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Crime in Pattaya


Crime in Pattaya

Like most of Thailand, Pattaya is generally safe for tourists and violent crime such as mugging or robbery is unusual, with the exception of jewellery and bag snatching (usually with the thieves on motorcycles, and often with the victims on motorcycles too) which is endemic. Watch out when doing water sports at the beach areas. There is a common tourist trap where tourists going for jet ski-ing are being forced to pay for equipment damages(which are not caused by the tourists) amounting up to 100k Baht. Even after negotiations and intervention from the related embassies and agencies, a payment of around 10k Baht is still required for the damages. Thus, you must exercise extreme caution when doing equipment loans or doing sports on vehicles provided by the shops. Swindles and pickpocketing are more commonly encountered by tourists - it is very inadvisable to tell anyone that it is your first visit to Thailand, since you will then be marked down as an 'easy touch'. The nightlife/entertainment areas have a lot of activity and are generally very safe - however pickpockets are a problem, especially on Walking Street when it's crowded, despite the official Tourist Police patrolling the area at night. For this reason, a visitor should not carry a passport and/or credit card with them, especially at night - these should be left in the safe at your hotel along with the bulk of your cash, or if they must be carried then they should be securely concealed. If you have been pick pocketed and then you actually spot the likely pickpocket departing, do not follow. You could be mistaken, and you almost certainly will be accused of being mistaken. Just put it down to experience, and leave the immediate area. Never ever 'pick a fight' in any circumstance, no matter how much you have had to drink. Never try to intervene, even verbally, in an argument between two or more Thai people. No matter how much you are being pestered, just smile and walk on. In cash payments, disputes over the value of notes and the amount of change can be avoided by carrying smaller notes and trying to give near enough the exact amount. The beach side of Beach Road used to be worth avoiding late at night, however the entire length of both the promenade and beach are now floodlit, and although it's still a popular haunt for "freelance" prostitutes, it's now much busier from dusk through until dawn and by no means a "no-go" area. Visitors should not visit entertainment venues that do not display a long-standing fixed sign outside, or which appear to be very poorly lit inside. Also; one or two of the hundreds of seemingly bright and established venues may actually be operating as a 'clip joint', offering free admission and then refusing to allow visitors to leave until they have settled a faked bill for non-existent drinks. Again; it is wisest simply pay up, leave and put it down to experience. As always, travellers should take extra care in all poorly lit or more remote areas, and very late at night. This is especially the case if one has had too much to drink. Most reputable hotels will require the presentation of ID cards by guests. Throughout Pattaya guests will not be admitted to hotel rooms if they are under the age of 20. This is a useful way for tourists to guarantee that their new-found friend is actually the age he/she says she is, and thus avoid possible police attention. Drugs - as with all of Thailand, the penalties for possession and/or distribution of drugs are harsh. Gambling - is illegal in Thailand, and the local press reports Pattaya Police as having a "zero tolerance" policy for gambling offences.

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Pattaya Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.

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