Approximately 160 kilometres south of Bangkok, Pattaya is a coastal city in Chonburi, a province on Thailand’s eastern seaboard.. Until the 1960s, Pattaya was a quaint bustling fishing village populated with people of predominantly Thai-Chinese ancestry. This changed when American servicemen stationed at nearby U-Tapao air base – which has become an international airport today – began visiting Pattaya during their time off. Soon enough, word had spread among soldiers across the region and Pattaya was well on its way to becoming a well-known beach resort destination.. Today, resorts and retail stores have replaced the fisherman’s huts that used to line the beach, and Pattaya attracts an estimated five million visitors a year. Recent years have seen the city cleaning up its image, with the introduction of family-friendly attractions such as floating markets, water parks and ocean excursions, which now rival the adult-orientated nightlife.. Furthermore, Pattaya is a one-and-a-half-hour drive from Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport.