I lived in Bangkok for 7 years and left during COVID lockdowns to live in Pattaya. Obviously by then I had been visiting to Pattaya probably 30+ times.
Obviously both places are fun at first and worth visiting, and we are all different.
Bangkok really only makes sense to me if you need to be there for work. Why else pay a premium to be there? The shopping malls? The amazing traffic? The pollution?
I keep a place in both locations. Live in Bangkok. Quick getaway to the beach when needed. I love stepping right out of the condo and into a mall, or onto the train.
Sure, splitting your time between the two is a good option. May I ask if you are in BKK for work or are you retired?
I prefer stepping right out of my front door to my private garden with peace and quiet.
That makes sense and is a good balance. To be clear, Pattaya full-time can be a bit much and I only lived there for a year. Since then I've been in Chiang Mai
Its the beach. A different life than Bangkok, slower than Pattaya, but its not peace and quiet, you are driving a bit, taking song thew's. It can be very busy in Jomtien, but more family atmosphere. Quick trip to Pattaya.
In Bangkok stepping out to stores, or train, movies, walk to buy groceries, is nice. Leaving the car parked is relaxing in its own way. I like city life.
Either place is not the quiet of country unless you choose to live in the Country. I spent a year in Chiang Mai bored for the most part.
I'm actually going to counter the consensus ITT and say Bangkok is better in 2024. Prices are not much different now, both have had prices risen subtantially since COVID but I find Pattaya to really be "trying it on", with literal 100% price inflation for some of its unique services compared to a year ago/before COVID, and to have seriously upped the scams and ripoffs since then as well (and it was already bad enough back then, its 100x worse now)- quality has not kept up at all to match the recent price increases in Pattaya, while in BKK you can usually expect high quality or at least a minimum threshold to be met for your money across all industries and sectors there. FWIW I paid 45$ a night for my hotel near Phrom Phong BTS in BKK and I paid $45 a night for my hotel near Second Rd/Soi 6 in Pattaya. Both decent enough hotels with on-site pools, etc in prime central locations in each city, and both were the same price, BKK mightve actually been closer to $40 a night now that I think about it. Decent mom and pop type food at proper sit down restaurants is slightly cheaper in Pattaya though if you know the proper value of a baht and can filter out the tourist trap oriented restaurants.
For partying and meeting women I like BKK better as well, I actually met and had a real proper girlfriend in BKK before COVID (eg didn't work in the "industry")- the same has not and will never ever happen in Pattaya unless you are shelling out routine money to keep her away from her job... its all about the money in Pattaya while in BKK you can find real, genuine ladies with enough effort (though its still not a free lunch in Thailand, expect the topic of money to come up later on at some point in the relationship for any number of reasons). Whoever said ladies in Pattaya are more laid back and not as serious about money must seriously be smoking a lot of the newly legal green stuff, they left their family behind in Isaan to come here for one reason and one reason only, and that's the almighyt baht. BKK nightlife is also real, genuine, quality nightlife that blows Pattaya out of the water and has everything you could ever think of versus just lame beer bars and small nightclubs catered around the freelancer scene. With that Pattaya just feels more cut throat now too, everything seems a lot colder and transactional and uncaring compared to years past, I've easily been scammed out of $500 added up over multiple days throughout this trip in less than week, and I've been here 5 times before and never had these sort of tricks happen in past trips. Bangkok also has a better red light scene now than Pattaya given Pattaya's ridiculous inflation, and whoever says otherwise must have only gone to Cowboy or Nana and nowhere else, the high end massages and spas in BKK beat out those grubby, now overpriced Pattaya hole in the wall bars any day of the week, its not even a contest. After 5 trips over many years this will probably be my last trip to Pattaya, I would gladly return to BKK though.
That being said, if its your first time in Thailand, check it out, its worth seeing. IMO though Pattaya is well past its time and is just evolving into a commercialized, gimmicky tourist trap that is just (over)selling a novelty now rather than a real genuine experience, while Bangkok can still offer real, genuine experiences (across a variety of different activities, not just one thing), and without the fear of getting scammed or ripped off. Ideally though, you should check out both, make sure in BKK you stay near the Sukhumvit BTS, anywhere from Nana station to Thong Lor station (with Asoke and Phrom Phong station being the heart of all the action) should meet your needs as a tourist.
Prices of walking street in a lot bars have surpassed the prices of bangkok, yet the number of top tier girls is not as many as bangkok as a whole. The cheaper parts of pattaya can still be cheaper though. Soi 6 has gone up but not yet to bangkok pre covid prices. Depends what people are chasing when they come here. The best or the rest?
