THE HISTORY OF PATTAYA THAILAND
Pattaya bay in 1952 taken from the foot of the Pattaya Buddha Hill looking towards Naklua
Tap Praya" (Troops of the Emperor) which was the old name of Pattaya
The troops of King Taksin, king of Thailand used Tap Praya ( Pattaya ) as a forward base of operations against the Burmese duing the war the year B.E. 2310 , 230 plus years ago. When Phraya Tak's army arrived at the vicinity of what is today's Pattaya, he encountered the troops of Nai Klom who tried to intercept him. But when the two leaders met face to face, Nai Klom was awed by Phraya Tak's dignified manner and his army's strict discipline. And he surrendered without a fight. The place the two armies confronted each other, was later called Thap Phraya, which means the Army of the Phraya. "Tap Praya" (Troops of the Emperor) and later changed to Pattaya.
Pattaya remained a small fishing village for a long time until it was discovered by some Bangkok residences that began using it has a place to relax by the sea. It was then discovered by US navy men from nearby Sattahip, particularly during the Vietnam war, and the US airbase at U-Tapao enabled great expansion of this area which was used as a center of ‘Rest and Relaxation’ ( R&R )for American troops of which I was one of them. After the war it suffered a setback but Many Thais, particularly from Bangkok, became regular visitors for the weekend, many renting or buying small bungalows and beach huts in the area. From that point on, Pattaya grew very quickly as a holiday destination for both Thais and foreigners, and in 1978 the national government granted it city status to reflect this. ‘Pattaya City’ came into being on 29th November 1978, and this anniversary is celebrated every year. "Due to its proximity to Bangkok, and partly as a legacy of the GI R&R activities during the Vietnam war, Pattaya developed a reputation as a party city, a badge it still honorably holds today. With this came an influx of girls from the poor Isan region of Northeastern Thailand who supplied the ever-growing sex trade, which is very much part of the city".
Pattaya Bay photo in 1965
Pattaya Bay photo in 1982
Pattaya view in 1968
Dancewatcher 1970 Pattaya Thailand
Modern view of Pattaya bay
Over the years Pattaya has changed a lot but this is true of just about anywhere in the world. Pattaya during the Viet Nam war was really a very quiet fishing village and now has been transformed into a vacation paradise for men as it offers the tourist almost anything you could possibly dream of. The types of people who are visiting Pattaya has changed over the past few years dramatically. Only a few years ago there were very few white women visiting pattaya and not to many families. Things have changed so much in the last 2 years. Last night on Walking Street I perched myself on a chair with a view of the foot traffic and I noticed a lot of farang women, families, people from India, Korea, China and a lot less of the so called punters who patronize the bars. Walking Street was packed with people including a lot of families. I visited many of the bars on Walking Street as well and with a few exceptions bars were void of the flood of punters.
Welcome to Pattaya Sign as you approach beach road
THE HISTORY OF PATTAYA THAILAND
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