Where The Name Pattaya Come From
The name Pattaya evolved from the march of Phraya Tak (later King Taksin) and his army from Ayutthaya to Chanthaburi, which took place before the fall of the former capital to the Burmese invaders in 1767.
When his army arrived at the vicinity of what is now Pattaya, Phraya Tak encountered the troops of a local leader named Nai Klom, who tried to intercept him. When the two met face to face, Nai Klom was impressed by Phraya Tak’s dignified manner and his army’s strict discipline. He surrendered without a fight and joined his forces. The place the armies confronted each other was thereafter known as ‘Thap Phraya’, which means the Army of the Phraya. This later became Pattaya, the name of the wind blowing from the southwest to the northeast at the beginning of the rainy season.
Pattaya remained a small fishing village until the 1960s. Then American servicemen during the Vietnam War began arriving in Pattaya for rest and relaxation. Pattaya developed into a popular beach resort; now greatly expanded, it attracts over 4 million visitors a year. Fishermens’ huts along the beach were replaced by resort hotels and retail stores, including Asia’s largest beachfront shopping mall, the CentralFestival Pattaya Beach Mall and hotel (Hilton) situated on Beach Rd in central Pattaya.
Pattaya City’ used to be a simple small fishing village. It is situated in Naklua Sub district, Banglamoong District in Chonburi. It was about 30 kilometers from the city center of Chonburi. Its physical geography occupied a 3-kilometer-long-lined white coast surrounding in a semi-circle-curved gulf which was included the other 3-kilometer area of Na Jom Tian. With the attractive beautiful glittering sea water and the rhythms of the moving waves crashing into the shore has impressed anyone who came and visited Pattaya. Later in 1956 the government had established Tambon Naklua as Naklua Sanitation District where most people were living outside the area. Until 1964 (47 years ago) Naklua Sanitation Districted had been expanded the area which covered from Naklua to south Pattaya with 22.2 square kilometers of the area.
