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Pattaya: love it or hate it, Thailand's largest developed tourist
resort has fans that flock here year-after-year. Over the past two
decades the town has cleaned up its act on a number of fronts --
restoring the water quality, landscaping the beaches and adding bike and
pedestrian pathways, licensing the roaming vendors, and sponsoring
world-class festivities that attract locals and tourists alike. Pattaya
is also a favored place for retirees given the vast choice of
condominiums and excellent and inexpensive healthcare available. Pattaya
offers a wide variety of international dining in addition to as much
fresh seafood as you can eat. The speedy superhighway from Bangkok has
cut down travel time to just under a 2-hour drive. The boom is set to
continue with the opening of Bangkok's new international airport,
situated only an hour away.
Pattaya Gay Scene Updates message board
Men in Pattaya message board
Travel in Pattaya message board
Pattaya's gay scene is still mostly commercial, but there are also relaxed gay businesses where visitors can make friends. Everyone heads to Jomtien Beach in the afternoon to lie under umbrellas and people-watch. The most popular gay nightlife is centered around Boyz Town, just a block from beach in South Pattaya. There are also many venues in Jomtien, just a block from the beach in a shophouse complex similar to Phuket's Paradise Complex.
Pattaya's population is over 250,000 and growing (that's about 10,000 Utopians, not counting the tourists). Pattaya is also a glimmering attraction for gays from neighboring Cambodia.
There are PGF Events throughout the year and the latest update schedule of events is posted at www.pattayagayfestival.com. The 2nd Annual Pattaya Gay Festival: combining celebration and social support! The 2001 PATTAYA GAY FESTIVAL report and pictures from this seaside resort's first pride celebration. |
- Pattaya Gay Festival
- Organizers of the annual event which coincides with World AIDS Day.
- Image Golf
- 406/20 Jomtien Plaza Condotel, Nongprue, Banglamung, Chonburi, 038-756-658, FAX 038-251-521, email. Image Golf offers inclusive packages with transfers, hotel and golf on Thailand's East Coast at 20+ beautiful courses.
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- Image Limousine
- 406/20 Jomtien Plaza Condotel, Nongprue, Banglamung, Chonburi, 038-756-658, FAX 038-251-521, email.
Image Limousine offers transfers to/from Bangkok Airport to hotels in
Bangkok, Pattaya and Hua Hin in luxury limos with CD player and
English-speaking drivers.
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- Castra Gym
- 61/17 M. 10, Soi Khao Talo, Nongpure, Banglamung, Chonburi, 038-433-239, email.
With a relaxed atmosphere, serious trainers and beginners alike will
find an extremely beneficial environment to get the very best results
from each and every training session. Welcoming residents and visitors
to Pattaya, the Castra staff will ensure that you will achieve the best
workout for your needs. Train along to music ranging from hard rock to
the latest dance music. Low prices and great facilities. Gay and
lesbian-friendly.
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- Jomtien Beach
- A dozen gay-patronized sections of beach
umbrellas. From the Police box and the point where the main road from
Pattaya town hits the beach, make a right and follow the brand new brick
bike path or walkway about 200 meters in -- especially the area in
front of Tui's Place. Lot's of tourists and Thai gays. The section
farther down in front of Rabbit Resort is more spread out and attracts
local expats and couples. Strolling vendors sell everything and anything
under the sun. If you're lucky, you might meet the artist, Tiwa, who
sells cards of his erotic watercolors.
- Royal Garden Plaza
- Especially Au Bon Pain coffee shop on
the ground floor, looking onto the indoor fountain (not only do they
have delicious baked goods and sandwiches, but it is a great place to
sit and cruise the crowd). Lots of gays wandering about.
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The Balcony Restaurant (European)
- Soi Anantagul, North Pattaya
Rd (opposite Pattaya City Hall). Gay-owned restaurant with tempting
sweets. Nearby two popular gay massage places.
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Bruno's (European fine dining)
- 306/63 Thapaya Rd, 038-364-600, email.
Brand new location on Thapaya Rd (on the left as you drive towards
Jomtien Beach, just before Jomtiem Complex). Refined European cuisine in
an elegant setting. Excellent wine list and service. For many expats
this is the consistently best restaurant in town. Bruno was the
recipient of a 2002 Utopia Award for his quiet philanthropic work.
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Enchanted Hut Restaurant-Dinner Theatre
- 143/50 Jomtien Complex, Jomtien, 086-008-9469, email. A classic Thai-style restaurant set in a teakwood framed patio surrounded by one million baht's worth of wood sculptures, wall hangings and exotic floral arrangements. Waiters dress in traditional boran
(ancient) costume. The healthy, home-style cooking from around the
world, including Thailand, is served in large portions. They feature
California wines, which is where the owner is from. An exotic
traditional Thai dance show happens every hour or so, performed by very
handsome staff! Four minutes from the Rabbit Resort and Dongtan Beach.
Reservations are encouraged.
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Jua Lee
- 159/113 Mu 5, North Pattaya Rd, 038-429-748, 038-423-748.
This large and unpretentious restaurant offers excellent seafood dishes
at a reasonable price. The owner hustles you to your table and shouts
out your order to his barefoot staff that is in constant motion. Drinks
arrive instantly and food is on your table within minutes. Don't miss a
plate of steamed crab claws, shelled and ready to pop into succulent
sauces; garlic and pepper fried shrimp, crunchy and edible from head to
tail, and truly jumbo-sized; or their superb version of "khai jeow
hawy" with perfectly cooked, plump and tender oysters nested in drizzled
fried egg. Even their steamed chicken, served over flame with rich,
brown broth, is well above and beyond ordinary. No wonder they won
Thailand's coveted "Shell Chuen Chim" culinary award.
