Pattaya News
Pattaya news, politics, business, tourism, and nightlife—stay updated with breaking stories, events, and expat updates from Thailand’s coastal entertainment hub. Get the latest from The Thaiger, your trusted Pattaya news source.
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Canadian nuisance arrested in Pattaya for harassing people with his jet ski
PHOTOS: Sanook.com Police were first notified about a foreign man “harassing” boats in off the Pattaya coast driving a Jet Ski. According to reports from some of the people affected, the man was cutting off other boats causing “dangerous risk” and he was also climbing into random tourist boats in the area. The man then drove his jet ski into…
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Red flags up at Bali Hai – weather warnings for Pattaya area
PHOTO: The red flag warnings at Bali Hai pier are more precautionary than reflecting the weather situation – The Pattaya News Red flags went up at the Bali Hai Pier yesterday warn tour boats about the Thai Meteorological Department’s weather warnings in regard to tropical storm Wipha, currently sitting over northern Vietnam. Tropical Storm Wipha, which formed in the South…
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Pattaya tourists take a quick swim, return to find their belongings gone
Am Iranian man and his Russian wife were tourists in Pattaya doing all the usual things when they had a sudden urge to go for a swim. They were swimming at Dongtan Beach, Jomtien. They left all their belongings on the beach – phones, cash, hotel keys – but when they returned everything was gone. The Pattaya Police were notified…
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Pattaya police caught extorting son of senior Issan policeman
PHOTO: Daily News Four Pattaya police have been caught out trying to extort payment from a person in an e-cigarette sting. But the person they were trying to get payment from was the son of a deputy police commander in Isaan, in Thailand’s north east. 24 year old Phanuwat Suban Na Ayuthaya reported the alleged extortion to Pattaya police yesterday. He…
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Thai visitors leaking to Vietnam – a personal view
by Guest Writer (who asked to be anonymous) In response to an article ‘Pattaya tourist slump – visitors leaking to Vietnam‘, a responder on The Thaiger Facebook page has provided a balanced response we thought we would share with you. Is nostalgia making us think that Pattaya and Thailand were really that great in the past or are the golden…
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Pattaya officials tell Bali Hai Pier vans, taxis and baht bus drivers to clean up their act
PHOTO: Pattaya Mail Pattaya officials have now banned passenger vans from parking at Bali Hai Pier and discussing the situation with baht bus operators. Ronakit Ekasingh, Pattaya’s deputy mayor held a meeting on Monday about the traffic problems and chaos that was overwhelming the busy tourist pier. In a story earlier this week public-transport operators were caught fighting over customers.…
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Ready, set, Dragonboats are GO! World Champs come to Pattaya in August
The 14th World Dragon Boat Racing Championships are being held in August at the Map Prachan Reservoir in Banglamung, in Chon Buri. The event is being held at the Royal Navy Rowing Training Centre in Pattaya, from August 20-25. It is the first time that Thailand will be hosting the sport’s biggest event. This year the event draws more than…
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Thai Government to focus on EEC projects to propel economy
PM Prayut Chan-o-cha will unveil his new government’s policy statement in Parliament when it sits formally on Thursday. Leaks to the media indicate his 12 ‘urgent’ and 12 ‘long-term’ policies will help Thailand step up to “developed-nation status” with many of the policies focussing on the Eastern Economic Corridor project. Among the urgent policies, the sixth calls for a “future-proof”…
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Pattaya tourist slump – visitors leaking to Vietnam
The new Minister of tourism and sports says tourism in Thailand is up nearly 1% (0.89% to be precise) in June year compared to last year. But as ministers bicker over the numbers – up or down – other business leaders says that tourism on the ground in Pattaya is much worse than the figures suggest. According to ThaiVisa, the “outlook…
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Dongtan Beach speed bumps deter after hours racing in Jomtien
