Despite the media hype, Pattaya – and Thailand as a whole – is very “female friendly.” While the city does have a well-deserved reputation as a “boys town,” there are far, far more things to do here that have nothing to do with the nightlife scene. In addition, Pattaya and Thailand are very safe places, even for women traveling alone. Female divers comment regularly on how safe and comfortable they feel walking around town day or night.

Thailand and, in particular, Pattaya, has been making great strides at transforming itself into a resort for the entire family. For women, there are sumptuous day spas, offering traditional Thai massage, facials and makeovers and even botox treatments at a fraction of the cost in the Western world.

For those who enjoy shopping, there are numerous Western-style malls and even outlet shopping centers offering authentic, discounted goods from Nike, Gucci and more. For sports fans, there golf, tennis, water skiing, mountain trekking, and more. And for those who want to pursue cultural pursuits, there are cooking classes, traditional Thai dancing, museums, galleries and more. Click here for more info on things to do while not diving in Pattaya.

Yes. Click here to read about which visa is right for you.

Click here for a full rundown on the cost of living in Pattaya.

Click here for a full rundown of sports, activities, entertainment and nightlife in Pattaya.

Insurance is always a good idea when traveling, but simple travel insurance is not always enough for some people. There are numerous organizations that offer full medical pages, such as BUPA. You should also strongly consider the fine diving insurance packages offered by DAN, the Divers Alert Network.

As for hospitals, Pattaya\'s facilities are excellent. Pattaya International Hospital and Bangkok Pattaya Hospital are both very advanced facilities with many of their doctors trained in the West. Bangkok Pattaya also has the closest recompression chamber and a helicopter airlift to the hospital takes 15 minutes or less.

Yes, Thailand is very safe. While it is true that since late 2004 Thailand’s southernmost provinces have been the scene of some civil unrest, none of that affects, or is even obvious, in Pattaya.

While some of the news reports over the past months have looked bad, the reality is that the unrest – sparked by Muslim discontent with the Buddhist-majority government of Thailand – is nothing new. Muslim citizens of Southern Thailand have been demonstrating on and off for secession and autonomy since 1973. The recent violence has gotten worldwide media attention only because of the worldwide struggles going on between Islamic militants and Western countries. However, the issues and people involved with the unrest in the south are not connected to the worldwide conflict, Iraq or Al Qaeda.

The truth is that the problems in the south seem very far away from Pattaya, a couple of hours by plane from the affected region. Pattaya is a resort town comprised of many foreigners and very internationally conscious Thais. You will find this to be a very calm, happy and enjoyable place to live.