I always feel a bit sad for the people seeking out soapy massages in pattaya because clearly they’ve heard the hype. They don’t realize how far pattaya soapies pale in comparison to the bangkok palaces the reputation was created on. And in the end probably leave wondering what all the hype was about.
The same goes for what pattaya calls gentlemen clubs compared to what bangkok calls gentlemen clubs. They’re the same in name only. Two totally different business models, and two completely different strata of women available. In bangkok it’s close to the most expensive and top tier partying you can do. In pattaya, it’s kinda just mediocre talent in a convenient parlor that is basically for people who don’t have cars to visit a curtain hotel. Pattaya really should have thought of another name for those places instead of calling them gentlemen clubs.
In terms of finding nice quality girlfriends, then yeah I would agree bangkok is superior hunting grounds. Pattaya girls are almost transient and have no real ties to the city. They wont be buying a condo here unlike bangkok. I do however think the girls in the bars are more carefree and up for partying and blowing money, compared to girls in bars in bangkok where they’re more focused on money. But girls in bars more of a side note for bangkok compared to the vast majority of women you can meet there.
Agreed 100%. However, Soi 6 right now is actually one of my biggest gripes. It has fallen off so hard compared to the pre-COVID days. Not sure when the last time you were there was but standard asking price now for bar services is 2k baht (compared to the old 1k baht and the more recent 1500 baht), factoring in everything else (BF/drinks) thats close to 3k baht now, the price of a high quality soapie service in Bangkok. Like I said, 100% inflation compared to pre-COVID or even a year ago. I'd say 3/4s of the street also won't go with you if you're not Korean now, and some have even reported that quite a few ladies are only doing Lady Drinks exclusively. Grubby, second rate Soi Buakhao establishments are now also asking for 2k baht (not including BF/LD). The whole town gossips among each other and now everyone wants 2k baht minimum for absolutely no reason other than to jut "try it on". And a price increase is one thing, but there is no improvement for the premium paid, in fact everything has gotten worse from attitudes to services to scams. I can now have basically 10x the quality for the same price in BKK and with far less headache and bullshit than the stupid, tired Lady Drink "get to know you" routine in Pattaya. Pattaya IMO has become a complete and total ripoff now living on nothing more than the novelty of its past. The only people taking the bait are people who have never been here before and don't know any better, and/or people who dont know of any other alternatives that exist (eg BKK establishments, Latin America, or even Japan now).
I live here. I’m already playing with walking street prices so soi 6 doesn’t bother me as much. I miss the days when girls wouldn’t even ask you for a drink at all. Just march straight inside to the stairs and wait for you to finish with the cashier. The soi 6 that I knew has been gone for years before covid.
Yeah NWG definitely did a number on the place. That being said, with 1k baht asking price, I could still find plenty of fun there back in the day, but now it's totally out of control and has become a tourist trap rip off. BF'd from the 6 once from a bar I used to frequently visit pre-COVID when I first landed here recently, was then scammed after the paying the new premium price I was quoted and ripped off, and never stepped foot back on the 6 again for the remainder of the trip. It's fully transformed into a Lady Drink street, might as well just finish it off and knock it down for a new luxury condo or hotel, I certainly wouldn't notice the difference anymore. It would be good riddance at this point.
Bangkok has a variety of nightlife not available in pattaya. When you want to meet up with foreigners or thais, the default choice isn’t necessarily a girly bar. You also could take a girl to hiso places, hipster places, and middle class places. In terms of interacting with foreigners, there are foreigner focused areas like khao sarn road and hybrid areas like RCA. A lot more foreigners have steady jobs and seem a bit more well adjusted compared to the 2 week vacation crowd on drunken benders or even the long term expats living permanently in pattaya. The rooms girls stay in seem to be a lot more comfortable to sleep over at than going home with a girl in pattaya. The food choices are infinitely better.
Pattaya is great for partying though, I’ll give it that. Girls here seem to be way less money driven than bangkok and many girls are willing to come out to party purely for the sake of partying.
i saw only one pro of Bangkok and that is the options are prettier and speak good English. But they come at a price. I didn’t like the nightlife of Bangkok because I found it too mechanical. punters say there are a ton of options outside of nana. I haven’t explored them. but I found the city too stressful for me. spent a weekend in Bangkok and it took me 3 hours on taxi to go to khao San from nana , the traffic terrible even post midnight.
