2.36/5
356 reviews
Photo by Sung Shin via Unsplash

Pattaya

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great

russian

sex

workers

russians

paying

weather

police

illegal

put

nomad

koh

island

countries

Pattaya is a very affordable place to live with good internet speeds, efficient ride-sharing apps, and a variety of environments. If you want a quieter and more family-friendly area, Jomtien is a better option than downtown Pattaya. The weather is best between December and February, but outside of those months, it can be quite hot and humid.

The city has a heavy emphasis on sex tourism, which may not appeal to everyone. Russian influence is strong, with many businesses catering primarily to Russian tourists, sometimes leading to language barriers or negative experiences. Additionally, the police have been cracking down on illegal foreign workers, which can create issues for digital nomads who may be mistaken for working without proper documentation.

Traffic can be dangerous, particularly with reckless motorcycle and tuk-tuk drivers. The downtown area can also be quite noisy, so picking the right accommodation is important. Shipping from Amazon and other Western retailers can be difficult. If you're an older male or looking for a cheap place with good infrastructure and easy island access, Pattaya could be a great choice. However, for younger travelers or those seeking a more conventional digital nomad destination, other Thai cities may be a better fit.

AI-generated summary of reviews

Great place to stay overall.
Pros:
- Cheap
- Safe
- Lots of variety. Not too big, not to small of a city
- Great weather between December and February
- Very efficient ride-sharing apps like Bolt.
- Reasonable-priced round-trip plane tickets from Europe (especially if you opt for a stopover)
Cons :
- Meh weather except December-February
- Beware of motorcycles and tuk-tuk drivers, they drive recklessly.
- Difficult to get things shipped from Amazon and western retail websites in general
- Can be noisy in a lot of places. Carefully pick your accommodation.

7 months ago

I would be a bit careful with Pattaya, because the Police are cracking down on foreign illegal workers, Expessialy from Russia, and that can accidentally put a remote worker like me in the crossfire. That means that a digital nomad can be deported on a misunderstanding, because the police in Pattaya is not so used to deal with a digital nomads like they are in Phuket, Koh Samui and Chiang Mai, they put you in the same basket as illegally working Russians and out with you. Apart from that i would say that Pattaya is the part place for males aged 50+ so if you are a female or under 40, i would say Pattaya isn't for you. But ig you are a male 50+, then welcome to paradise!

1 year ago

Overflooded by russians. You get approached in russian. Many shops/food stalls/party flyers/pingpong shows and products are written in russian instead of in english. Nothing against russians but I just don't want to be in Moscow 2.0 in Thailand. Even if you say you are not russian they (locals & russian staff) are kinda rude sometimes because they think you are lying to them.

2 years ago

Unbelievably a great place to live! Forget Pattaya downtown and go for Jomtiem instead, with a more family-oriented enviroment, delicious street food and russian/scandinavian communities. You can live in great places with seaview paying less than you would pay for a regular place in Bangkok, with all the traffic and pollution. Also, Koh Larn island, an island 20 minutes far by boat is a gift, with pristine and clean beaches like the most famous islands in Thailand.

5 years ago

I've lived in Pattaya for 10 of my 19 years in Thailand. I am an old guy not paying sex workers for sex. If you don't want to see the nasty bits, don't go to those places. If you want to chillout, eat fresh seafood and enjoy blistering internet speeds, then welcome. Every morning when I wake up Pattaya is better than it was when I went to sleep. If you want to have some real city life, BKK is just 2 hours away. Some of you youngsters sure are prudes.

6 years ago

What's wrong with that? Why is that being looked at negativity? For "first world" "civilized" countries like U.S. with illegal prostitution being one of the top 5 countries with the highest rape rates in the world, maybe they need to learn a thing or 2 from Pattaya.

7 years ago

Sexpat capital of the world. It's just really mostly lots and lots and lots of sex workers and old guys paying them for sex. Avoid if you want to nomad or travel here. They're trying to change it but that's going to take awhile.

