When we landed in Thailand on the red eye, a pre-hired taxi took us straight from the Suvarnabhumi Airport to Pattaya and so therein began our first ‘foreign’ trip. I was so tickled to see the PATTAYA sign, felt like I had arrived in Hollywood.

At the time we went, I did not take the notorious reputation of Pattaya’s night scene quite seriously, but once we were there, I could see my folly. We were lost one evening and had to walk back to the hotel as the evening was unfolding. I kept the children busy watching the sky lanterns being released over the sea. In hindsight I would not recommend taking older children there too. We stayed on the safer lanes and roads, and did not run into any embarrassing situations (a mum with two minor children totally in odd waters).

There is plenty of family fun to see in Pattaya like the Nong Nooch Tropical Garden and Cultural Village, the Underwater World aquarium and the Tiffany Show (I thought it was thoroughly entertaining). At most ticket counters, locals approach tourists and offer to buy the tickets at the lower prices available for the locals for a small commission from the tourist. Though I was quite wary at first, it appears to be the done thing (not sure of it being illegal though). If you do get a local approaching you, consider it. You get a ticket, which including the commission to the local works out to be much lower in total, had you purchased it directly. All in all, a win-win situation between you and the local (now don’t ask me about a win situation for the ticket counter sales). The Nong Nooch Tropical Garden and Cultural Village makes for an entire day trip with plenty of colourful visuals of animal figurines in hundreds. The Cacti collection was really incredible.