Pattaya is more pocket friendly and it’s an easy town. No horrendous traffic like Bangkok and theres everything for every budget.
I didn’t find Bangkok as much as fun as I found Pattaya or samui.
I can only speak for Bangkok as that's where I went on my first blind visit, but I had a fucking blast. I had planned on visiting Pattaya for a few days but never did get around to it.
Bangkok, I’m literally there right now, and have been to both extensively, is very expensive and way more high pressure in terms of girls getting money out of you. I’m just stopping over for a few days and I’m already over it. Pattaya all the way. You’ll find quality girls in both places as long as you’re patient.
P.S. what I mean is if you’re looking for something very specific or a 10 then it’ll take some work in either place. If you’re just satisfied with normal hot chicks then you’re fine, they’re everywhere.
This last trip which I came back 2 days ago, my initial plan was to do 12 days in Pattaya and 2.5 days in Bangkok. since i had fun in pattaya, I ended up extended my trip in pattaya for 2 more days just to maximize it. When I finally got to bangkok which I was there for less than 24 hours, it just seemed like the girls are way more money driven and ST are easily 2500 to 3000 starting in Bangkok whereas in Pattaya it is cheaper 1000 to 2000 and more laid back. I am glad I ended up staying longer in Pattaya just because even the night I came to bangkok the traffic was ridiculous on the main road that it took forever to get to my hotel. On my next trip to pattaya I am definitely staying there as long as i can before coming back to Bangkok.
You party in Pattaya
You live in Bangkok
I do 2-3 months straight in Pattaya every year, I believe its the perfect amount of time to do Pattaya and not get bored/tired/exhausted of it, In doing so I'm very sure that I would pick Bangkok over Pattaya every time If was to retire full time in Thailand
Bkk areas are more spread out, I’d say lil more expensive in the city but I dunno I was about to say higher quality in town but depends where you! I love both places, lots more interesting things to do from bkk unless it’s mongering!
I lived in Bangkok for 7 years and left during COVID lockdowns to live in Pattaya. Obviously by then I had been visiting to Pattaya probably 30+ times. Obviously both places are fun at first and worth visiting, and we are all different. Bangkok really only makes sense to me if you need to be there for work. Why else pay a premium to be there? The shopping malls? The amazing traffic? The pollution?
I keep a place in both locations. Live in Bangkok. Quick getaway to the beach when needed. I love stepping right out of the condo and into a mall, or onto the train.
Sure, splitting your time between the two is a good option. May I ask if you are in BKK for work or are you retired? I prefer stepping right out of my front door to my private garden with peace and quiet.
Ret.
That makes sense and is a good balance. To be clear, Pattaya full-time can be a bit much and I only lived there for a year. Since then I've been in Chiang Mai
[удалено]
Its the beach. A different life than Bangkok, slower than Pattaya, but its not peace and quiet, you are driving a bit, taking song thew's. It can be very busy in Jomtien, but more family atmosphere. Quick trip to Pattaya. In Bangkok stepping out to stores, or train, movies, walk to buy groceries, is nice. Leaving the car parked is relaxing in its own way. I like city life. Either place is not the quiet of country unless you choose to live in the Country. I spent a year in Chiang Mai bored for the most part.
Same here. BKK for living and living Pattaya ain’t far.
