Gangsta Paradise

From the Bangkok Post (no link because the Bangkok Post website sucks donkey):

..But the real problem is that for every undesirable alien who gets stopped, a great many more slip through in the guise of tourists and businessmen. That is why the Russian mafia is so well represented here, the terrorists who planned both World Trade Center bombings chose to do more than just visit the country, tattooed German gangsters strut the streets of beach resorts and an American who murdered his wife in Atlanta hid out here, along with assorted paedophiles of all nationalities. It is also why Thai police receive so many requests to help track down foreign fugitives. Just this month, the FBI asked police to hunt down a racketeer on their list of the 10 most wanted fugitives because the trail led here and a German and a Swede were arrested in Prachuap Khiri Khan province and Pattaya, and are being held for extradition to face major crime charges in their home countries.
—hat tip to Baron Bonk

Pattaya is a major destination for major (and minor) criminals. Of that, there is no doubt. However, having something to fear from these people is not reasonable: They are hiding out. They are on the lam. They are being careful. They don't want to do anything to attract attention to themselves. They are the least likely farangs to commit crime against other farangs (pedophiles notwithstanding) in Thailand. The criminal element in Pattaya is active in the steroid trade, investment fraud, forgery and counterfeits, and other scams, but very rarely will they venture out into broad daylight to commit any crime that I have heard of... once a year maybe.

It's the idiots who should have been criminals (and in jail) back in their home countries, but barely managed to stay on the correct side of the law (and prison walls) who come here because everyone in their home country couldn't stand them... the ones with the violent streaks. They are the ones who you need to watch out for.

Still though, most farang residents have read (or perhaps seen first hand) what the inside of a Thai jail looks like, and know better (at least when they are sober) than to put themselves in a situation that could get them stuffed into a hot, tiny, inside-of-a-wet-sneaker cell with 100 drunk and belligerent Thai men. (Although a person's assholery level, if sufficient, can override the stay-out-of-jail instinct.)

When it comes to the people to stay away from, tourists are the genuine problem in Pattaya. These are the idiots who think that (a) being a temporary presence here makes one more difficult for the police to track down (it's the opposite really), or (b) that they are somehow immune from the police because their tourist Euros "keep the town alive" (true only if you are a bus and you are filled with Chinese people), or (c) that because they are rich Europeans they expect that the Thai police will somehow kowtow to them and their cultural superiority. (The police will kowtow to a nice fine being paid back at the station house, but not after they have made sure that your fun night out on the town has completely gone to shit.)

Tourists are the ones who get in fights with Thai people, walk out without paying the bill, insult vendors, try to grope girls who are not meant to be groped, crash their rented motorcycles, buy loose joints on Beach Road, or try to start a riot when Arsenal loses.

Still, I guess that after all of that, the truest statement I can make about crime in Pattaya is that any farang here can be a criminal... but just as long as you don't give them reasons to act like a criminal, you really shouldn't have to worry. If you ever do find yourself on the receiving end of another farang's criminal behavior, you can be quite comfortable in the knowledge that, if nothing else, the police are very keen to help you, and are very keen to take the bad guy away in handcuffs.