7 years ago

✅ Very affordable

✅ Very safe

✅ Fast internet

✅ Good variety of environments

✅ Good weather in winter

✅ Efficient ride-sharing apps

✅ Easy access to a nearby island

✅ Affordable to live

✅ Pretty safe

✅ Lots of fun stuff to do

✅ Warm now

✅ Warm all year round

✅ Good air quality on average

✅ Many Nomads.com members have been

✅ Spacious and not crowded

✅ Easy to make friends

✅ Very easy to do business

✅ Great hospitals

✅ Very friendly to LGBTQ+

✅ Not many people smoke tobacco

✅ (Medical) marijuana MAY be legal, unenforced or decriminalized (always double check this)

❌ Overwhelming sex tourism

❌ Lots of Russian influence

❌ Police crackdown on foreign workers

❌ Reckless traffic

❌ Noisy in many areas

❌ Difficult to get Western shipments

❌ Hot and humid outside of winter

❌ Freedom of speech is weak

❌ Not very democratic

❌ Nomads.com members really didn't like going here

❌ Not many Nomads.com members right now

❌ Quality of education is low

❌ Roads are very dangerous

❌ People don't speak English well

❌ Not safe for women

❌ Not family friendly

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Feels

8127°
warm

8429°
warm

8630°
warm

9032°
hot

8831°
hot

8429°
warm

8630°
warm

8228°
warm

Real

8228°
very warm

8530°
very warm

8630°
very warm

8831°
hot

8630°
very warm

8429°
very warm

8630°
very warm

8429°
very warm

Humidity

nice
36%

nice
40%

nice
43%

nice
42%

nice
44%

nice
45%

nice
44%

nice
42%

nice
35%

Most common

☀️ Clear

☔️ Rain

☀️ Clear

Rain

dry
4mm

dry
29mm

rainy
70mm

rainy
95mm

rainy
151mm

rainy
137mm

rainy
162mm

rainy
181mm

rainy
249mm

rainy
228mm

rainy
57mm

dry
10mm

Cloud

pockets
22%

pockets
16%

pockets
26%

cloudy
54%

pockets
50%

cloudy
54%

cloudy
60%

cloudy
57%

cloudy
63%

cloudy
56%

pockets
47%

pockets
29%

Air quality

bad
108 US AQI

okay
53 US AQI

okay
64 US AQI

clean
47 US AQI

clean
46 US AQI

clean
34 US AQI

clean
36 US AQI

clean
41 US AQI

clean
48 US AQI

okay
59 US AQI

okay
79 US AQI

okay
83 US AQI

Sun

avoid sun
9 UVI

avoid sun
10 UVI

avoid sun
6 UVI

avoid sun
7 UVI

avoid sun
6 UVI

seek shade
5 UVI

avoid sun
6 UVI

seek shade
5 UVI

avoid sun
6 UVI

avoid sun
7 UVI

Remote workers

814 people

867 people

646 people

667 people

556 people

625 people

500 people

933 people

725 people

822 people

818 people

1,400 people

Green is good. Red is bad. Values shown are the medians of all daily highs in a month based on past few years, not necessarily current numbers. Remote worker count is estimated based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members. Not all nomads are on Nomads.com, and not all Nomads.com members log their trips. So the data is only indicative.

If you'd like to filter destinations based on their climate, try Nomads.com's Climate Finder

Based on Pattaya's cost of living, here's selected remote jobs that would cover your costs:

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$1,113 / mo

9Mbps

Members who have been here

Values shown are estimated visits by traveling remote workers based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members. Visits to a place are only counted once per year per user, even if they visit more in that year. Not all nomads are on Nomads.com, and not all Nomads.com members log their trips. So the data is only indicative.

The chart below shows visitors by nationality normalized for population size. This means we take all trips logged on Nomads.com, check which country of origin the user is from, then divide that total visit count by the country of origin's population. If we didn't, it'd just show the big countries like US, Brazil and India always on top. Instead, this shows which nationalities worldwide proportionally visit more or less, which is more useful.