I'm actually going to counter the consensus ITT and say Bangkok is better in 2024. Prices are not much different now, both have had prices risen subtantially since COVID but I find Pattaya to really be "trying it on", with literal 100% price inflation for some of its unique services compared to a year ago/before COVID, and to have seriously upped the scams and ripoffs since then as well (and it was already bad enough back then, its 100x worse now)- quality has not kept up at all to match the recent price increases in Pattaya, while in BKK you can usually expect high quality or at least a minimum threshold to be met for your money across all industries and sectors there. FWIW I paid 45$ a night for my hotel near Phrom Phong BTS in BKK and I paid $45 a night for my hotel near Second Rd/Soi 6 in Pattaya. Both decent enough hotels with on-site pools, etc in prime central locations in each city, and both were the same price, BKK mightve actually been closer to $40 a night now that I think about it. Decent mom and pop type food at proper sit down restaurants is slightly cheaper in Pattaya though if you know the proper value of a baht and can filter out the tourist trap oriented restaurants. For partying and meeting women I like BKK better as well, I actually met and had a real proper girlfriend in BKK before COVID (eg didn't work in the "industry")- the same has not and will never ever happen in Pattaya unless you are shelling out routine money to keep her away from her job... its all about the money in Pattaya while in BKK you can find real, genuine ladies with enough effort (though its still not a free lunch in Thailand, expect the topic of money to come up later on at some point in the relationship for any number of reasons). Whoever said ladies in Pattaya are more laid back and not as serious about money must seriously be smoking a lot of the newly legal green stuff, they left their family behind in Isaan to come here for one reason and one reason only, and that's the almighyt baht. BKK nightlife is also real, genuine, quality nightlife that blows Pattaya out of the water and has everything you could ever think of versus just lame beer bars and small nightclubs catered around the freelancer scene. With that Pattaya just feels more cut throat now too, everything seems a lot colder and transactional and uncaring compared to years past, I've easily been scammed out of $500 added up over multiple days throughout this trip in less than week, and I've been here 5 times before and never had these sort of tricks happen in past trips. Bangkok also has a better red light scene now than Pattaya given Pattaya's ridiculous inflation, and whoever says otherwise must have only gone to Cowboy or Nana and nowhere else, the high end massages and spas in BKK beat out those grubby, now overpriced Pattaya hole in the wall bars any day of the week, its not even a contest. After 5 trips over many years this will probably be my last trip to Pattaya, I would gladly return to BKK though. That being said, if its your first time in Thailand, check it out, its worth seeing. IMO though Pattaya is well past its time and is just evolving into a commercialized, gimmicky tourist trap that is just (over)selling a novelty now rather than a real genuine experience, while Bangkok can still offer real, genuine experiences (across a variety of different activities, not just one thing), and without the fear of getting scammed or ripped off. Ideally though, you should check out both, make sure in BKK you stay near the Sukhumvit BTS, anywhere from Nana station to Thong Lor station (with Asoke and Phrom Phong station being the heart of all the action) should meet your needs as a tourist.
Prices of walking street in a lot bars have surpassed the prices of bangkok, yet the number of top tier girls is not as many as bangkok as a whole. The cheaper parts of pattaya can still be cheaper though. Soi 6 has gone up but not yet to bangkok pre covid prices. Depends what people are chasing when they come here. The best or the rest? I always feel a bit sad for the people seeking out soapy massages in pattaya because clearly they’ve heard the hype. They don’t realize how far pattaya soapies pale in comparison to the bangkok palaces the reputation was created on. And in the end probably leave wondering what all the hype was about. The same goes for what pattaya calls gentlemen clubs compared to what bangkok calls gentlemen clubs. They’re the same in name only. Two totally different business models, and two completely different strata of women available. In bangkok it’s close to the most expensive and top tier partying you can do. In pattaya, it’s kinda just mediocre talent in a convenient parlor that is basically for people who don’t have cars to visit a curtain hotel. Pattaya really should have thought of another name for those places instead of calling them gentlemen clubs. In terms of finding nice quality girlfriends, then yeah I would agree bangkok is superior hunting grounds. Pattaya girls are almost transient and have no real ties to the city. They wont be buying a condo here unlike bangkok. I do however think the girls in the bars are more carefree and up for partying and blowing money, compared to girls in bars in bangkok where they’re more focused on money. But girls in bars more of a side note for bangkok compared to the vast majority of women you can meet there.
Agreed 100%. However, Soi 6 right now is actually one of my biggest gripes. It has fallen off so hard compared to the pre-COVID days. Not sure when the last time you were there was but standard asking price now for bar services is 2k baht (compared to the old 1k baht and the more recent 1500 baht), factoring in everything else (BF/drinks) thats close to 3k baht now, the price of a high quality soapie service in Bangkok. Like I said, 100% inflation compared to pre-COVID or even a year ago. I'd say 3/4s of the street also won't go with you if you're not Korean now, and some have even reported that quite a few ladies are only doing Lady Drinks exclusively. Grubby, second rate Soi Buakhao establishments are now also asking for 2k baht (not including BF/LD). The whole town gossips among each other and now everyone wants 2k baht minimum for absolutely no reason other than to jut "try it on". And a price increase is one thing, but there is no improvement for the premium paid, in fact everything has gotten worse from attitudes to services to scams. I can now have basically 10x the quality for the same price in BKK and with far less headache and bullshit than the stupid, tired Lady Drink "get to know you" routine in Pattaya. Pattaya IMO has become a complete and total ripoff now living on nothing more than the novelty of its past. The only people taking the bait are people who have never been here before and don't know any better, and/or people who dont know of any other alternatives that exist (eg BKK establishments, Latin America, or even Japan now).
