The History of Pattaya
This week I was enjoying a cappuccino in a coffee shop when I was suddenly surprised by an old photo of Pattaya or as it was then called: Tappaya.
In fact, Pattaya did not exist 63 years ago. There were only a few small fishing villages along the coast between Sri Racha and Sattahip and a few fishing families lived in the 'Pattaya' bay.
These lived here because of the calm waters and safety of the bay, protected by the northern and southern headlands and the mountains behind them. The nearest 'neighbors' lived further north where they produced salt (Naa klua = salt fields).
People traveled on foot or by bullock cart. Except for the Bangkok-Sattahip road, there were bad paths. The bay and nearby island provided good and safe fishing, so more people came to live there. Slowly a village developed called: Taphraya or Tappaya.
The area received its common name after Pharaya Taksin encamped with followers to liberate Thailand from the Burmese. He came from Ayutthaya to Chanthaburi just before the fall of the Ayutthaya kingdom in 1767.
The village grew and the people wanted their own identity, so they chose the name Pattaya, named after the strong wind from the southwest just before each rainy season.
The pace of life was slow; except for a few visitors, it remained quiet. But as more people began to visit the area, people understood that by selling fish and opening a restaurant, they could make a little more money. People from Groong-thayp (Bangkok) also started visiting this beautiful bay on weekends, a drive of 3 to 4 hours in those days.
It was only during and after the Vietnam War and the arrival of the Americans (U-Tapoa) that everything changed drastically. In 1964 Pattaya was given the official status of a city and in 1979 a Tesaban Nahkon (Municipality = town hall) with its own responsibility for the city.
The current number of tourists is between 8 and 10 million people per year from all over the world.
Submitted by Lodewijk Lagemaat.
Funny how English phonetics can lead you astray. I always thought that Na Klua meant น่ากลัว or 'scary, frightening'. Fortunately, Lodewijk gave me the correct translation. It is Na Klua นาเกลือ 'salt fields'. With thanks.
We were there in 1972 and it was beautiful and peaceful. I still remember the restaurant "Dolf Ricks", a Dutchman who had an eatery in which, behind glass, wild cats walked. At that time we lived in the “Rose Garden” between BKK and Nakhom Pathom and did our jobs in Kanchanaburi, Nakhom Pathom, Sri Racha and Bang Saen. Wonderful times in an extremely beautiful country where we lived for about 2 years…and worked for TOT (telephone company).
Yes, Dolf Riks was very famous, he not only had his restaurant, where he had rice table as a specialty on Sundays, but he also had his column about food in the English-language Bangkok Post, and was a regular guest on Thai TV
In 1966 I was in Pattaya for the first time when the nightlife was sparse but fun,
everything went with a lot of gestures then the English language had just been introduced by the Americans
who were extremely annoying at the time, they always demanded all the attention, understanding on the one hand, they also did not know whether they could go out again for the next month.
Pattaya has grown but it has never changed, I still love going there