⭐️ Total score	2.36/5 (Rank #492) 356 reviews
❤️ Liked by members	👍6 liked it 👎4 disliked it
👍 Quality of life score	Okay
👶 Family score	Okay
🎒 Community score	Okay
💵 Cost	😙 Affordable: $1,481 / mo
📡 Internet	🙂 Good: 20Mbps (avg)
😝 Fun	Good
⛅️ Temperature (now)	🥵 Too hot: 32°C90°F (feels 40°C104°F)
💦 Humidity (now)	😊 Comfy: 68%
💨 Air quality (annual)	🌱 Great: 47 US AQI
👌 Safety	Good
🤮 Food safety*	Bad
👮‍♀️ Lack of crime*	Good
🤝 Lack of racism*	Bad
🎓 Education level*	Mediocre
⚡️ Power grid	Great
🌊 Vulnerability to climate change	Okay
💰 Income level*	Very low: $493 / mo
🙊 English speaking*	Bad
🚶 Walkability	Great
🚦 Traffic safety*	Bad
✈️ Airline scores*	Good
🧳 Lost luggage*	Great
🏥 Hospitals	Great
😄 Happiness*	Good
🍸 Nightlife	Good
📶 Free WiFi in city	Okay
🖥 Places to work from	Great
❄️ A/C or heating	Good
😁 Friendly to foreigners	Great
🗯 Freedom of speech*	Okay
👩 Female friendly	Bad
🌈 LGBTQ+ friendly	Great
🎅 Startup Score	Bad

🌍 Continent	Asia
🚩 Country	Thailand
🗓️ Average trip length	8 days
📡 Internet speed (avg)	20 Mbps
⛅️ Weather (now)	☀️ 32°C 90°F + 😊 Comfy (68%) = feels 40°C 104°F
💨 Air quality (annual avg)	👍 48 US AQI
🔌 Power	230V 50Hz
🚕 Best taxi app*	Grab
🚑 Travel medical insurance	Safetywing
💸 100 THB in USD	USD 2.95
🏧 Suggested ATM take out:	THB 10,000 = USD 295
💸 Tipping	Yes, 5%
💳 Cashless	💳 Yes, cards OK almost everywhere
💻 Best coworking space	Anchor
☕️ Best coffee place	Bake n' Brew
🚰 Tap water	🚫 No, not drinkable
♻️ Return rate	👍13% of visitors return
📸 Visitors per year	7,313,500 visitors
📸 Tourists now	140,163 tourists
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Population	110,000 people
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 GDP per capita*	$5,911 / year
👫 Gender ratio (population)	👨 48% 👱‍♀️ 52%
👫 Gender ratio (young adults)	👨 52% 👱‍♀️ 48%
👫 Gender ratio (nomads)	👨 89% 👱‍♀️ 11%
⛪️ Religious government	Non-religious
💻 Online electronics shop	Lazada
🏠 Apartment listings	Prakard
✈️ Best short-haul air carrier	Air Asia
✈️ Best int'l air carrier	Air Asia
🏥 Best hospital	Bangkok Hospital

💵 Cost of living for nomad	$1,481 / month
💵 Cost of living for expat	$1,052 / month
💵 Cost of living for family	$2,178 / month
💵 Cost of living for local	$622 / month
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$697 / month
🏡 Airbnb (median price)	$1,692 / month
🏠 1br studio rent in center	$504 / month
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$33 / night
🏠 Airbnb (median price)	$55 / night
🏢 Coworking hot desk	$204 / month
🍛 Dinner	$3
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L)	$1
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L)	$2
☕️ Coffee in cafe	$2
👩‍🏫 International school	$10,015 / year
📱 Mobile data (~10GB)	$6 / month
🚕 Taxi price (avg trip ~3km/2mi)	$3 / trip