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New Orleans Café (Cajun)
- Pattayaland 2 (Boyz Town) on the connecting soi to Pattayaland Soi 3. Spicy Cajun cookin', excellent service and live music.
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Pa Restaurant
- On the highway heading south from Pattaya towards
Rayong, opposite Krisda Golden Condotel Cliff & Park. This tiny,
open air restaurant on the side of the road is just a blur in most
rearview mirrors, but hit the brakes! Oh my god, they have some of the
tastiest Thai food to be found ANYWHERE. Khun Wichit's place is a humble
wonder, even with the collection of food reviews hung on the wall
raving about this national treasure of the tongue. Worth the trouble it
may take to find.
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Thai Yeeum Restaurant and Bar (Thai and European)
- 325/115
Pattayaland Soi 1 (corner of Pattaya 2nd Rd), mobile phone: 038-428-302,
081-862-5713. New venue with gay ownership and management. Guest rooms
available upstairs.
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Tui's Place (Thai and international)
- 318/77-78 M. 12 T. Nongprue, Jomtien Beach, 038-251-432, 038-231-045, email.
Gay owned and managed bar and restaurant right on the gay stretch of
Jomtien beach. Popular late afternoon and early evening hang-out. Khun
Tui is a friendly and helpful resource.
Comments from Utopians:
"Jomtien has become a place worth visiting for the food alone. Nathan's is up there with the best, as someone has already pointed out. For lovers of Italian food, forget Pan-Pan, which is living on its reputation, and head for La Bocca, near the Hakuman Monument and a stone's throw from David's Cafe. Food, decor and service were outstanding -- at a price, but hey, you get what you pay for. Oscar's Bistro, formerly the tired old coffee shop at Poseidon, has taken on a new lease of life under new management with a striking red-and-black decor that carries through into the dashing young waiters' uniforms. Excellent mittel-European and other Western food, at reasonable prices. Friendly, prompt and attentive service (somebody has been putting in the training here). There are Thai dishes available, though I haven't sampled them. Finally, my favourite, with no compromise Thai dishes or short-cuts: L'Arc. Brilliant bistro cuisine at its best, run by a sparkling husband-and-wife team who together light up the room. However, if your idea of heaven is a plate of phad khao with a chunk of cucumber, you won't want to go there. For all these places, BOOK! More and more people are making the trek, and it's a long way to go only to find there isn't a table until the middle of next week." -- Oluanpi, Jan 28, 2012
Pattaya Gay listings
Home of the famous "Boyz Town" and the equally famous Jomtien Beach is just around the headland and you never know what you may find there, so it is definitely worth a visit if you can drag yourself out of bed before the bars open again!Gay facilities in Pattaya include hotels/guest houses, a few general bars and mixed discos, restaurants, and commercial venues (go-go bars, bar beers and sauna/massages).
Boyz Town in Pattayaland Soi 3 continues to be the international gay heart of Pattaya, with venues offering known quality and service and this reputation spills over (sometimes undeservedly) into Pattayaland area generaly - Soi 13/3 (Pattayaland Soi 1), Soi 13/4 (Pattayaland Soi 2) and the connecting part of Pattaya 2 Road, making these few blocks the main focus of the scene in Pattaya. There is a reasonable turnover of bars in Pattayaland Soi 1, and it is sometimes easy not to notice that a bar has changed hands, or even that you have changed bars!
Sunee Plaza is still trying to position itself as a major gay area and the few responsible bars there are trying to lift the tone of this area, but there is still a long way to go. While some of the open bar beers there actually make an effort and are seen by many as an alternative to the go-go scene, many of the rest of the venues in the area (and some of the customers) seem determined to keep the area downmarket, unappealing and unsafe. Hopefully continued effort by the police will keep the area on the upswing, but in the mean time only the major venues are listed here.
The Day Night area also was trying to reposition itself, but there are still only a handful of venues worth visiting (or listing), and these are scattered along deserted, derelict looking streets. Given the changes required to lift the area to a reasonable level, it will be interesting to see if the area comes to much.
The Walking Street, while popular with tourists and full of successful girlie bars, seems to be an unsuccessful area for gay venues - they seem to appear and disappear before too many people even notice. The exception seems the be the little oasis at the junction of Soi 14 and 15 with one or two venues that tend to attract a small dedicated following.
There is a motley collection of massage and other venues in North Pattaya and other more remote areas, but again, apart from a few exceptions, these places seem to come and go fairly quickly or limp along forever with few customers and are often not worth the effort of listing here, let alone trekking out to.
Jomtien however does seem to be coming along - it is not just the beach and a handful of after beach bars any more, there is an increasing selection of accommodation and venues in the area, most in or close to Jomtien Complex. The up and coming place to have fun!
There are regular reports of underage guys in bars and working the streets in Pattaya, South Pattaya and Sunee Plaza, and there are also regular reports of foreigners being arrested for sex with people under the legal age. The only sensible advice is do not do anything with anyone under 18 at a bar or elsewhere - always check ID or just walk away!
If you know of a gay venue that is not listed here, or have some comments on a venue, send me some email or feedback.PjdjP
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