Tourism
Other activities include golfing at the area's many golf courses, and there are 21 golf courses within 1 hour of Pattaya, go-cart racing, visiting the construction site of an elaborate private wooden temple known as Sanctuary of Truth, and different theme parks and zoos such as Mini Siam, and Elephant Village.
The private Sri Racha Tiger Zoo features several hundred tigers and thousands of alligators as well as some other animals. It has often been criticized for the animals' living conditions, and a worker was killed by tigers in 2004. There was a major bird flu outbreak at the zoo later that year.
The Vimantaitalay tourist submarine takes customers underwater to see corals and marine life just a few kilometers offshore. There are many boat trips from an hour to all day trips available, mostly leaving from Bali Hai Pier, near Walking Street.
Nong Nooch Tropical Botanical Garden is located some 15 kilometers east of Pattaya. The 500-acre site has well maintained botanical gardens and an orchid nursery. Moreover the facility has lively cultural shows in a Thai village setting. In addition trained chimpanzees and elephants are seen at the garden.
Other attractions in Pattaya: The Million Years Stone Park and Pattaya Crocodile Farm, Elephant Village, Pattaya Park Beach Resort Water Park and Funny Land Amusement Park, Siriporn Orchid Farm, Underwater World Pattaya (world class aquarium), Alankarn cultural show, Sriracha Tiger Zoo, Bottle Art Museum, Mini Siam, Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum, and Walking Street.
Some tourists take daytrips to nearby Rayong for beautiful beaches, as well as Koh Samet island.
Shopping
In recent years, new shopping malls, outlet stores and jewelry stores have opened up, which has helped in increasing the length of stay of visitors to the city. Among the shopping malls are:
-Central Festival, Pattaya Second Road – Indoor mall anchored by a BigC; also has a SF Cinema City branch.
-Carrefour, Pattaya Central Road
-Mike Shopping Mall , Beach Road
-Royal Garden Plaza, Beach Road – Three-story indoor mall with a Ripley's Believe It or Not! museum and an SF Multiplex cinema. Also has a Sizzler restaurant, Au Bon Pain, KFC, McDonald's, Auntie * Anne's Pretzels, ZEN Japanese restaurant, Swensen's, Haagen Daz, Pizza Company, Delice de France, and a large food court. The Marriott Hotel is adjacent.
-The Avenue, Second Road (near Royal Garden) is in the midst of a soft opening with the following either open or their spaces being fitted out: a 22 lane Bowling Alley, Au Bon Pain, McDonalds,Thanachart Bank, 8 Major Cineplex theatres, Boots, McDonalds, California Wow! a major gym/fitness spa (open for subscriptions), Shenanigans, Iberry, Pizza Pizza, 20 Nails Spa, Starbucks, Kasikorn Bank, Bank of Ayudhaya, and a 24/7 Villa Market, which carries imported goods difficult to find in other supermarkets.
-Tesco Lotus, Pattaya North Road
-TukCom, Pattaya Tai (South) Road, boasts a large computer/IT complex offering reasonable prices.
An outlet mall is next to the Tesco Lotus selling discount clothing from many European and Emerican brands.
At least one other new large mall is under construction.
Pattaya has many large home improvement stores including Home Mart, HomeWorks, Home Pro, Kanyong and True Value.
The closest department store to Pattaya is Robinson's, located about 30 minutes away in Sri Racha.
There are several large nightly markets in different parts of town.
