Pattaya Travel Guide
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About Pattaya
Pattaya is a city in Eastern Thailand, the largest city in Chonburi province and the eighth-largest city in Thailand. It is on the east coast of the Gulf of Thailand, about 150 kilometres (93 mi) southeast of Bangkok, and has a population of 351,391 as of 2025. Pattaya City (Thai: เมืองพัทยา, RTGS: Mueang Phatthaya, pronounced [mɯ̄a̯ŋ pʰát.tʰā.jāː]) is a special local government organization area within Bang Lamung district and has a population of 119,532. It covers the tambons of Nong Prue and Na Klua and parts of Huai Yai and Nong Pla Lai. Pattaya City has grown into all adjacent sub-districts and accounts for the largest population percentage in the district, making it de facto a part of the "Pattaya-Bang Lamung-Jomtien" area, otherwise known as "Greater Pattaya". The city is in the industrial Eastern seaboard zone, along with Si Racha, Laem Chabang, and Chonburi. Pattaya is at the center of the Pattaya-Chonburi Metropolitan Area (a conurbation in Chonburi Province with a population of 1,000,000), which forms the third largest metropolitan area in Thailand. == History == === Name === The name Pattaya evolved from the march of Phraya Tak (later King Taksin) and his army from Ayutthaya to Chanthaburi, which took place before the fall of the former capital to Burmese invaders in 1767. When his army arrived in the vicinity of what is now Pattaya, Phraya Tak encountered the troops of a local leader named Nai Klom, who tried to intercept him. When the two met face to face, Nai Klom was impressed by Phraya Tak's dignified manner and his army's strict discipline.