Pattaya Go-Go Bars

Pattaya is synonymous with nightlife, and go-go bars blazed the trail for all that followed suit. These enclosed bars, in which scantily clad girls strut, shuffle and sway seductively around steel poles, are the reason many come to Pattaya. Boyz Town, Pattaya’s gay zone, caters specifically to muscle boys.

The rules are easy to grasp: Entry is free, photography forbidden, music loud, booze flowing, girls available. Nudity in Thailand is illegal, but here in Pattaya's go-go land rules are made to be broken. This is where it all began, back in the 1970s with the arrivals of American GIs, at about the same time that Bangkok’s red light district Patpong took shape. Today, Pattaya’s go-go bar scene is both an attraction and nightlife experience.

Prices for drinks average around 100 baht for a beer or shot and mixer, with drinks for your half-naked host coming in at slightly more. If you go ga-ga over a girl and want to relieve her of her menial duties, a bar fine will be payable (usually between 300 and 600 baht). After that what you pay, and for what, is your and her business.

Pattaya Walking Street

Most go-go bars are clustered along Walking Street and its adjoining sois, between 40 or 50. There are far too many to list, but well-known establishments include prison-themed Alcatraz A-Go-Go (Between soi 14 and 15), Super Baby (Soi Diamond) and Angel Witch (Soi 15). The latter has well-choreographed and seductive shows involving everything from live snakes to sticky UV paint and full nudity.

Happy A-Go-Go (Soi Happy) is well-established and still popular, with three stages offering non-stop pole dancing shows. For east European girls, head to Moulin Rouge (upper level of King Seafood Restaurant), where a neon-lit windmill sign and large display window occupied by two pole-dancing girls are hard to miss.

There are more slightly further north on the three quieter 'sois' (sub-streets), Pattayaland 1, 2 and 3. Favourites here include rock-n-roll themed Tahitian Queen (Beach Road, Near Soi 13), Misty's (Pattayaland 2) and Classroom A-Go-Go (Pattayaland 2), which features girls in ponytails, white socks and gymslips. A handful can also be found on Sois 6, 7 and 8, including Silver Star 2.

Boyz Town

Gay-only bars and go-go joints are centred around the aptly named Boyz Town (Soi Pattayaland 1 & 3 and Soi 13/4). Highlights along these busy, noisy, neon-lit streets include The Copa (Pattayaland Soi 3). In addition to being a conventional go-go bar, it offers one-of-a-kind erotic underwater show in which well-toned guys glide and dive gracefully through the water in very tight pants. After that there's a storming cabaret show. Boyz Boyz Boyz, a gay club and party house, has hot go-go guys and cabaret shows every night from 21:00. Sunee Plaza is just off the strip, quieter and more private.