Pattaya > Nightlife

Pattaya Nightlife

Pattaya, once described by a first time visitor with wide shining eyes as 'a whole island turned into a red light district', which is not strictly true as though Pattaya has two famous beaches, Pattaya beach and Jomtien beach, it is on the mainland of the East coast Thailand about 2 hrs drive away from Bangkok And even though it is home to the famous Walking Street and has a huge amount of Thai bar girls, there are also many other things to do in one of Thailand's top destinations as the government tries to make it a more of a destination for family holidays.

Pattaya city is quite unlike the rest of Thailand, largely due to the massive amount of westerners that have left their countries and set up home there. For some this is seen not as a good thing as it has lost some of the charm of the rest of Thailand, but for others, Pattaya is everything, a veritable freak show, with transvestites, transsexuals, girls, girls, girls, as well as the eccentric mix of westerners roam the streets every night. It's a playground for many, a place for debauchery, naughty nightlife, hedonism and excess The adventure of enjoying the nightlife there, choosing your thai girl for the night, and avoiding the lady boys in the street when walking home drunk from another wild night out, and for some choosing the lady boy and avoiding the thai girls!

Pattaya since it's beginning as a holiday destination has made most of it's money from the girly bars, Go Go bars, and discos that offer cheap drinks and lots of thai girls every night, but times are changing, and new restrictive nightlife laws such as early closing times, and checks on the bars lewdness are taking effect. Although you can always find the late night bars and the Go Go bar shows that are more daring than the rest, Pattaya is trying to promote itself for family holidays and playing it's reputation down as a place that just provides girls and drinks in quantity, lots of bars provide live music shows now, there are the usual transvestite cabaret shows, and lots of excellent restaurants providing great foreign food from all over the world. Despite the amount of drinking and nightlife Pattaya is well policed and a relatively safe place to visit day or night, although as in all places common sense should always be used to ensure you have a memorable holiday here.

So what's the difference between the girly bars and Go Go bars?

Girly / Beer Bars

Girly bars or beer bars as they are often called do not have girls dancing around poles, but are a place to sit and drink and will be full of bar girls trying to be your date for the night. They'll have the pool tables, jukeboxes, and generally relaxed fun bars to sit around and drink the night away. Girls are bar fined at between 200-700 baht depending on the season and the bar. The bar fine is the payment for taking the girl out of work for the night, further fees for further services are for the girl and you to negotiate. These are the bars where you will often find a girl to accommodate you for the rest of your holiday as oppose to the Go Go bars that often only offer a short time service.

Go Go Bars

The world famous Go Go bars are in abundance in Pattaya, bikini clad Thai girls dancing around poles, wearing numbers for the customer to choose a girl easier. Girls will sit with you and ask for ladies drinks and buying one buys a bit of their time to help you get in the Pattaya mood. The days of topless and nude shows are fading fast but you will find the odd Go Go bar that still dares to show a little more than the rest. Bar fines for go go girls start a little more expensive than the beer bars, ranging from 500-1000 baht and further fees to be negotiated with the girls, for short and long time. You will often find that many of the Go Go dancers especially in high season will be reluctant to go long time with customers, as being in the bar can pay well in tips and ladies drinks.

Pattaya Beach and Walking Street

Pattaya beach is the main nightlife area of Pattaya City, it’s around 4 kms long, and towards the southern end of it you will find most of the nightlife action. The main area of Walking Street full of Go Go bars and girly bars full of lively Thai bar girls fighting for you to come into the bars with calls of “handsome man, where you go?". It's lively, it's hustle and bustle, its big business with a smile, and just a stroll up and down Walking Street is an eye opening experience for anybody visiting Thailand for the first time.

Jomtien Beach

Jomtien is the 'second' beach of Pattaya despite being larger at 6kms long. It also has a lot of nightlife but it's quieter than Pattaya beach and for some this makes it desirable to stay at as you can relax away from the main nightlife scene if you want to. It still has the variety of bars of course but certainly a lot less of them, and they tend to be a little less wild. Of course it's not far to get to Pattaya beach from here so it's often a good starting point for a long night out.