Sawasdee kharp - a common phrase heard. Thailand is also known as the Land of Smiles to many tourists because of the warm welcome provided by the locals. With some close friends of mine, we travelled to the east coast of Thailand, Pattaya City, on our very first graduation trip together.
Commuting to the heart & capital city of Thailand - Bangkok (BKK), from Singapore took about 2.5 hours. My friends & I decided to make our way to Pattaya through the public bus. Upon arrival at Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK), we hired a Taxi to send us to the bus station. Lo & behold, the taxi driver was nice enough to offer to drive all the way to Pattaya from the airport. We took the offer because it would have taken us 3-4 hours to reach our destination via public transport. It took us about 1.5 hours to reach our apartment in Pattaya & about SGD$73 for the taxi fare - which is rather affordable as it costs only SGD$15 for each of us.
Thailand is for the brave
Be confident when bargaining prices, especially with transport. Do your research on average prices from one place to another, so you know your maximum budget for that ride.
OKAY, so if you intend to travel to Thailand, KNOW YOUR PRICE. Before our hired taxi, the very first taxi driver who offered us a ride charged us almost SGD$87 to our apartment in Pattaya. We found it too expensive as compared to hiring taxis (& by that I mean GRAB). There is no harm in bargaining for prices, so just go for it. Get your bravest friend to do it, or any of your fierce-looking buddies to take one for the team. Confidence is keyyyyy - I cannot emphasise that enough. If you bargain without confidence, the locals will lure you into paying for a higher price.
Before I sidetrack & ramble on, I would like to share our main attractions for the afternoons in Pattaya. To be very honest, I think KLOOK made our trip more exciting especially during the planning phase because then we knew which activities to look forward to. I am not sponsored by Klook, but you may thank me later. Here's our list of ADVENTURES:
1. Airsoft & Go Kart at Sanook Park
3. Coral Island
OKAY OKAY, we didn't do that much because by the time Day 4 came about, we were too tired to head over to the little Paris of Pattaya called City of Love. We missed our adventure on Mini Siam as well because we watched Netflix throughout the whole afternoon of Day 4. Why? Well, we partied the night before in Pattaya's infamous nightclub district - Walking Street.
The Walking District in Pattaya will put nightclubs in Clarke Quay to shame.
Let me just share with you - I feel like the nightclubs in walking district is safer for the girls than for the guys. Unlike in Singapore, many girls fear sudden grinding movement from a random dude who happens to be dancing behind. In Pattaya, that fear is for the guys instead HAHA. You know, because they have the main entertainers readily available in the clubs, the usual horny guys tend to end up in their company. Sometimes, the main entertainers grope their way into guys' pants & pockets but somehow the girls (at least for my experience) remained untouched.
Just another tip, if you intend to drink in their clubs, always remember to pay after every drink to prevent being scammed. My friends mentioned that some waiters may slip in receipts or tubs (they use to account for drinks) into the payment basket, making you pay for more than you ordered. So, remember to pay after every order instead of paying before leaving the nightclub. This applies to bars too!
You're welcome. ;-)