Whether you’re single, a couple, a backpacker, or a luxury traveler, it’s always best to do a little homework before you visit Pattaya. And that applies especially to large families and groups planning a vacation in Pattaya. Not that it’s difficult to do Pattaya as a group or family, but being a large group or family can certainly pose more problems than those faced by singles and couples.
A couple of possible problems large families and groups visiting Pattaya might face are the obvious ones of finding suitable accommodation, and an effective and cost efficient way to commute around Pattaya as a group. Of course, if you already have your own transport, getting around Pattaya will not be an issue, and to a large extent, having your own transport also gives you easy access to more affordable accommodation in areas of Pattaya which
would otherwise be comparatively expensive or impratical to commute to and from using public transport.
Accommodation for large families and groups in Pattaya
The one thing which makes choosing a place to stay in Pattaya more difficult than anything else is the huge choice. Pattaya has everything from backpacker dorms to luxury 10 bedroom mansions capable of sleeping in excess of 20 people. Fortunately, you can quickly filter through them and find the right place at the right price with HotelsCombined.
A group is a group, and a family is a family. And when you travel as a family or group that’s the way you like to keep it. Together, as a group. For smaller families with 1 or 2 children, there’s a pretty remarkable choice of family friendly hotels in Pattaya with family rooms and suites.
Update: I added a list of hotels for large families in Pattaya.
Villas and houses for groups and families in Pattaya
You may have to forfeit some of the benefits of a typical hotel, like room service, daily cleaning, on site restaurant, and you will also most likely have to pay for electricity you use. But the perks of hiring a vacation home or villa include total privacy, and in most cases you’ll have a swimming pool all to yourself. Most importantly, you are together, free to do what you like, when you like.
Rent a vacation home or villa close to the baht bus route: Being close to the baht bus route means you don’t have to worry about transport. There’s not a great choice of rental homes and villas in downtown Pattaya, but it is possible to find them.
Best way for groups and large families to get around Pattaya
A Motorcycle taxi (excluding Thais who often squeeze on 4 or 5) can carry one passenger, a taxi can carry 3 passengers. A baht bus can comfortably accommodate 8 large adults, plus 1 in the front seat next to the driver if that seat is empty. And at just 10 baht per person on most fixed routes a baht bus is easily the most economical way to get around Pattaya.
Pattaya Baht Bus Routes: Pattaya’s baht bus service operates around the clock, although they do become more scarce late at night through to early morning. There is more detailed information on how to use baht buses in Pattaya, including a link to a Pattaya bus route map on this article about Getting Around Pattaya.
Charter a baht bus for your group: You can also find more detailed information on chartering a baht bus on the getting around Pattaya link (paragraph above).
Pattaya hotels with shuttle services: If you choose a hotel a little outside of the baht bus routes, try and find one which offers a free shuttle service. Hotel shuttle services usually operate on a daily schedule, and drop you off and collect you from a central location in downtown Pattaya, but you may find some hotels also offer a shuttle service as and when required, a little more like a taxi service.
Best places to stay as a group or large family in Pattaya
This is really a matter of choice, and necessity. Your need for convenient transport necessitates that you stay within easy walking distance of the baht bus routes. But your own preference might be to choose a quieter location such as Jomtien, Pratumnak, Naklua and Wongamat. Those locations are all covered by the baht bus routes, but to a lesser extent than central (downtown) Pattaya.
There’s a better choice of vacation homes and villas in Pratumnak: Commonly referred to as “The Hill” the Pratumnak area between South Pattaya and Jomtien has many more vacation homes and villas than downtown Pattaya. If you can find one close to the Pratumnak or Thappraya roads you can still easily commute to Pattaya or Jomtien by baht bus.
There’s more to do in central Pattaya: It may be more difficult to villas or other accommodation capable of sleeping large groups in downtown Pattaya, but if you can, you really have best of everything. Come rain or shine you will never be bored in downtown Pattaya. There’s some popular attractions like The Sanctuary of Truth – Teddy Bear Museum – Art in Paradise and Ripley’s Believe It Or Not just a short baht bus ride away. Then there’s group and family activities such as cinema – tenpin bowling, and some of the best eating places in town.
Family friendly hotels in downtown Pattaya: Even in downtown Pattaya, there are more family friendly hotels, resorts, guest houses and resideces than I could mention here. For a little more guidance read this article about family friendly hotels in Pattaya.
Family and group activities in Pattaya
Some things are definitely more fun as a group, whether it’s for team building excercises, a little friendly competition, to try something new and daring, or just to have a fun day out as a group.
Here’s a list of fun activities for groups in Pattaya.
- Zip-lining at Flight of The Gibbon
- Island tours and snorkeling
- Have a game of football
- Have a paintball war
- Go kart racing
- Lazer tag
- ATV and off-road motorcycle adventures
- Ten-pin bowling
- Play crazy golf
- Go to Cartoon Network Amazone water park
You can do most activities, tours attractions in Pattaya cheaper if you book on-line.
Pattaya group and family visit/vacation tips
- Consider a vacation home or villa
- Try and choose accommodation close to the baht bus routes
- If booking multiple rooms or family suites, request that they are connecting rooms, or at least next door to each other
- Choose a hotel with a free shuttle service