Jomtien Beach now has new speed bumps and lines painted on the roads to help deter motorbikes and cars speeding down the road along the beach late at night. The local Pattaya council has now installed speed bumps in Dongtan Beach in Jomtien to discouraging the speeding. While vehicles are currently prohibited from 10am – 5pm daily, cars and motorbikes have…
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Repair budget for decaying bridge on Koh Larn postponed to next year
Plans to fix up the Koh Larn Tien Beach bridge have been put back to next year. In recent months news stories have reported that the bridge is in urgent need of repair. Locals are claiming the structure is “close to collapse”. The bridge and walkway link Tawaen Beach and Tonglang Beach. Pattaya’s Deputy Mayor says that a 4.5 million…
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Bangkok drug gang nabbed for selling Pattaya tourists illicit drugs
PHOTO: 77kaoded Three men have been arrested in Pattaya and 833 grams of crystal methamphetamine (ice) and 6,700 methamphetamine pills seized. Police also seized a car and two motorcycles. Three Thai men – 23, 29 and 35 year old – were arrested and charged with possession of Category One drugs with intent to sell. Daily News reports that the three man gang was…
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Van, baht bus and taxi drivers fight for passengers at Pattaya pier
PHOTO & VIDEO: Ruk Siam News Pattaya taxi, van and baht bus drivers, authorised and unauthorised, are fighting over tourists at the Bali Hai pier. Ruk Siam News says that efforts by the Pattaya City Council to sort out the issue at the south Pattaya port have been ineffectual and that there are often more drivers than passengers vying for…
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Thai man electrocuted whilst laying on his bed in Pattaya
PHOTO: Thai Rath A man has died in Nong Prue, the suburbs behind Pattaya city, as a result of being electrocuted whilst his phone was charging next to his bed. Relatives believe the incident happened early sometime on Sunday. Police were called to an address in Soi 15, Thing Klom – Tan Man, Nong Prue on Sunday evening. 21 year old…
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Document agent nabbed in Pattaya for helping foreigners get driving licences
PHOTO: Naew Na A Thai female has been arrested for helping foreigners obtain Thai driving licences illegally and register their vehicles with fake stamps and documentation. Naew Na report that 44 year old Wikanda “Vicki” Munghangern was arrested in a sting outside her office which is, conveniently, located near the Bang Lamung Department of Land Transport. Polcie allege the woman…
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American and Thai wife arrested for selling ‘ice’ in Bang Lamung, Pattaya
An American and his Thai wife have been arrested in Pattaya for possessing nearly a kilogram of crystal methamphetamine, plus a hand gun along with ammunition. The arrest follows a longer investigation as police became aware of the couple’s activities. Police have confirmed that the man is an American citizen. 39 year old Bart Helmus and 30 year old Sirinapha Wisetrit…
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Amari Pattaya has a dramatic makeover
“Dramatic changes have taken place to the entire property, which has transformed the legendary hotel into a new paradise along the northern end of Pattaya Bay.” Today’s Amari Hotel in Pattaya has its roots back in the early 1070s when it was constructed as the Orchid Lodge. But now there’s been a major make-over under the Amari brand. Amari Pattaya’s…
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European and Chinese tourists avoiding Pattaya, Indians on the rise
The strong baht is being accused as a major deterrent for Euro-tourists to Pattaya. “Over the past few months, European travellers have hardly come to Pattaya at all because of the baht’s appreciation,” said Damrongkiat Phinitkarn, secretary of the Entertainment & Tourism Association of Pattaya City. He told the Bangkok Post that tourists are opting to go to other countries…
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Russian woman arrested for allegedly using Thai nominee in business
PHOTO: Bangkokbiznews A Russian businesswoman has been arrested for using a Thai nominee company to run a real estate firm in Pattaya. Immigration police arrested the woman who they claim had been in hiding for three years since a warrant was issued back in 2016. The acting commissioner of Pattaya Immigration reported that Natalia Nikiforova was arrested in Chon Buri’s Bang Lamung…
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Pattaya – 30% down this year, European tourist drop-off
