ThailandThis article has been translated from Russian language using an artificial intelligence-based translation algorithm. We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the quality of the translation. You can read the original of this article in Russian here, and ask questions on the topic of our travel forum in English here.
Is it worth buying excursions in Pattaya
Pattaya is not the most interesting place in Thailand. Honestly, despite all its incredible popularity, the real historical or cultural attractions in Pattaya "the cat didn't cry". You can read about some attractions of Pattaya are here, but as you will see, there are not so many of them. But this does not at all diminish the value of Pattaya as a first-class place to explore the sights of Thailand. After all, a huge number of excursions to all corners of Thailand are organized from Pattaya, and not only. From here you can also get to Cambodia, Laos and even Vietnam. And, what is especially good, the prices for excursions from Pattaya due to the large number of offers (and as a result, high competition) are very low, sometimes much lower than from others resorts in Thailand.
Moreover, in many cases, the cost of excursions will even be lower than an independent trip. Therefore, even with an independent trip to Pattaya, you should not immediately refuse the services of on-site travel agencies offering excursions. It is better to weigh the pros and cons first" independent travel and purchase of excursions.
Where and how to buy excursions in Pattaya
There are several approaches to the question of where to buy:
- Buy only through the guides of your tour operator (the so-called hotel guides) or even from the tour operator at home (much more expensive; it is considered to be more reliable; the tour is conducted in Russian)
- Buy from Russian-speaking travel companies on the spot or in advance from home via the Internet (cheap enough; reliable enough; the tour is conducted in Russian)
- Buy from non-Russian-speaking travel companies on the spot (usually the cheapest option; reliability is questionable; usually the excursion is in English, sometimes it can get caught in very broken Russian)
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Which way to choose is up to you. We have written the pros and cons. It remains only to express our opinion (the authors of the site). In our opinion, the best option would be to buy excursions on the spot in Russian-speaking travel agencies. So you will get a fairly cheap and high-quality product, there will be no problems when buying (due to the language barrier), and the tour will be conducted in Russian.
By the way, it should be noted that the presence of inviting inscriptions in Russian on the doors of a travel agency in Pattaya (even if there are much more in Russian than in other languages) does not mean that Russian is spoken outside the doors and excursions will be in Russian. There are plenty of such agencies in Pattaya, where "Welcome" is written on the doors, and inside no one can even understand a word in Russian.
And, of course, it should be understood that most travel agencies on the streets of Pattaya are just sellers reselling excursions at a mark-up, and it is best to contact the tour organizers directly.
In recent years, many fully Russian-speaking travel agencies have appeared in Pattaya. Below (What are the excursions in Pattaya?) the options and prices for excursions of one of these agencies in Pattaya are given. In fact, this is a fairly typical travel agency for organizing and selling excursions in Pattaya, of which there are quite a lot. And we chose it because we personally checked it out ourselves, using their services during our last visit to Pattaya, simply choosing the first one we found on the street. And also because the prices they offer are an average of the prices for excursions around Pattaya. I.e. they are not too low to arouse suspicion, and not too high, as when buying from agencies with cheats. In general, you can safely focus on the prices below (they are current as of May 2013).
Visiting jewelry factories, Thai pharmacies, etc. as part of excursions in Pattaya
You should understand one more important thing about pricing for excursions in Pattaya (and in other popular tourist resorts in Thailand). The fact is that many of them include visiting, in addition to the main attraction of the trip, additional "attractions" such as a Thai medicine pharmacy, a latex factory, a leather goods store or a wholesale souvenir shop, a snake farm, a jewelry factory (this list is far from complete). At the same time, an excursion without such additional "attractions of Pattaya" is more expensive than with them. Don't be surprised by this.
The thing is that all these additional "attractions" pay a commission to the organizers of the excursion for each tourist brought to them (yes, they pay it, not them), due to which the cost of the excursion with a visit to such places becomes cheaper than without them (they sort of take part of the cost of the excursion for yourself).
Why do they need it, you ask? It's not for nothing that we wrote these sights in quotation marks. In fact, these are commercial commercial enterprises that, through a beautiful demonstration (after all, it seems to be part of an excursion), sell various goods to tourists. You do not have to buy anything, and there is nothing wrong with visiting these places, but it should be borne in mind that sales may be conducted at somewhat inflated prices, and you will have to spend several hours with the entire tour group at these places. Here it's up to you to decide: either pay a little more and save time, or pay less, but waste time (and possibly as a result, money for goods you don't need).
Well, in which case you can visit all these commercial places on your own, because most of them offer a free transfer from your hotel, you just have to call them.
