region the infrastructure is excellent. A new railway development has recently been approved. It takes just 2 hours on the 8 lane Chon Buri Bangkok Motorway to get from Bangkok to Pattaya this is the reason why so many Thais have their weekend homes in Pattaya. Pattaya is "far away" from all this busy industrial working life. It is like a tranquil haven in a stormy sea.
