Hello- Coming over to Thailand for 3 weeks and looking for any tips. I'm gonna be down around Pattaya (my buddy INSISTS on going there for some reason!) for a week or so and then am planning on heading up to Chiang Mai. I'd love to ride to Angkhor Wat if possible. I'm mostly a street rider but have ridden a few enduros over here in the states. I'm looking for ANY good routes, tips, must see's, reputable rental folk etc....especially down South as the Chaing Mai region seems pretty well covered already. Thanks for having me!!!
Hi!
- Thread starter Turbongr
- Start date
If you're serious about doing something with your holidays - riding & touring - then don't start in Pattaya first or you will get gobbled up by the bars 'n girls to more than likely spend too much money / time / fall in love & not do much else. You can party / socialize anywhere. Ride your bike upcountry first & do something constructive. Do the Pattaya thing on the way out.
I second Dave there, Pattaya is a trap for guys espesially if you never been exposed for this form for place before.
Best you can do is to get yourself to Chiang Mai, rent a bike there and ride up North, you will have an experience of a lifetime. I would not go for Angkor Wat as I would enjoy the roads up North first.
Then on your way home go to Pattaya for the wild life, it's to easy to get drunk and forget about the real life when you're there in tinseltown so for your own good do the biking first.
Best you can do is to get yourself to Chiang Mai, rent a bike there and ride up North, you will have an experience of a lifetime. I would not go for Angkor Wat as I would enjoy the roads up North first.
Then on your way home go to Pattaya for the wild life, it's to easy to get drunk and forget about the real life when you're there in tinseltown so for your own good do the biking first.
Don't know if you have ever been to Thailand before or lately, but Pattaya is really a bit of a joke these days. IMO always was, but hard not to admit even for the hardcore guys now.
I say skip it completely as there is much, much more fun to be had in the North and elsewhere. As David said, make the ride/adventure the priority and the rest just happens. After all............TIT
Angkor is definitely a must see, but it takes 3 days there to do it properly. Don't know when you are coming over, but try to avoid the high season as the place has become a bit of a zoo. Shame really.
I say skip it completely as there is much, much more fun to be had in the North and elsewhere. As David said, make the ride/adventure the priority and the rest just happens. After all............TIT
Angkor is definitely a must see, but it takes 3 days there to do it properly. Don't know when you are coming over, but try to avoid the high season as the place has become a bit of a zoo. Shame really.
All my worst fears about Pattaya confirmed. Unforuntaley my buddy is enamoured w/ going there.....not only for the partying (looks kinda low rent TJ styled to me) but he also seems to think it's a great town...even though he's never been there. Worst case scenario and I can't talk him out of a few days there....is there ANYTHING besides the strip in the vicinity...maybe an island nearby w/ a great hostel frequented hot swedish girls? This is my first trip.
Thanks by the way!
Thanks by the way!
I guess everybody has to see Pattaya once just to get the circus sideshow experience. Just keep your wits and remember you flew 8000 miles to ride motorcycles, and have a little fun on the side too. And that by no means do you need to be in Pattaya for that. So go see it, have a laugh at all the idiots and the skank, then leave.
Further South about 50 miles, Ko Samet is a nice island if you want to relax a bit. And North about 25 miles is Bang Saen which has a much nicer, cleaner beach and promenade than Pattaya.
Hot Swedish girls? LOL! You won't be needing any of that.
Further South about 50 miles, Ko Samet is a nice island if you want to relax a bit. And North about 25 miles is Bang Saen which has a much nicer, cleaner beach and promenade than Pattaya.
Hot Swedish girls? LOL! You won't be needing any of that.
Pattaya is for shagging and drinking ,nothing else to do i have met guys that has never left soi 6 in one month.
All the statemnts here is true alltough it can be fun if you go with some friends and dont speak or understand thai,forget about swimming i would not even want my boat in the water there,for a first timer it may look like paradise but it is realy more like hell.
Split with your friend go alone you will have loads of fun i guarantee you,go to koh samed it will be full of swedish want to be backpackers,there is allso a lot of comercial girls there,just oposite the hospital there are some bars and the disco by the silver sand resort is packed with people in the evening but after a few days it will get boring,samet used to be a very nice place 10 years ago,now its full of charter tourists.
Angkor or nakhon wat is a must see i have been there 5 times however last time i was there it was not legal to drive motorcycles there for tourists it might have changed.
Go north as fast as you can,ch mai has plenty of things to do,rent a bike in pattaya and drive to khorat- konn khaen- udon -loei-uttradit-lampang-chiang mai.
You will have the time of your life belive me,people will treat you well and they dont ask you for money all the time.
When you hook up with your lost pal in pattaya you wll have plenty of stories to tell and he will probably be married to hooker and on his way to surin to meet the parents and discuss the sinsot,dont go to his wedding party,stay in pattaya an watch the game dont get sucked in to it it's not real it is a theeme park for adults you pay for the ride and walk away,when you leave the theeme park you are not supose to send money to the park for maintenance costs,you have allready payed for the day pass.