What are the excursions in Pattaya
Tropical garden "Nong Nooch" and orchid Park
Cost: from 550 baht. Duration: half a day We recommend it* |
This is one of the most popular and interesting excursions in Pattaya. It includes a visit to Tropical garden "Nong Nooch" and orchid Park - the largest garden in Southeast Asia. What's good about this excursion is that for 550 baht you get both a transfer and entrance tickets to the park, which themselves cost 500 baht (currency of Thailand, exchange rate). For such money, you will not get to the park, which is located far outside the city, by taxi, so the excursion will be the most economical option to visit a wonderful park. In addition, you will be accompanied by a guide (of course, not in all versions of excursions, but in most cases), who will tell you where to go and what to look for. |
Mini Siam Park
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Cost: from 600 baht. Duration: half a day We recommend it |
The cost with transfer from the hotel is from 600 baht. This park consists of many models of the most famous architectural structures from around the world on a scale of 1:25. Moreover, not only modern buildings are represented here, but also ancient structures, such as the Angkor Temple complex in Cambodia. You can visit Mini Siam Park without a tour, since it is not very close to the city center. But to do this, you will first have to figure out the traffic features of local transport in Pattaya. |
Underwater world
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Cost: from 600 baht. Duration: half a day |
This tour consists of a visit to the Pattaya Aquarium. This is a great place for an excursion with children, they will definitely like it there. Getting to the "Underwater world" from the tourist areas of Pattaya is not easy, so it's better to take an excursion to visit this place, especially considering that a tour with a transfer costs 600 baht, and entrance tickets if you get to the aquarium yourself - 500 baht. Learn more about the aquarium "Underwater world". |
Temple of Truth (Sanctuary of Truth)
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Cost: from 600 baht. Duration: half a day |
During this excursion you will visit a unique structure – The temple of truth, completely built of wood and without the use of a single nail. At least, that's what its creators claim. The place is quite interesting and really unique, although there is a small drawback: the price for an excursion to such a simple place is too high, which is due to the high cost of an entrance ticket (500 baht). We would leave visiting this place for last, when you have already seen all the sights of Pattaya and will not know what to do. Construction in the temple is still ongoing, but this will not prevent you from visiting it in any way. |
Pattaya Sightseeing Tour
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Cost: from 400 baht. Duration: half a day We recommend it |
If your tour operator has not included a free sightseeing tour in your program of stay in Pattaya, you can purchase it yourself for a relatively small fee. Excursion programs in different agencies are absent, but the common thing is that they include visits to interesting places in Pattaya with free access. This can be, for example, a set of Buddha Hill, an observation deck, a floating market in Pattaya, a giant image of Buddha on a mountain, as well as a visit to a jewelry factory, a wholesale souvenir shop, etc. in the assortment. |
Excursion to Bangkok (Temples of Bangkok)
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Cost: from 2000 baht. Duration: full day. We recommend it |
If you have not visited Bangkok (and this simply cannot be allowed), then you can make up for it with an excursion from Pattaya to Bangkok. The excursion program is very rich, and you will see in one day the most significant attractions of Bangkok: grand Royal Palace of Bangkok; temple of the reclining Buddha; boating on the canals of eastern Venice; shopping in the shopping center in the tower Bayok Sky, go up to her observation deck and have dinner there. We highly recommend this excursion, because it is impossible to leave Thailand without visiting Bangkok. Of course, there are other options for excursions to Bangkok, but all of them necessarily include the mentioned main attractions of Bangkok. |
Ayutthaya and Bang Pa Yin Royal Palace
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Cost: from 2500 baht. Duration: full day. We recommend it |
Ayutthaya is the ancient capital of Thailand, which was the center of the Kingdom of Siam until the capital was moved to its current location – Bangkok. Now Ayutthaya is an architectural monument that reminds many tourists of the famous temple complex Angkor in Cambodia. This is an incredibly interesting place, especially for those who love all sorts of antiquities and history. During the tour you will see the most popular ruins of temples and palaces left over from the great capital, and you will definitely not be disappointed. In addition, you will visit the much more modern Bang Pa Yin Royal Palace. The tour lasts one day, and this is the only way for reasonable money to visit this city for one day, because from Pattaya, except as part of an excursion or by taxi, there is no way to get to Ayutthaya. The only bad thing is that you won't see all the monuments of the ancient capital, because to see all the sights of Ayutthaya it will take more than one or even two days. |
For the exotic on the river Kwai
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Cost: from 2600 baht. Duration: 2 or 3 days We recommend it |
This is a very rich and interesting excursion deep into Thailand, away from beaches and tourist places. Depending on the program, it happens for two or three days. The route includes a trip from Pattaya to Kanchanaburi province and back, visiting many interesting places and attractions along the way. You will visit the floating market, swim along the canals by boat, visit the teak wood carving craft center, look at the erawan waterfall, spend the night in a floating hotel, swim in hot springs, visit the bridge over the river Kwai, ride elephants in the elephant village and much more. In general, this is a very decent excursion program for very reasonable money. |
Cambodia
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Cost: from 4500 baht. Duration: from 2 to 5 days We recommend it |
Pattaya is an ideal place to visit the Angkor Temple complex in Cambodia. If time and money allow, be sure to go to the neighboring Kingdom of Cambodia, where you can see with your own eyes the temples that you have previously seen only on beautiful postcards. During your stay in Cambodia, you will visit the most popular temples of the Angkor Temple complex, visit Tonle Sap Lake, Phnom Kulen National Park. Excursions exist in several variants of different duration from 2 to 5 days. The price of the excursion includes everything: transport, meals, accommodation in hotel in Siem Reap, entrance tickets to the temples. A visa to Cambodia is issued on arrival at the border, so there is no need to take care of it in advance. This tour is the best option to see all the most interesting sights of Cambodia of the Angkor period in a short time, and you should not give it up. |
Bee Farm
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Cost: from 500 baht. Duration: half a day |
Visiting this place is positioned as a real excursion, although in fact this place is akin to visiting all sorts of jewelry factories and leather shops. From our point of view, such excursions (there is also a snake farm, for example) are a dubious pleasure for an ordinary tourist, especially since for the money you paid for the excursion you will be offered various beekeeping products on the farm. This excursion may be of interest to you only if you are seriously interested in bees or insects, or seriously take care of your health, since most beekeeping products are curative. |
This list of excursions in Pattaya is far from complete (these are only the most popular excursions) and there are many more excursions from Pattaya. You can find out about all of them on the spot or in the description of excursions on the sites for the sale of excursions.
* - marking the excursion with a We recommend it based on the impressions of the site authors from personal participation in excursions and it may not coincide with your impressions. Carefully read the descriptions of excursions before buying them, so as not to make a mistake with the choice and not be disappointed.