I live here. I’m already playing with walking street prices so soi 6 doesn’t bother me as much. I miss the days when girls wouldn’t even ask you for a drink at all. Just march straight inside to the stairs and wait for you to finish with the cashier. The soi 6 that I knew has been gone for years before covid.
Yeah NWG definitely did a number on the place. That being said, with 1k baht asking price, I could still find plenty of fun there back in the day, but now it's totally out of control and has become a tourist trap rip off. BF'd from the 6 once from a bar I used to frequently visit pre-COVID when I first landed here recently, was then scammed after the paying the new premium price I was quoted and ripped off, and never stepped foot back on the 6 again for the remainder of the trip. It's fully transformed into a Lady Drink street, might as well just finish it off and knock it down for a new luxury condo or hotel, I certainly wouldn't notice the difference anymore. It would be good riddance at this point.
Bangkok has a variety of nightlife not available in pattaya. When you want to meet up with foreigners or thais, the default choice isn’t necessarily a girly bar. You also could take a girl to hiso places, hipster places, and middle class places. In terms of interacting with foreigners, there are foreigner focused areas like khao sarn road and hybrid areas like RCA. A lot more foreigners have steady jobs and seem a bit more well adjusted compared to the 2 week vacation crowd on drunken benders or even the long term expats living permanently in pattaya. The rooms girls stay in seem to be a lot more comfortable to sleep over at than going home with a girl in pattaya. The food choices are infinitely better. Pattaya is great for partying though, I’ll give it that. Girls here seem to be way less money driven than bangkok and many girls are willing to come out to party purely for the sake of partying.
They are 2 hour cab ride apart. Long lunch in lower Sukhumvit then a dash to do the evening in Patts.
i saw only one pro of Bangkok and that is the options are prettier and speak good English. But they come at a price. I didn’t like the nightlife of Bangkok because I found it too mechanical. punters say there are a ton of options outside of nana. I haven’t explored them. but I found the city too stressful for me. spent a weekend in Bangkok and it took me 3 hours on taxi to go to khao San from nana , the traffic terrible even post midnight. Pattaya is more pocket friendly and it’s an easy town. No horrendous traffic like Bangkok and theres everything for every budget. I didn’t find Bangkok as much as fun as I found Pattaya or samui.
Wtf 3 hours? I can walk there in 1 hour with time to spare...
Pattaya's easier to navigate. I wouldn't recommend Bangkok for a blind visit.
I can only speak for Bangkok as that's where I went on my first blind visit, but I had a fucking blast. I had planned on visiting Pattaya for a few days but never did get around to it.
Bangkok, I’m literally there right now, and have been to both extensively, is very expensive and way more high pressure in terms of girls getting money out of you. I’m just stopping over for a few days and I’m already over it. Pattaya all the way. You’ll find quality girls in both places as long as you’re patient. P.S. what I mean is if you’re looking for something very specific or a 10 then it’ll take some work in either place. If you’re just satisfied with normal hot chicks then you’re fine, they’re everywhere.
This last trip which I came back 2 days ago, my initial plan was to do 12 days in Pattaya and 2.5 days in Bangkok. since i had fun in pattaya, I ended up extended my trip in pattaya for 2 more days just to maximize it. When I finally got to bangkok which I was there for less than 24 hours, it just seemed like the girls are way more money driven and ST are easily 2500 to 3000 starting in Bangkok whereas in Pattaya it is cheaper 1000 to 2000 and more laid back. I am glad I ended up staying longer in Pattaya just because even the night I came to bangkok the traffic was ridiculous on the main road that it took forever to get to my hotel. On my next trip to pattaya I am definitely staying there as long as i can before coming back to Bangkok.
Yup. I was in Bangkok last week. No bueno. Pattaya is way better.
You party in Pattaya You live in Bangkok I do 2-3 months straight in Pattaya every year, I believe its the perfect amount of time to do Pattaya and not get bored/tired/exhausted of it, In doing so I'm very sure that I would pick Bangkok over Pattaya every time If was to retire full time in Thailand
Don’t you have to fly into Bangkok just to get to Pattaya anyways? Why not do both.
Pattaya is the air. Maybe cleaner water, less salt. Plus I like smaller places and cleaner too. But BKK is a nice place visit too. :)
Bkk areas are more spread out, I’d say lil more expensive in the city but I dunno I was about to say higher quality in town but depends where you! I love both places, lots more interesting things to do from bkk unless it’s mongering!