My Trip to Pattaya – Part 3: Where am I going to stay tonight?

Accommodations in Pattaya range from an expensive room in a 5-star hotel with topmost service down to a small rented room costing only a few hundred Baht. You may search for information on accommodation in Pattaya from the usual hotel reservation websites such as Agoda or Hostelworld or else just walk in to any accommodation which pleases your eyes.

As for my own trip, I went to Pattaya during the Fireworks Festival so most accommodations had been fully reserved well in advance, not that there was no accommodation to be found, but as I was traveling alone and was not thinking of a good accommodation with usage of various facilities in a hotel therefore I focused on the low budget hotel or hostel or backpackers. (For some people, it may not be convenient to stay in backpackers because accommodation is a Dorm room with shared facilities and bathrooms; however, I am used to this kind of accommodation ever since my time of traveling around in Australia so it does not cause any problem for me. ^^) So, I searched for this information for a while, taking care to look only for places which were free during the desired time and finally was able to narrow it down to 2 places. One of these was an apartment with daily rent, the other a backpackers place called Asia-Backpackers. Both accommodations are very reasonably priced, with the first one costing only 500 Baht per night and the second one only 330 Baht per night as it was a Backpackers. (Naturally, no breakfast would be provided.) Actually, my first choice was the daily rent apartment as I would be getting my own room plus it would be easier to reach, but after some consideration, I finally settled on Asia-Backpackers for my two-day accommodation in Pattaya.

Asia Backpackers is situated in Soi Bua Khao (Soi means small street in Thai), which is another zone of Pattaya’s nightlife apart from Pattaya Walking Street, so there are always a lot of people walking along the Soi. An added attraction is that the Songtaew (a two-row seat minibus) passes through this Soi (cutting across from Pattaya Klang Road to Pattaya Tai Road, and the fare is only 10 Baht for the entire trip), making this accommodation very convenient to reach. Asia-Backpackers is located opposite Pattaya City Public Health Service Center 1 and accommodation includes both Mixed Dorm and Female Dorm (I, of course, chose the Female Dorm ^^). The owner is a foreigner and the assistant is Thai, and both of them impressed me with their friendliness as soon as I set foot on the premises :). After I had registered, the assistant took me up to the Female Dorm and briefly explained the setup before leaving me to explore my new accommodation for the night.

During my exploration, I found that the Female Dorm comprises 18 beds, each bed with its own locker, an over-the-bed lamp and a plug for charging battery. This accommodation here is very clean; clean pillows and blankets individually wrapped in plastic bags are put on top of the beds which are not yet occupied (thus increasing my liking for the place). Internet can be accessed via the Backpackers’ WiFI, or in case we want to use the computer, this is available on the ground floor. In fact the only complaint I had while staying there was that the bathroom and the water closets on the 2nd floor where I was staying were undergoing renovation and I had to go up to the 3rd floor when I wanted to take a bath. Anyway, every time I returned from taking photos of the fireworks late at night and before I went out early in the morning, everyone else would still be asleep and the bathroom would be empty and all mine, so the bathroom issue was no problem for me at all. Another thing which some people might not like but which I did not consider a shortcoming was the fact that the bar was nearly empty of people. (As I said, this was not a shortcoming for me, but it just was not like other backpackers places which I had stayed in before where the bars were well patronized.) Anyway, I think the reason for this is that Asia-Backpackers is located in the midst of pubs and bars so the guests here may prefer to go out and enjoy the nightlife outside.

After recharging my cell phone battery and putting my things away, I was ready to go out and conquer the wide photo-taking world outside. I will leave you to do your own exploring of Pattaya City while I return to you in my next blog with a story of my short trip to Koh Larn on the last day of my stay before coming back to Bangkok which ends my memoirs of my Pattaya trip.

I should like to end this blog with these photos which I took at Koh Larn.. to make you wonder about the clear water, the white sand and the deep blue sky which are less than one hour away from Pattaya. If you want to know how to get to Koh Larn, please read about it in my next blog.