Orientation Pattaya
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Pattaya comprises three separate bays. At the centre is the four-kilometer Pattaya Beach, the noisiest, most unsightly zone of the resort, crowded with yachts and tour boats and fringed by a sliver of sand and a paved beachfront walkway. Signed as Pattaya Sainueng but known by its English name, Pattaya Beach road runs the length of the beach and is connected to the parallel Pattaya 2nd Road (Pattaya Saisong) but a string of sois numbered from 1 in the north to 17 in the south. The core of this block, between sois 6 and 13, is referred to as Central Pattaya (Pattaya Klang) and is packed with hotels, restaurants, bars, fast-food joints, souvenir shops and tour operators. During the day this is the busiest part of the resort, but after dark the neon zone south of Soi 13/2 – South Pattaya – takes over. Known locally as “the strip”, this is what Pattaya is really about, with sex for sale in go-go bars, discos, massage parlors and open-sized beer-bars. The town’s enclave of gay sex bars is here too, focused mainly on the interlinked network of small lanes known as Pattayaland Sois 1, 2 and 3 (or Boyz Town), but actually signed as sois 13/3, 13/4 and 13/5, between the Royal Garden Plaza and Soi 14. Pattaya Beach Road (Thanon Hat Pattaya Neua), also has its beer-bars, but is slightly calmer district.
The southerly bay, Jomtien Beach (Sometimes spelt Chomtien), is also fronted by enormous high-rises, may of which are condominiums, though there are some low-rise, mid-priced hotels along the beachfront road, Jomtien Beach Road (Thanon Hat Jomtien), as well. Fourteen kilometers long, it’s considered Thailand’s premier windsurfing spot. Though the atmosphere is not as frantic as in Pattaya, Jomtien suffers from the same exceeds of beer-bars and shops peddling beachwear and tacky souvenirs and, like its neighbor, is also constantly under construction. The nicest stretch of sand is Dongtan Beach, beyond the northern end of the road: shady, and car-free between 10am and 5pm, it is Pattaya’s main gay beach, though used by all. The bulge of land behind Dongtan Beach, separating Jomtien from Pattaya, is Khao Phra Tamnak, variously translated as Pattaya Hill, Pratumnak Hill or Buddha Hill, site of several posh hotels and the Pattaya Water Park and fun fair.
Naklua Bay, around the northerly headland of Pattaya Beach, is the quietest of the three enclaves, and has managed to retain its finish harbor and indigenous popular despite the onslaught of condominiums, holiday apartments and expat homes. Most of accommodation here is in time-share condos.