PHOTO: afarangabroad.com The strength of the baht, rising tourist locations elsewhere around the region, fickle tourists has seen a demographic shift in Pattaya’s tourists and what they are doing during their visits. A leading tourism official has now confirmed what many Pattaya expats and locals have been saying for the past year… “The days of Europeans visiting Pattaya in large…
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Old pub goes up in smoke this morning in Pattaya
PHOTOS: 77jowo.com The blaze that surprised everyone in Pattaya this morning has been brought under control and the scene identified. Plumes of dark grey smoke were billowing near a building this morning. The fire started at a site storing construction materials and quickly spread to an abandoned bar next door, called Sor Por Chor in the past. The property was…
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Pattaya police purge on motorbike rental shops and renters
PHOTOS: Facebook/Sophon Cable Pattaya Police are cracking down on tourists renting motorbikes in the coastal tourist city as well as the shops renting out the bikes. The current purge is in response to recent problems of marauding tourist bike groups making a nuisance of themselves in the seaside tourist city. Sophon Cable reports that rental shops are now attracting attention…
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Thai lady fusses over scratch on car while Frenchman lies injured on the road
PHOTO: Raksiamnews Pattaya’s Sawang Boriboon rescue foundation rushed to a housing development to find a French pensioner laying in a pool of blood with head and facial injuries. At the scene they also found the man’s motorbike and a Thai woman fretting over her new Toyota Camry that was scratched on the rear panels. 67 year old Jean Paul 67 was…
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New Pattaya police chief ‘reads the riot act’ to pubs and nightclubs
PHOTOS: 77Kaoded The new Pattaya police chief is laying down the law for pubs and nightclubs around Pattaya about rules and regulations. A meeting over the weekend heard that customers under 20 were not permitted, customers must not bring drugs or weapons into the venues and that closing hours must be strictly adhered to. 100 local staff, owners and managers…
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Nigerian and Thai wife arrested in Chon Buri over $50,000 romance scam
PHOTO: Naewna Nong Prue police say they’ve arrested a Nigerian man and his Thai wife over their alleged collusion in an online romance scam. Police claim 40 year old Uchenna Joseph Amujiogu and 36 year old Wassana Kanchiak scammed a Thai woman out of 2 million baht. The woman contacted police in June after she realised she had been a victim…
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Windmill GoGo in Pattaya raided: Three arrested over prostitution and underage sex
PHOTO: รอบพัทยา Ok As difficult as it might be to believe, police have found MORE evidence of prostitution in Pattaya. Attention this time turned to the red-light district of Walking Street where regular ‘inspections’ from police and officials in the past have found ‘no prostitution’ (cough…). Police conducted a raid using an ‘undercover informant’ after receiving tip-offs the bar was…
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Pattaya fund-raiser donates 10,000 baht for disabled sailing
PHOTO: Three Thai national sailing male athletes from the Disabled Sailing Thailand Thai and foreign businesspeople got together in Pattaya to raise about 10,000 baht for the Disabled Sailing Thailand project at a fundraiser in Bang Saray. Peter Jacobs, the Project Founder, hosted the party last weekend for 250 sailors and supporters at the Bang Saray Beach Club that included…
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Koh Larn locals urge Pattaya officials to fix their coastal bridge
“Fix the Koh Larn bridge”. That’s the cry from Koh Larn business owners as they demand Pattaya municipal officials to attend to the repair of the Tien Beach bridge. They complain that it’s close to collapsing. Koh Larn is off the coast of Pattaya in the Gulf of Thailand. Pattaya Mail reports that locals say there have been no lights…
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Foreigner falls from 11th floor of Pattaya condo
PHOTO: Manager Online An unidentified foreigner has fallen to his death from the 11th floor of a Pattaya condo. Emergency responders were called to View Talay 6 Condo just after 6pm last evening (Wednesday) after condo staff reported that a man had died. They told police that the man, believed to be aged between 30 -40, arrived at the condo inquiring…
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