 Pattaya is renowned for its nightlife. The city has many-many of go go bars, beer bars, night clubs and discotheques. The most famous include Fashion Club, Tonys, Marine Disco, X-Zyte, Lucifer, Hammer, Mixx. New clubs and bars are opening all the time. The world famous Walking Street is the center of the Pattaya's nightlife. Pattaya is known for its cabaret revues featuring kathoeys (male-to-female transsexuals), with Alcazar and Tiffany's being the largest and most elaborate. Another important, but understated aspect of Pattaya are the foreign restaurants. Often run by expatriates, most offer food at prices far below those found in Bangkok, Samui or Phuket.
Go-go bars
Also called a-go-go bars, the main concentrations are along Walking Street and the three Pattayaland streets, with more dotted around the most popular beer bar areas; most come to life at around 20:00 and close between 01:00 and 02:00.
Sight-seeing tourists are welcome in go-go bars, however cameras are not. Signs prohibiting photography are widespread, and a minority of venues require patrons to deposit their cameras with security staff as they enter. |
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Beer bars |
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| Pattaya is especially famous for its beer bars (also called bar-beer), staffed by "bar girls" who are "for hire" to the tourists and ex-pats who drink there. Popular beer bar pastimes include pool, connect-four and shut-the-box. |
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Open-air beer bars can be found all over Pattaya, with the biggest and best known concentrations being along and around Soi 7 / Soi 8 and Walking Street, at numerous points on Second Road, Beach Road, Soi Buakhao, and in smaller numbers just about everywhere else, including along the southern end of Naklua Road and at Jomtien. Although the staff of a typical beer bar will usually all be prostitutes, customers who have no intention of paying a "bar fine" (money paid to the bar so that the girl can leave with the customer) are generally very welcome and indeed make up the majority of the clientele.
Indoor beer bars can also be found all over Pattaya, the most notorious areas being Soi Yodsak (Soi 6) and parts of Soi Post Office (Soi 13/2). While some of these bars are much more "bar fine" oriented, in most cases customers who simply want to buy drinks are still welcome.
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| The official closing time in "entertainment zones" is 01:00 (in practice usually somewhere between 01:00 and 02:00, depending on the location) and 00:00 elsewhere - however "closing" is defined as switching off the music and non-essential lighting, and numerous beer bars remain open 24/7. |
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Popular bar venues
So, you're passing through Pattaya and you've set aside a few hours to check out the bar scene - but where to go? The most popular (and generally the most densely concentrated) beer bar and go-go bar locations (listed south to north) are: |
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Walking Street
Walking Street is a famous and vibrant part of the city located in south of Pattaya. It is a location that is well-known to many tourists visiting Thailand , and especially to the male visitors. It is also known as International Meeting Street. Walking Street runs from the Beach Road to the Bali-Hi Pier, and there are entrance arches at either end. The street is traffic-free at night (from 18.00 hours), and car parking is at the Bali-Hi end
There are go-go (dancing girls) bars, beer bars, discotheques, strip pubs, and night clubs. In 2004 the local press reported that there were 30 of the air-conditioned go-go bars on the street (as of February 2008 there are over 50 in the street itself and adjoining sois). The street is also known for the amount of glowing colored neon signage used on and above the street at night. The city's prostitution is concentrated here at night. In the earlier part of the evening one can also find live bands and fine dining. Closing time is usually about 02.00 to 02.45am.
Although this part of the city is safe, pickpocketing is a common problem, and the bulk of one's money should be concealed. Travellers should follow the same basic safety rules here as they would in any other unfamilar city. Offering the exact change, for anything from a taxi to buying drinks, is always a good idea in order to avoid any misunderstandings. It is also recommended that visitors only visit well-lit venues and venues with a proper and permanent sign showing the venue's name; information can then be given to the tourist police if required. Although some western visitors drink heavily in the bars, this does not usually cause problems. |
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| Pattayaland
Soi Pattayaland 2 (Soi 13/4) features on many a Pattaya postcard - when lit up at night, the go-go bar signs are a memorable and photogenic sight, although there are in fact only eight go-go bars here (two of which feature guys, not girls), plus a half-dozen bars and the Penthouse Hotel. Worth a look in the evening (it's almost a ghost town the rest of the time), but get there before 01:00 as that's when the lights go out.
Soi Pattayaland 3 ("Boyz Town" - no direct access from Beach Road, runs from the middle of Soi 13/4 to Second Road) features only male dancers and bars that cater for the gay crowd; Soi Pattayaland 1 (Soi 13/3) has even more all-male go-gos (eight), but does have a couple of girlie-go-gos too. There is also a small lesbian scene in Pattaya, with local butch girls called "tom" girls and femme girls called "dee".
Soi 7 & Soi 8
There's always something going on here - in the evening and early hours, there are about 120 well-staffed beer bars to choose from, plus a handful of go-go bars; in the morning there are several places that serve breakfast; in the afternoon it's a popular place for those who like to get started early; and at Songkran (New Year) it's unmitigated mayhem. The "Night Out" complex (10 large outdoor bars, on a side-soi that connects Soi 7 and Pattaya Central Road) is about as family-orientated as these places ever get, and has live music from 20:00-01:00. There are several large hotels (light sleepers beware), and Soi 8 also has a few travel agencies, convenience stores, etc.
Soi Yodsak (Soi 6)
Imagine a kerb-crawlers paradise - and then pedestrianise it. Arguably Pattaya's most colourful street (as well as most notorious), Soi 6 has about 50 bars (mostly "short time" bars, with names such as "Butterfly", "Love Club", "Route 69" and "The Eager Beaver") which all get going at 13:00 and close pretty much on the dot at 01:00. It's not really a pedestrian-only street (but it is one-way), however walking - preferably in broad daylight - is undoubtedly the best and most popular way to experience it. Go in the middle of the afternoon and just wander from one end to the other (if coming from the south, walk from the Second Road end down to the Beach Road end if you want to get there and back by songthaew). It's much, much more "sex-tourist" than "tourism" oriented, but anyone and everyone is welcome everywhere provided they're buying a drink or three. The curiously named "Hi Boss! 2002 Pub" is where the ladyboys hang out, there's one go-go - "Mandarin" (dancing from 17:00 till 01:00), plus a couple of "pub" food possibilities; and neighbouring Soi 6/1 has a handful of "ordinary" outdoor beer bars.
Second Road - around the Soi 2 & Soi 3 junctions
On the west side of Second Road opposite the Central Festival Centre is a collection of about 35 very popular beer bars, which start to fill up from about 16:00, and several of which remain open long after the lights go out around 01:00-02:00. "Atlantic Bar", at the far end of the five-bar strip to the south of Soi 2, always draws a substantial crowd. The only go-go ("Classroom 2", 19:30-02:00) is a lively one, and while there's not much in the way of food in amongst the bars themselves, there are numerous eating options extremely close nearby (including outlets for most of the major fast-food chains directly opposite on the other side of Second Road).
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Discotheques
Pattaya has two types of disco - those that are on or near Walking Street, and those that are not. Those on Walking Street are more popular with Westerners accompanied by bar girls, and with bar girls looking for customers. The ones further away from Walking Street are generally more typical Thai discotheques: no special area for dancing, but lots of shows and great atmosphere. Admission is usually around 300 baht and includes one free drink.
Live Music
Live music - especially popular rock oldies - can be heard at several open-air venues along Walking Street, and at various bars elsewhere. Thai cover bands abound. Some are very good, most are average and some are just dreadful. The majority work behind beer bars but unfortunately have to compete with other bands in nearby beer bars as well as piped music of varying quality. |
