Monday, December 8, 2008

Beach


Jomtien Beach
Jomtien Beach this 6-kilometers long, largely straight beach, some 4 kilometers south of Pattaya, is the most notable of several beaches south of the resort. The beach is popular with windsurfs and waterspouts enthusiasts, largely because the area enjoys brisk and fresh breezes sweeping inland from the Thai Gulf, and because the seas are less congested with boats than is Pattaya Bay.
Jomtien is also a major residential area with beachside hotels, bunga low complexes, condominiums and restaurants.

Pattaya Beach
Pattaya Beach some 4 kilometers long, this beach faces Pattaya Bay, the major venue from where boats visit Pattaya's offshore islands. The beach curves from north to south and is largely paralleled by a tree-lined promenade and beach road, which is lined, in the northern and central parts, by hotels and restaurants.
The northern section of the beach is largely tranquil, while the central and southern parts become increasingly lively, thanks to a juxtaposition of shops, department stores, boutiques, beauty salons, supermarkets, bars, discotheques, restaurants and night clubs. The central area of the beach is a major shopping area, while the southern end is one of Pattaya's major nightlife areas.

Wong Prachan Beach
Won Prachan Beach is on the northern side of Pattaya Bay. The 1-kilometer beach shares the same entrance as the Central Wong Amat Hotel. A quiet spot, the beach is ideal for swimming and relaxation.

Loy Krathong Day

Loy Krathong is held on the full moon of the 12th month in the traditional Thai lunar calendar. In the western calendar this usually falls in November.
"Loi" means "to float". "Krathong" is a raft about a handspan in diameter traditionally made from a section of banana tree trunk (although modern-day versions use specially made bread 'flowers' and may use styrofoam), decorated with elaborately-folded banana leaves, flowers, candles, incense sticks etc. During the night of the full moon, many people will release a small raft like this on a river. Governmental offices, corporations and other organizations also build much bigger and more elaborate rafts, and these are often judged in contests. In addition, fireworks and beauty contests take place during the festival.
The festival probably originated in India as a Hindu festival similar to Deepavali as thanksgiving to the deity of the Ganges with floating lanterns for giving life throughout the year.

According to the writings of H.M. King Rama IV in 1863, the originally Brahmanical festival was adapted by Buddhists in Thailand as a ceremony to honour the original Buddha, Siddhartha Guatama. Apart from venerating the Buddha with light (the candle on the raft), the act of floating away the candle raft is symbolic of letting go of all one's grudges, anger and defilements, so that one can start life afresh on a better foot. People will also cut their fingernails and hair and add them to the raft as a symbol of letting go of the bad parts of oneself. Many Thai believe that floating a krathong will create good luck, and they do it to honor and thank the Goddess of Water, Phra Mae Khongkha.
The beauty contests that accompany the festival are known as "Noppamas Queen Contests". According to legend, Noppamas was a consort of the Sukothai king Loethai (14th century) and she was the first to float decorated krathongs. The Loi Krathong festival is also associated with the start of vegetable carving.
Loi Krathong, Loi Krathong Day
The Thai tradition of Loy Kratong started off in Sukhothai, but is now celebrated throughout Thailand, with the festivities in Chiang Mai and Ayutthaya being particularly well known.
In Chiang Mai Loi Kratong is also known as "Yi Peng". Every year thousands of people assemble to float the banana-leaf krathong onto the waterways of the city, honouring the Goddess of Water. A multitude of Lanna-style hot-air lanterns (khom fai) are also launched into the air where they resemble large flocks of giant fluorescent jellyfish gracefully floating by through the skies. These are believed to help rid the locals of troubles and are also taken to decorate houses and streets.
in kelantan also got the same celebration as well especialy Tumpat area. the minister of tourism malaysia recognize it as a attraction for tourist. a thousand of people are going for the celebration.

Loi Krathong, Loi Krathong Day

Pattaya Festival -1

Pattaya Festival Thailand's world-famous seaside resort puts on its most festival face for this annual event, held in April at the height of the summer season. Food and floral floats, beauty contests,. stalls selling local delicacies, and a spectacular display of fireworks on the beach are only a few of the highlights that attract merry-makers.

Pattaya Festival

Songkran is a Thai traditional New Year, which starts on April 13 every year and lasts for 3 days. Songkran festival on April 13 is Maha Songkran Day or the day to mark the end of the old year, April 14 is Wan Nao, which is the day after and April 15 is Wan Thaloeng Sok, which the New Year begins. At this time, people from the rural areas who are working in the city usually return home to celebrate the festival. Thus, when the come, Bangkok temporarily turns into a deserted city.

Songkran is a Thai word, which means "move" or "change place", as it is the day when the sun changes its position in the zodiac. It is also known, as the "Water Festival" as people believe that water will wash away bad luck.

