For more traditional cultural sightseeing in Pattaya, you can travel 18kms down Thanon Sukhumvit to Nong Nooch Village where you’ll be met by traditional dancers, pleasant natural scenery and playful elephants who’ll be willing to let you enjoy the thrill of a ride. The orchid garden here is reputed to be the world’s largest, so if you like flowers, it may be worth the trip for this alone. The Elephant Village (7kms down Sukhumwit road) provides more long distance travel via elephant back, offering 90-minute mini-treks around its own park, and offers whitewater rafting also.

Most hotels, guest houses and travel shops in Pattaya offer trips and tour packages to almost anywhere within reason, and usually at a reasonable rate. For a half-day trip like Nong Nooch Village, you can expect to pay around 500 baht for transport from your hotel, entrance and lunch. Other Pattaya sightseeing tours are on offer like the Pattaya Discovery Tour, which takes in a Buddhist temples, Monkey mountains, beaches, aquariums, stonecutting villages, and orchid farms. For information on these trips and more, contact your hotel or local travel shop on arrival in Pattaya.

Pattaya’s sights may not be complete without a trip to Koh Larn. Only 40 minutes from Pattaya by boat, the island has beautiful white sand, and clear blue swimming water. A day trip here is a nice respite from the hustle and bustle of the Pattaya town while still offering good facilities and activities. You can relax on the beach, or go swimming, snorkelling, water skiing, or even parasailing here. There are also several decent restaurants serving a variety of cuisine.

Travellers footage: Songkran water festival

The biggest of the Pattaya festivals is Songkran, which is the traditional Thai New Year in April, and is nothing less than a riotous water fight. Usually scheduled for the second week of April (according to the lunar calendar), in Pattaya the festival extends for at least a few extra days during which good natured water fights take place all over the town during the day. The town is packed at this time, and it is a good idea to book early.

Night life in Pattaya - night life guide

Pattaya's nightlife is centred on the go go scene

Pattaya is internationally famous for its nightlife, and has a reputation as Thailand’s naughtiest city. Many flock to Pattaya for the party atmosphere where the nightlife characterises the city and self gratification is on the menu wherever you go.

Whatever you are looking for, Pattaya nightlife has it all, from pub restaurants with sedate music to go-go bars and from trendy packed discos to world famous transsexual cabaret shows. Pattaya is also a great place for a pub crawl with very little distance between them, and many different bar types located closely.

Probably the most famous nightlife area of Pattaya is Walking Street in South Pattaya. From the evening until the next morning this road is closed to vehicles. The street itself and its adjoining lanes, known as sois, are all packed with go-go bars, massage parlours, beer bars and restaurants. It is crowded daily and the noisy bustle attracts those from all over. A walk down the street gives a visitor an eye opening experience of what Pattaya nightlife is all about. Apart from ubiquitous girly bars, Walking Street also has an Irish style pub and several discos which are usually packed and loud. Most of the action continues until two in the morning in this area.

Central Pattaya around sois 7 and 8 down to the beach is not as raucous as South Pattaya, but there are still a mass of beer bars, restaurants and other bars to contribute to the nightlife in Pattaya. This is an area frequented by many of the foreign residents of the city, and is more suited to a combination of drinking and chatting. As with all bars in the town, girls will happily sit with men if provided with a drink.

Pattaya go go girls

Pattaya is full of go go bars and it’s one of the main reasons many visitors come to the city. Unlike most of Thailand, the sex industry thrives in Pattaya as long as everyone sticks to the rules. Prostitution is actually illegal in Thailand but it’s tolerated in certain areas. There are plenty of go go bars in Pattaya, most of the largest being situated around Walking Street and in Pattayaland, nearby. There are more on the lanes leading off Beach Road, as well as a few in Jomtien and North Pattaya if you don’t want to travel too far from your hotel.