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Pattaya's nightlife is a modern, sometimes unsightly tapestry of the wild and debauched. The turnover of pubs, beer-bars, discos and go-go bars is phenomenal, almost as frequent as the coming and going of tourists. Therefore, we won't even try to attempt an accurate record. Instead, here is a general overview of what you can find in Pattaya and where. Go-Go Bars, Beer Bars, Discos, Ladyboy Cabaret, Pubs & Live Music, Not too loud live music, Gay Nightlife…
Go-Go Bars
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These enclosed bars in which scantily clad girls strut, shuffle and sway seductively around steel poles, are the reason many come to Pattaya. 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. 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.
Most 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 Happy A-Go-Go (Soi Happy), 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. Club Boesche (Soi 16, Covent Garden Complex) a relative newcomer, is also proving popular, chiefly for its large floor-sunk Jacuzzi occupied by rotating pairs of uninhibited young ladies.
There are more slightly further north on the three quieter 'sois'(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.
Beer Bars
They're ramshackle, cheap and loud but often a lot of fun 'Pattaya's beer bars are legendary! Some are found in enclosed shop houses, but most come jam-packed together inside tatty open-plan corrugated sheds, each comprised of little more than a few stools and raised speakers assembled round a rather sorry-looking central bar.
There are literally hundreds scattered around town, with many opening from around midday onwards and serving beers (during happy hours especially) for around the 50 baht mark.
Each 'establishment'employs numerous hostesses to lure you in, serve you drinks and flirt with you. Be warned, their mission is to (1) make you feel a 'handsome man', and (2) to get you aroused to the point of no return. Can you guess what (3) is? If the conversation is a little stilted, and their seductive strokes don't smooth things along, they'll try connecting with you on another level: with a game of Connect 4 to be precise, or, failing that, Jenga. As with go-go girls, for a fee you can relieve a girl of her duties (usually a smaller fee), after which you both settle on a price and place. If you have no intention of picking up, most will happily just chat with you, but you'll be expected to drink more than water.
You find them all over Pattaya, but the densest concentrations are to be found in and around Walking Street, lower Beach Road, at various points on Second Road (around Soi 2 and 3, between Soi 7-13), and Sois 6, 7 and 8. Many commence dispensing their irritating-to-some, irresistible-to-others mix of cheap beers, frenetic Isaan (Northeastern) music and shouts of “Hey handsome'long before midday, though many of the girls don't look so good in daylight. In addition to beer bars, Soi 6 (also known as Soi Yodsak) is also renowned for its many 'short-time'bars (we don't need to spell it out do we?).
Discos
In Pattaya's discos, no one can hear you scream 'the music's too darn loud! Hot, sweaty and packed to the rafters on most days of the week, Pattaya Beach has a veritable assortment that ranges from those popular with boozy tourists and entrepreneurial working girls, to those appealing mainly to honest local folk just out for a good time with pals. The soundtrack? All hail because here in Pattaya hip-pop and Thai hits reign supreme! Here's a selection:
Candy Shop (Walking Street, next door to Lucifer Disko)
At this snazzy open-fronted bar/club, Southeast Asian J-Los wriggle and writhe beside blingin'backpackers. The live band is raucous and fun.
Differ (North Pattya, behind Big C superstore on Second Road)
Trendy nightspot with live music and a stage. Judging by the car park bulging with Mercedes and BMW's, very popular with middle class Thais.
Hollywood Disco (South Pattaya Road)
A typical Thai discotheque where locals and tourists meet. Popular with the gay community.
Lucifer
Disko (Walking Street)
Sinful, sweaty hip hop fun. The big main room with underground cave décor, stalactites and devil faces resembles hell. However, if you like live hip hop blasting from speakers bigger than many of the girls who flock here, this might just be heaven. Double charging for westerners (drinks), but free entry.
Marine Disco (Walking Street)
An old established disco from way back. Heats up about 1am. Several other 'Marine Discos'operate inside Marine Plaza on Walking Street, open until 05:00 or 06:00.
Tonys Entertainment Complex (Walking Street)
A famous and rather flashy albino discotheque 'everything from walls and stools to sofas is white. Tourists and off-duty bar girls cavort to live rock, pop and hip-hop, alongside DJs. However, plus points like free entry and very attentive service are cancelled out by very expensive drinks bills 'they double charge foreigners (beers around 150 baht).
