A boat cruises along a river in Pattaya, Thailand. Photo by Shutterstock
China, India and Vietnam were among the biggest tourism markets in 2023 of Thailand’s Pattaya, often dubbed the sex capital of the world for having the largest red light district.
Patsee Permvongsenee, a representative of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, told at a recent event the average stay of Vietnamese visitors to Pattaya is about 2-3 days.
Ninh Phan, 33, living in Ho Chi Minh City, said he first visited Pattaya about 10 years ago. Since then, he has returned to the city four times.
He said Bangkok and Pattaya were destinations that could be visited at any time of the year because every season has activities for fun and entertainment.
“In Pattaya, night is the same as day, always bustling. During the day you can go canoeing in the sea while at night you can go to bars to entertain and watch art shows,” he added.
Urai Mukpradapthong, director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s Pattaya office, said the boom in Chinese and Indian visitors to the city was thanks to the government’s visa exemption, Bangkok Post reported.
The red-light district has maintained its reputation as one of Thailand’s most popular tourist destinations because of the diversity of attractions on offer, including mega-sized entertainment complexes, she added.
Pattaya aims to draw 27 million visitors by the end of this year.
The coastal city is home to over 70,000 three-star to five-star hotel rooms.
