Pattaya-Chonburi metropolitan area (เขตนครพัทยา-ชลบุรี) is a conurbanation in Chonburi Province of Thailand. It comprises Pattaya Citylink title, 7 town municipalities, and 23 township municipalities in 6 districts with 1,003,839 registered inhabitants as of 2009.[citation needed] Similar to Bangkok, the accuracy of official figures is not exactly known and the actual population is believed to be around 1.5 million due to uncounted of foreign laborers and an increasingly growing expatriate population.
Pattaya-Chonburi is one of the most urbanized areas in Thailand aside from Bangkok. The Eastern Seaboard of Thailand is not only a prime tourist destination but also it is increasingly being developed to meet the needs of Thailand's trade infrastructure. The city's expatriate population is considered one of the largest in Southeast Asia. Chonburi, a short way up north, is less diverse in its economy but has been a stable commercial center of the Eastern Seaboard of Thailand. The city relies on the large market in the province and is also one of Thailand's largest district outisde of Bangkok.
Further south of the Pattaya-Chonburi region is Rayong district, which is slowly being industrialized. Questions have arisen whether these sub-communities which are gradually connecting into one should be included with the metropolitan area. The number of housing projects along this coast might be compared to those in Bangkok. Currently, the Korat-Chonburi-Bangkok urban triangle is home to more than 20 million Thais, and by 2020, the Bangkok-Chonburi region is expected to be the official home of the same amount.