You dont mention when you are traveling,il be driving around in the kingdom most of this winter,you are wellcome to join.
Dont waste your holliday
All the statemnts here is true alltough it can be fun if you go with some friends and dont speak or understand thai,forget about swimming i would not even want my boat in the water there,for a first timer it may look like paradise but it is realy more like hell.
Split with your friend go alone you will have loads of fun i guarantee you,go to koh samed it will be full of swedish want to be backpackers,there is allso a lot of comercial girls there,just oposite the hospital there are some bars and the disco by the silver sand resort is packed with people in the evening but after a few days it will get boring,samet used to be a very nice place 10 years ago,now its full of charter tourists.
Angkor or nakhon wat is a must see i have been there 5 times however last time i was there it was not legal to drive motorcycles there for tourists it might have changed.
Go north as fast as you can,ch mai has plenty of things to do,rent a bike in pattaya and drive to khorat- konn khaen- udon -loei-uttradit-lampang-chiang mai.
You will have the time of your life belive me,people will treat you well and they dont ask you for money all the time.
When you hook up with your lost pal in pattaya you wll have plenty of stories to tell and he will probably be married to hooker and on his way to surin to meet the parents and discuss the sinsot,dont go to his wedding party,stay in pattaya an watch the game dont get sucked in to it it's not real it is a theeme park for adults you pay for the ride and walk away,when you leave the theeme park you are not supose to send money to the park for maintenance costs,you have allready payed for the day pass.
You dont mention when you are traveling,il be driving around in the kingdom most of this winter,you are wellcome to join.
Dont waste your holliday
Turbongr;
To start with, I have to second what most of the guys here have said... Pattaya isn't my kinda place, only because of the foreigners (farrang) who inhabit the place, and the dodgy Thai's (girls and the rest) who followed them there... unlike Chiang Mai, a high proportion of the farrang in Pattaya are there for the girls and make no effort to actually become part of the society...
One night there was enough for me, even tho it actually has a lot of the sort of night life I do like, which is beer bars/pool bars... gogo bars got old for me after the first 5 nights 5 years ago...
Because Pattaya is really orientated towards 'tourists' (I use the term loosely, in most cases the term should be preceeded with 'sex'), it is hard to hire a bike that will let you go out of the province... also, they can be well dodgy and are the king of the scam "you damaged the bike (without dropping it), you must pay 2billion baht to repair (a 100K Baht bike)...
It is a long way from The GT to Pattaya (both in distance and socially) so I suggest you try Thaivisa Pattaya Forum to try and get a recommendation of a reputable hire shop...
There isn't much to see close to Pattaya, but Koh Sammet is supposed to be very nice, and you can ride as far as the Cambodian Border...
If you want to see Angkor Wat (I went, and was really moved, and I don't do 'sightseeing') you really need to get across to the Aranyaprathete/Poipet border crossing and catch a Taxi to Siem Reap... for the best advice go to Tales of Asia... but there is very little 'night life' in SR if that is what your mate seeks... you will want at least couple of days in Siem Reap, plus a day each side travelling...
If it is motorbiking you want, then really you need to head up to Chiang Mai as quickly as you can... Tell your mate that there are still plenty of bars with plenty of girls in Chiang Mai, if that is what he is really after... but it just doesn't seem anywhere near as manufactured, fake, and sleazy as Pattaya...
Cheers,
Daewoo
With that plan 25/9 - 7/10 (= 13 days in Pattaya?) & only a week for riding in the North + time in the south?, you won't be doing much or capable of making a real decision until after your time in Pattaya. Good luck.
I live in Pattaya , were are not all bad here .
It aint TJ its much better than that sewer and more developed more like LV meets TJ with Miami thrown in., you need real discipline to be here and avoid the numerous asshole Farangs and idiot dodgy Thais ,why not come at the end of your holiday do the bike trips out of Chiangmai first and leave Pattaya for the last 5-7 days that will drain your pockets and other parts etc sate any desires.If you come here first you will be eaten alive and not see the real Thailand.
Monsterman
It aint TJ its much better than that sewer and more developed more like LV meets TJ with Miami thrown in., you need real discipline to be here and avoid the numerous asshole Farangs and idiot dodgy Thais ,why not come at the end of your holiday do the bike trips out of Chiangmai first and leave Pattaya for the last 5-7 days that will drain your pockets and other parts etc sate any desires.If you come here first you will be eaten alive and not see the real Thailand.
Monsterman
I haven't been to Pattaya inover 15 years, went there once, don't need to go again. There are better beaches and better beeches, pardon my french but it rhymes!
Funny enough after all the Pattaya bashing I just talked to a guy last week who went there with his 16 year old son and he liked it! Not busy, cheap, nice beach, clean - I was surprised to hear that.
Check it out, and if you get stuck there, that's one less goofball on a motorcycle!
