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28 Days in Pattaya: What to buy, what to bring, where to stay and how to get around
I thought I'd offer a few thoughts on what to buy, what to bring, where to stay and how to get around Pattaya. I'll preface my observations that every traveler is different and what might work for me might not work at all well for others.
When It comes to getting around, I'm a walker so given a choice, I prefer to walk whenever I can. I find I see more and learn more that way. That said, when time is short, I take the Baht bus. They run up and down the length of Beach Road, Second Road and Soi Buakhao. They can be hailed at any point and will drop you at anywhere you want, all for 10 Baht. Pattaya abounds with good deals. Of them all, Baht buses may be the best. Then again, maybe the best deal in Pattaya is the street food: it is delicious, abundant and exceptionally cheap. Eat a little bit each time. Eat often. Venture outside your comfort zone. While in Pattaya, between the diet, the heat, and the exercise I got from walking (and from some horizontal exercise to boot), I went from 177 pounds on arrival (80 kilograms) to about 168 pounds (76 kilograms) on departure and I didn't feel weak. I felt fantastic.
When it comes to clothing, my central recommendation would be that you not bring very much with you to Pattaya. Most articles of clothing can be bought as needed. Some articles, like socks, are so cheap that you can afford to treat yourself to a new pair every day. One thing you should, however, bring with you is underwear: the stuff they have on sale in Pattaya is odd by Canadian standards and nobody wants to spend a month feeling not-quite-right down there. If you are a walker like me and spend a lot of time outside, another thing you should bring, in my opinion, are T-shirts made of one of the new quick-drying fabrics. In addition to being super-light and easy to pack, they are easy to rinse in the sink and they dry wrinkle-free. Bring only one set of shoes, but be sure to bring a relatively new pair and bring some shoe deoderizer because it is hard to find in Thailand and if those shoes ever get wet (and it has been known to rain in Thailand from time to time), you and everyone around you will appreciate it greatly. Bring condoms from home (and bring lots of them). Thai condoms may be tough, but they aren't particularly comfortable. Don't bring long pants: it is too hot here for them. If you're like me a do a fair amount of walking in the high heat, bring multiple tennis sweat bands for the head: they are hard to find in Pattaya and when you do find them, you'll pay a king's ransom. I am including in this post a picture of the bag that saw me through the whole of my 28 days in Thailand. Beside it is the stuff I chose to leave behind. Don't bring a lot.
Also, don't waste money booking hotels with a pool if you think it might help attract Thai girls: as I have observed elsewhere, they have zero interest in getting into a swimsuit and exposing themselves to the sun. When it comes to accommodation, don't book ahead. If you've never been to Pattaya and, in order to feel secure, believe that you absolutely must book something ahead of time, book ahead for only one night and then look for a Guest House: they abound, there are always rooms available, they are usually of good and sometimes of exceptional quality, they are cheaper than hotels and the price in cash is always cheaper than when booked on-line. I stayed in many, and the best of them all by a country mile was the Walking Street Guest House. It is modern. It is clean. It is quiet. It is cheap. Its location simply cannot be beaten: as the name implies, it is on Walking Street right across from Lucifer's. If you find a good Guest House and decide you'd like to stay for, say, a week, be sure to ask for a discount: you will be sure to get one.
One thing that took me a while to get used to was the fact that nightlife in Thailand doesn't really get going until 1 o'clock at the earliest. It really doesn't. Walk into Marines at midnight and it will be just you and the wait staff. Two hours later and it will be packed with women looking to have you take them home for the night. Things peak peak at 3 o'clock and in the best places the action is still going strong at 5 o'clock.
Time-wise, what does a great day in Pattaya look like. In my view, it looks like this:
Go to a disco at 2 am. Take a girl of your choice home by 4 am, and be confident that, in Pattaya unlike at home, there will be many from which to choose. Lay pipe until 6 am. Sleep until between noon and 2 pm. If you haven't done so earlier, send your new friend on her way by 3 pm, then head out for a bite to eat, replenish supplies, get a haircut, shave or massage, etc. At 7 pm, take a nap if it pleases you. By 9 pm, be at your place of choice for "short time" fun in the early evening: that might be any one of a thousand beer bars, or Soi Honey, or Soi 6, or Soi Yamato or it might be Beach Road. The choices available to a man in Pattaya for "short time" fun are, for all practical purposes, infinite. What do I mean by that? Well, you'd have to start very early in life, and be at it every day of your life, and live a very long life, to exhaust the opportunities available to a man in Pattaya for "short time" fun. God simply did not give us lives long enough to exhaust the possibilities that Pattaya presents to mortals like us. That's what I meant when I said that the choices available to a man in Pattaya for "short time" fun are, for all practical purposes, infinite. After you've had your "short time" fun, bid the girl goodbye and take a two hour nap. Then get up around 2 am and head to the disco. Repeat the process until exhausted. Oh yes, and enjoy the journey for too soon you will be home (like I am now).