2.53/5
365 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

Jomtien, just outside Pattaya, is frequently mentioned as a better choice than central Pattaya, especially for those looking for a quieter, family-oriented environment. The area is more affordable than Bangkok, with access to good housing, beach views, and local food. Ride-sharing services like Bolt work well here, and it’s generally regarded as safe. The city strikes a balance between activity and size—offering variety without being overwhelming. The best time to enjoy the weather is from December to February, when it’s most comfortable.

However, several reviews raise concerns about the dominant Russian presence, which affects language and local interaction. Some also flagged potential issues for digital nomads, who might be misidentified as illegal workers during local police crackdowns. Driving is often chaotic, particularly from motorcycles and tuk-tuks, and areas can be noisier than expected—making careful accommodation choice important. Outside of peak weather months, the climate may be less pleasant, and ordering products from Western websites is unreliable. The social scene leans heavily toward older foreign males, which may not suit everyone.

Overall, Jomtien can be an excellent, affordable place to stay if expectations and demographics align with what’s on offer.

AI-generated summary of reviews

Lots of old dudes and young girls, but it's definitely a cool place to have fun. It's not as bad as the whiners say.

2 months ago

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.

10 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!

2 years 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

✅ Safe

✅ Good weather (Dec-Feb)

✅ Good variety: not too big or small

✅ Efficient local transport

✅ Affordable to live

✅ Pretty safe

✅ Fast internet

✅ 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)

❌ Heavy Russian influence

❌ Risk of police confusion for digital nomads

❌ Weather can be poor outside Dec-Feb

❌ Reckless local driving

❌ Noisy areas

❌ Hard to ship from western retailers

❌ Freedom of speech is weak

❌ Not very democratic

❌ Very sweaty and humid now

❌ Nomads.com members 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 (median)

31°C / 88°F hot

36°C / 97°F hot

39°C / 102°F hot

42°C / 108°F scorching

41°C / 106°F scorching

39°C / 102°F hot

37°C / 99°F hot

36°C / 97°F hot

38°C / 100°F hot

33°C / 91°F hot

Real (median)

28°C / 82°F
very warm

30°C / 85°F
very warm

30°C / 86°F
very warm

31°C / 88°F
hot

30°C / 86°F
very warm

29°C / 84°F
very warm

30°C / 86°F
very warm

29°C / 84°F
very warm

Humidity

sweaty
72%

sweaty
80%

sweaty
85%

sweaty
83%

sweaty
87%

sweaty
90%

sweaty
88%

sweaty
84%

nice
70%

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

889 people

708 people

756 people

580 people

578 people

500 people

933 people

725 people

822 people

818 people

1,415 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.

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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$960 / mo

21 Mbps

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety great

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 33° 91° 29° 84°

✈️2h

$4,071 / mo

🌇 Also went here142 people

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. Visits are also normalized by overall trips added per month on the site, so if site usage goes up or down it does not affect trends. Not all digital 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	2.53/5 (Rank #396) 365 reviews
❤️ Liked by members	👍7 liked it 👎4 disliked it
👍 Quality of life score	Okay
👶 Family score	Okay
🎒 Community score	Okay
💵 Cost	😙 Affordable: $1,436 / mo
📡 Internet	🙂 Good: 21Mbps (avg)
😝 Fun	Good
⛅️ Temperature (now)	🥵 Too hot: 30°C87°F (feels 36°C97°F)
💦 Humidity (now)	🥵 Sweaty: 76%
💨 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*	Good
🏥 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)	21 Mbps
⛅️ Weather (now)	🌧 30°C 87°F + 🥵 Sweaty (76%) = feels 36°C 97°F
💨 Air quality (annual avg)	👍 48 US AQI
🔌 Power	230V 50Hz
🚕 Best taxi app*	Grab
🚑 Travel medical insurance	Safetywing
💸 100 THB in USD	USD 3.06
🏧 Suggested ATM take out:	THB 10,000 = USD 306
💸 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	$1,436 / month
💵 Cost of living for expat	$1,065 / month
💵 Cost of living for family	$2,265 / month
💵 Cost of living for local	$647 / month
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$517 / month
🏡 Airbnb (median price)	$1,645 / month
🏠 1br studio rent in center	$524 / month
🏠 Median home price	$140,781
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$24 / night
🏠 Airbnb (median price)	$54 / night
🏢 Coworking hot desk	$212 / month
🍛 Dinner	$3
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L)	$1
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L)	$2
☕️ Coffee in cafe	$2
👩‍🏫 International school	$10,413 / year
📱 Mobile data (~10GB)	$7 / month
🚕 Taxi price (avg trip ~3km/2mi)	$3 / trip