The Songkran tradition is recognized as a valuable custom for the Thai community, society and religions. The value for family is to provide the opportunity for family members to gather in order to express their respects to the elders by pouring scented water onto the hands of their parents and grandparents and to present them gifts including making merits to dedicate the result to their ancestors. The elders

The values for community is to provide the opportunity to create unity in the community such as to ointly acquire merits, to meet each other and to enjoy the entertaining events. And for the society value is to create concern upon environment with cooperation such as to clean houses, temples, public places and official buildings. Thais value the religion bye means of merit acquisition, offering alms to monks, Dhamma Practice, listening

In the afternoon, after performing a bathing rite for Buddha images and the monks, the celebrants both young and old, joyfully splash water on each other. The most-talked about celebration takes place in the northern province of Chiang Mai where Songkran is celebrated from April 13 to 15. During this period, people from all parts of the country flock there to enjoy the water festival, to watch the Miss Songkran Contest and the beautiful parades.
Songkran Festival

Pattaya Park Tower ::



The First Highest Seaside Tower ANDRevolving Restaurant
55th floor the Apex Observation
54th floor the Meridian Revolving restaurant
53rd floor the Pinnacle Revolving restaurant
52nd floor the Panorama Revolving restaurant
The first and the highest seaside tower and the
Revolving restaurant located on the East Coast of Thailand.
Breathtaking View & Challenge Activities The Observation decks on the 55th Floor, Where you can stand and gaze at the beauty of the Jomtien Bay and Pattaya City or enjoy the ultimate view and thrill on our Tower Jump, Speed Shuttle and Sky Shuttle
Sumptuous Meals On the 52nd, 53rd and 54th floor- Revolving restaurants. Taste the international buffet lunch and dinner with seafood.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Pattaya City


Pattaya is nestled along a picturesque bay on the East Coast of the Gulf of Thailand approximately 170 kilometres southeast of Bangkok. From a fishing village in the 1960's, Pattaya has emerged as the favourite Southeast Asian Holiday Resort in the 1970's. A fascinating escape where tourists, holiday makers and vacationers from around the world unfold an incomparable array of possibilities to unwind during an exotic beach holiday.

Unlike other beach resorts, where natural surroundings are used as magnets to attract tourists, Pattaya makes an all-out attempt to provide the best of everything. Here, everything means everything a tourist can imagine while on holiday such as recreation, entertainment, water sports, and sightseeing. Simply saying, Pattaya is a paradise for everyone, as it has a variety of attractions suitable for various types of visitors. This is the place where you can fill your day from dusk to dawn with endless activities or choose to do nothing at all and relax.

Current Pattaya

The Old Palace Grounds Pattaya currently integrates the delights of a 1st class beach resort, city-like dining, shopping and night entertainment facilities with more than 300 assorted hotels, thousands of shops, restaurants and bars. In addition, there is an array of sports and recreational activities including beaches, golf courses, tennis courts, go-kart, gymnasiums for working-out, weightlifting and Thai-boxing gear. Pattaya has a broad range of things to do.

During the day, you may enjoy riding elephants or driving humble automatic mini-bikes, monstrous motorcycles, or even monster multi-coloured convertible Jeeps. Others go for shooting firearms, scuba diving and surfing, deep-sea fishing, speed boats, scooters, water-skiing, parasailing, or aerial sports such as gliding ultra-lights and flying motor-propelled gliders.

On the other hand, there are restaurants, bars, theaters, Cabaret Shows, Night Clubs, Bowling Centres, Billiard and Snooker Clubs, Exotic Erotic Shows, Discotheques, Sauna & Massage Parlours at night.

Pattaya History

The Sanctuary of TruthThe name "Pattaya" was originated from the march of Phraya Tak (later known as King Taksin the Great) and his followers from Ayutthaya Province to Chanthaburi Province just before the fall of the Ayutthaya Kingdom to the Burmese invaders in 1767.

When Phraya Tak's army arrived in the vicinity of what is Pattaya today, he encountered the troops of Nai Klom who tried to intercept him. When the two leaders met face to face, Nai Klom was awed by Phraya Tak's dignified manner and his army's strict discipline, thereby surrendering without a fight. The place where the two armies confronted each other was later called Thap Phraya, which means the Army of the Phraya. This was later changed to Phatthaya, which happens to mean the wind blowing from the southwest to the northeast at the beginning of the rainy season. Today the spelling of the name has been simplified to Pattaya.

For centuries, Pattaya was a small fishing village almost cut off from the outside world. But a big change occurred on 29 April 1961 when the first group of about 100 American Military Servicemen who joined the Vietnam War arrived in Pattaya for relaxation. Soon, sleepy Pattaya became Thailand's premier and most successful beach resort, which annually attracts hundreds of thousands of pleasure-seeking visitors. A full range of accommodations from super deluxe hotels to bungalows and mini-pocket guesthouses replaced fishermen's huts along the beach. Fishing vessels were adapted to become tourist boats and swimmers and sunbathers from various parts of the world frequented the quiet powdery golden beaches. Night entertainment venues have also been sprung up and are popular among International tourists.

Pattaya Facts

This exotic beach resort welcomes approximately 5 million visitors a year. The friendly and hospitable Thai nature boosts its promotion, frequently bringing back the repeat visitors and constantly increasing the number of new visitors.
Pattaya city is located on the eastern coast of the country at the latitude of 13 N and longitude of 101 E in the area of Chonburi Province. It is 147 kilometers from Bangkok and lies parallel to Sukhumvit Road on its east and the coastline on its west.

Pattaya occupies an area of 208.1 square kilometres is divided into 53.44 square kilometres of land and 154.66 square kilometres of islands and sea. Its coastline is 15 kilometres long. Pattaya has a plain on the coast with some high mountains to the south. The area on the east slopes down towards the sea on the west coast.

Administration

Pattaya City has been administered under a special autonomous system since 1978. It has a status comparable to that of a municipality and is administered separately by the mayor of Pattaya City, who is responsible for making policies, organizing public services, and supervising all employees of Pattaya City Administration.