Funny enough after all the Pattaya bashing I just talked to a guy last week who went there with his 16 year old son and he liked it! Not busy, cheap, nice beach, clean - I was surprised to hear that.
Check it out, and if you get stuck there, that's one less goofball on a motorcycle!
Travel Agents here push it as just another option - Phuket, Chiang Mai, Koh Samui, and Pattaya... I often wonder what Mum, Dad, and 3 young kids think about being sent there...
Very popular with BKK Thai families as well... I am sure there are places that are nice enough, but yeah... the beach is petty shite, other places I would choose to go...
Cheers,
Daewoo
If you come from a city close to a nuklear dumpyard and the harbour is full of old disposed nuklear subs you might wiev the beach in pattaya as clean.
Fact of the matter is that a lot of the tourists down there come from such a place,bringing a 16 year old child there should be illegal,bring the wife there is like bringing a hippo to the zoo.
I was there last time in january i kind of like people watching at walking street i can sit for hours and watch and it gives me hours of intertainment,the strangest people in the world goes to pattaya,sometimes i talk with people but not often,i am bored with stories of aunfaithfull girlfriends and expert advices about places to go.
But it is not all bad,its cheap,some restaurants has decent or very good food,there is a very good cinema there,i have seen some real good looking comercial girls there,not like it used to be but ok.
it is a cheap place and it atracts cheap tourists.
There is not a lot of middle class thais going there and no upperclass thais,they go to hua hin or chonburi.
What i realy hate with the place are the guys with more tatoos than teeths running around starting fights in just about evry bar they often got the nations flag tatoed on them too so you dont get confused where they come from i, wish they could keep on going to ibiza and not thailand.
And you got the new travelers from the nations that used to be hard to get out from,they popped up about 8-10 years ago and it didn't do thailand any good except from the stolen money the bring in and some professional peroxid blonds that thai guys like so well,the guys are easy to spot they dress like in the gangster movies from the 70's and buys 1000 dollar wine bottles for money that belongs to theire fellow country men
There is another breed too but they are only comming once a year for rr,they arrive on huge ships and stays for a week they are easy to avoid just stay away from walking street and mc donnalds or just dont go to pattaya that week
Fact of the matter is that a lot of the tourists down there come from such a place,bringing a 16 year old child there should be illegal,bring the wife there is like bringing a hippo to the zoo.
I was there last time in january i kind of like people watching at walking street i can sit for hours and watch and it gives me hours of intertainment,the strangest people in the world goes to pattaya,sometimes i talk with people but not often,i am bored with stories of aunfaithfull girlfriends and expert advices about places to go.
But it is not all bad,its cheap,some restaurants has decent or very good food,there is a very good cinema there,i have seen some real good looking comercial girls there,not like it used to be but ok.
it is a cheap place and it atracts cheap tourists.
There is not a lot of middle class thais going there and no upperclass thais,they go to hua hin or chonburi.
What i realy hate with the place are the guys with more tatoos than teeths running around starting fights in just about evry bar they often got the nations flag tatoed on them too so you dont get confused where they come from i, wish they could keep on going to ibiza and not thailand.
And you got the new travelers from the nations that used to be hard to get out from,they popped up about 8-10 years ago and it didn't do thailand any good except from the stolen money the bring in and some professional peroxid blonds that thai guys like so well,the guys are easy to spot they dress like in the gangster movies from the 70's and buys 1000 dollar wine bottles for money that belongs to theire fellow country men
There is another breed too but they are only comming once a year for rr,they arrive on huge ships and stays for a week they are easy to avoid just stay away from walking street and mc donnalds or just dont go to pattaya that week
Now I'm actually interested in Pattaya...not a lot I like more than sitting w/ a cold beer and good street theatre! That said I'm gonna spend a couple days in BKK when I first land just to acclimate and check out the city then maybe go to Pattaya for a day but then will then be heading down to Phuket to head out to the islands to do the siteseeing thing. Going back up to BKK on the 8th to put my pal on a plane and will then head up to Chiang Mai to ride till I gotta come home on the 18th! got my GT-Rider maps today and am pouring over them and various web sites (HU, ADV etc) for routes! Thanks again for the feedback and tips....keep 'em coming.
Actually Pattaya area is kind of schizoid all that has been said previously is true but there is another side,,, the art galleries ,gardens, health spas, polo grounds, golfing,sailing , equestrian centres with western standards ,sports facilities, charity drives and all the amazing do-gooders really improving things around the area, the orhanages the camillian centre ,some very interesting temples around the area that are unique , most of the local Thais are very decent hard working people that outnumber the Pimps ,thieves and scammers 50-1 and probably 90% of the resident Farang are nice decent people who actually lead quiet lives.
Dont get me wrong Pattaya is not Tunbridge wells but it aint Sodom and Gomorrah either .
Dont get me wrong Pattaya is not Tunbridge wells but it aint Sodom and Gomorrah either .
