Foreign visitors pack the bars and take pictures of unusual sights at this noisy, crowded Mecca for mass tourism in the Kingdom, a place where money is spent like it is out of fashion.

About two kilometres from this messy strip, Pattaya City Resort is opening its doors to higher quality clients who are attuned to more tasteful, healthier lifestyles.

Its first phase includes three blocks of residential condominium towers

The brainchild of Pattaya City 2005 Co Ltd, an established builder of housing estates and hotels, the 50-rai project should contain 12 residential towers, all 8 storeys, when fully completed over the next few years.

But Phase One is due to be built by mid-2009 once piling begins midyear.

Each phase will consist of three towers, which share a swimming pool and fitness centre.

The firm is selling its smallest 65 square metre unit for Bt3.84 million.

The idea is to create a solid gated community on South Pattaya Road about 200 metres from the main Sukhumvit Highway.

While the project has no private beach nor spectacular ocean views, it does have a central location, which makes commuting relatively convenient.

As it is far from chronically jammed areas such as the fresh market and the red light zones, it is spared the intense pollution, noise and unruliness that plagues South Pattaya.

While the price of the units may seem high, a tour of the elaborately constructed sales office, a view of the mock-up unit reveals the developers has thrown in plenty of extras, such as built-in furniture, air conditioners and kitchen sets.

The Bt60,00 plus a square metre puts it on the same price range as some projects on Jomtien Beach, except they are closer to the sea.

Still, the floor plans for the apartments are rather well done. The bedrooms are well proportioned and even the smallest unit has a usable, sizeable balcony, a feature that is so essential to resort living.

The real ceilings will be about 2.8 metres tall, though the mock-up unit sports a bit shorter height of 2.7 metres.

The sales team says 30 per cent of the first phase has been sold.

The residential zone is located in the centre of the 50-rai site. The developer has divided the estate into three parts with a commercial area in front and land for future development in the back. The condominiums form about a third of the estate. The entrance to the site has a 12-metre road front before it narrows down to 8 metres. There will be two gates to the estate.

While travelling from Bangkok to Pattaya, take note some sections of the Chon Buri Bypass can be highly dangerous, due to poor signage and sloppy construction. 

Itthi C Tan

The Nation

Pattaya