X-Zyte (373/41 Moo 9, Third Road)
More an arena than a nightclub. Its vast dark interior features a giant stage with huge screens on either side. Flamboyant stage spectaculars, live Thai songs and pyrotechnics later make way for coyote girl dancers, a few boys, and DJ spun hip-hop and hits. Popular with sleaze-free locals so save your “how much?'pick-up line for Walking Street. Entry fee is 300 baht and includes a drink.
Ladyboy Cabaret
Pattaya Beach's cabaret shows offer harmless and exotic entertainment suitable for the whole family. Expect over-the-top costumes, opulent sets and buxom bosoms that defy gravity.
Tiffanys (464 Moo 9, Second Road)
A Pattaya institution and must-see suitable for all ages. With over 30 years of lip pouting, eyelash fluttering and hip swiveling under its garter, this is Southeast Asia's oldest, and perhaps most opulent, ladyboy cabaret. Performances at 18:00, 19:30 and 21:00 each night take place inside a palatial 1,000-seat theatre as dazzling as the show (Book tickets here or read our review).
Alcazar (Second Road)
Beautiful transsexuals mime old and new favourites, deliver comic impersonations and dramatic skits while dressed in glitzy outfits. Tourists by the busload. (Book tickets here).
Malibu (Second Road, corner of Soi 13)
A low-key, open-air ladyboy cabaret nestled amidst a cluster of beer bars on Second Road. No entry fee, just roll up and order a beer.
Pubs and Live Music
If sleazy nightlife is just not you, try some traditional entertainment at one of the many pubs about town.
Pub Culture
Irish-themed establishments Kilkennys (Walking Street), Rosie O'Grady's (Soi 7), Jamesons (80/146 Moo 9, Soi Sukrudee) and Shenanigans (next to Marriott Resort & Spa, 218 Second Road) all offer a comfy home-style mix of pub grub, draught beers, easy listening music, sports TV and friendly people. Gullivers (Beach Road) is a complete contrast to its Khao San Road forefather in Bangkok. Instead of boozy crowds and cacophonous hits, this surprisingly grand affair has an elegant cream exterior, solid wood furniture, pool tables, good beer, quick service and free Internet. Enter The Pig and Whistle (Soi 7) and you'll think you've just walked into a rural England drinking hole.
Not too loud live music
For lively live music and dancing you could hit Pattaya's aforementioned discos (see above). Mostly though it's rowdy US hip hop and Thai pop anthems at unspeakable volumes. Those craving a 'Stairway to Heaven'fix or Miles Davis-esque saxophone workout, and at ear serenading levels, needn't despair however.
Hard Rock Café (429 Beach Road), part of the groovy Hard Rock Hotel Pattaya chain, has a house band playing rock 'n roll classics at high decibels. Memorabilia relating to many of the bands adorn the walls (kicks off at 22:30). Green Tree (436 Second Road) is calmer 'an al fresco bar-cum-restaurant with lush tropical vegetation dangling over the Thai band and patrons. Further north, the charming three-storey Euro pub/restaurant known as Hopf Brew House (219 Beach Road) has not-to-loud live music and very quaffable home-brewed beer concocted by a German beer master.
The Blues Factory (Soi Lucky Star, Walking Street) has two live bands on its books. Earthy blues, r&b and rock each night, have earnt this relatively long-standing venue (open since 2001) 'the best live music in Pattaya'moniker. Others in a similar vein include Bamboo Bar (South Pattaya Road, near the junction with Walking Street), Moon River Pub (179/168 North Road) and the Jazz Pit (255 Soi 5), the latter's rustic interior and jazz trio very popular with aficionados. Many beer bars also feature live music.
Gay Nightlife
A resort for all tastes, Pattaya Beach ensures muscle boys, bikers and boy toys are kept happy. 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 Throb/Splash (325 Pattayaland 3). In addition to being a conventional go-go bar, this also has a fish tank in which well-toned guys glide and dive gracefully through the water in very tight pants. After that there's a storming cabaret show. Sunee Plaza is just off the strip, quieter and more private. |
