Nightlife and Prostitution

Pattaya is renowned for its nightlife

, which caters primarily to foreigners. While some of this is unrelated to prostitution, the central Pattaya Beach Area is known as a destination for sex tourism (alongside several districts in Bangkok and Phuket). While prostitution is technically illegal in Thailand, it is widely tolerated.

The city has literally hundreds of beer bars

, go go bars, and night clubs/discotheques. Virtually all of these are venues for in some form. The nature of commercial sex varies widely; the standard system of "bar fines" is the most common, but there are many exceptions. Most notably, discos and nightclubs are venues for freelancers, while the bars on Soi 6 are essentially brothels. There are also several large massage parlors.

Since the "social order" crackdown of 2004, there are very few sex shows (such as the ping pong shows) although they can sometimes still be found. Depending on the enforcement climate, go go dancers may be seen fully nude, topless or in bikinis on different days or weeks.

Muay Thai (Thai boxing) matches aimed at tourists can be seen at many of the open air beer bar complexes.

Another important, but understated aspect of Pattaya are the foreign restaurants. Often run by expats, most offer quality food at prices far below those found in Bangkok, Samui or Phuket.

The Boyztown, Sunni Plaza and Jomtien Complex areas are famous for their many gay nightclubs, cabarets and go-go clubs. Pattaya is known for its cabaret revues featuring kathoeys (male-to-female transsexuals), with Alcazar and Tiffany's being the largest and most elaborate. Unlike some nightlife areas in Bangkok (particularly Nana Plaza and Patpong) there are not at present any dedicated kathoey go go bars, although there are some smaller bars which have kathoey staff.