Dear Editor
Pattaya has not been reformed or changed in any way, in fact it’s got worse for tourists.
Last week my wife and I managed to find some Q.T. to spend at the beach. We drove down central Pattaya Road and parked in a car park next to the beach. As we walked to the beach, we noticed the beach venders had spread like ants all along the beach front, leaving about 2 meters between each group of deck chairs. So we sat down and spent a couple of hours relaxing. When the tab came they charged us 50bht each for the chairs and 60bht for 3 bottles of coke, which you can buy across the street for 10bht. So they double charged us on the cokes. 50bht for a deck chair on public land! When is the so called government going to stop this corruption and exploitation of tourists?
Some Thais seem to think it’s their god given right to rip tourists off and use them as an ATM or punch bags, instead of nurturing them. It’s already been said that the Land Department is the most corrupt department in Thailand, so why don’t they act on this information? The Pattaya vendors are laughing all the way to the bank.
Scott McMahon