Walking Street in Pattaya: What Is It?

Anyone who has ever been to Thailand or at least heard of this country knows about the street called Walking Street in Pattaya (Pattaya Walking Street), which is the epicenter of debauchery and wild fun.

Even though sex tourism is considered unofficial and even persecuted by law, many foreign tourists looking for easy flirting or no-strings-attached sex come exactly here. However, Walking Street in Pattaya is not just debauchery (though there is much more of it here than in any other city), but also plenty of other evening entertainments. Let’s take it step by step…

General Information

Walking Street in English means “pedestrian street.” However, it only becomes that after 6 PM, when the street is closed to vehicular traffic.

It is located between Pattaya’s main beach and the pier where ferries depart to distant islands. Here you can find:

1. Go-Go bars.
2. Drinking bars.
3. Nightclubs.
4. Semi-private discos.
5. Restaurants.
6. Cinemas.
7. Massage parlors.

Go-Go Bars

Let’s start with perhaps the most common type of entertainment on Walking Street – Go-Go bars. These are somewhat like small strip clubs, only in a more extended version. They are easy to find because outside the entrance, you’ll usually see young Thai “greeters” who will literally hang on your neck, inviting you inside with promises of an unforgettable evening.

Surprisingly, entry is free, and the reason for this is that the main earnings do not come from an entrance fee but from the commission paid by the girls who are picked up by foreign tourists inside the bar.

Indeed, it’s a rather simple scheme: a half-naked girl comes up to you and does everything she can to seduce you. If you decide to buy her a drink, the bar also benefits, as it’s far from cheap here (for comparison, a bottle of water in a bar costs 100 baht, while elsewhere it’s only 20 baht).

Besides the girls who sit with visitors, there are also those who dance almost fully naked throughout the venue, so the atmosphere here is quite conducive to casual hook-ups.

Remember one rule – taking photos or videos inside the bar is strictly prohibited, and the methods of enforcement differ, so do not tempt fate.

Drinking Bars

Where can you go if you really don’t feel like “picking someone up” but just want to have a drink in good company? For this, there are open bars where beverage prices are lower, and the degree of debauchery is also lower. No, there is no bar without girls whose main task is to spark your interest – in the end, this is part of how drinking establishments make money.

A bar is an open space where you can play pool, watch people around you while sipping whiskey and cola, or watch some sports broadcast – a typical bar, really.

The same rule applies here: if you buy a girl a drink, it will cost a bit more (this is called a bar-fine).

Restaurants

If you want to eat, Walking Street has a huge selection of restaurants and cafés offering a snack for crazy prices. No, the reason for the high cost is not exclusive dishes or the freshest ingredients or even a foreign chef specifically invited from Europe, but simply the venue’s location on the pedestrian street.

So here’s our advice: if you’re really hungry, walk a few blocks away from Walking Street. You’ll find tastier food at lower prices.

Nightclubs and Discos

If you love dancing and a lively atmosphere, you can visit one of the nightclubs or discos, of which there are plenty on Walking Street. The most famous include:

1. “Mix” (aimed at European tourists, with a special zone where you can take a break from pounding music and enjoy live Thai music).
2. “Insomnia” (popular among Europeans; many Thai women and men come here to “pick up” clients).
3. “Lucifer Disco” (similar to “Insomnia,” only in a different format).
4. “Pier” (aimed at European tourists).
5. “Hollywood Pattaya” (a purely Thai venue for local residents, so it’s not recommended for tourists to visit).

Although European travelers might be used to clubs staying open “until morning,” these spots generally close at 2 AM due to Thai law requiring all venues to be closed at that time.

Admission to clubs or discos is free, but there is an unspoken rule: if you come in, you buy a drink. Persistent managers keep an eye on this, and every five minutes they’ll bother you, asking you to purchase a beverage.

Tip: once you get inside, buy yourself a drink and just sip it slowly.

Other Entertainments

Other entertainments include what many tourists actually come to Walking Street for – sex shows. How many such places are there? Countless. The main thing is not to confuse a regular sex show with a “show with a happy ending,” which can happen, too.

There can be many variations of these shows, but the main goal is to excite the visitors.

The job of the greeters is to pique your interest, so they will show you pictures and may even grab your hands (be indulgent, since you came to Pattaya Walking Street in the first place).

In addition, there are plenty of massage parlors here offering not just standard massages but also “massage with a happy ending.”

Safety

Visiting Walking Street is definitely worth it, even if just to see it, but keep in mind certain safety requirements, including:

1. Don’t keep money in your pants pockets (and better yet, don’t carry large amounts of money with you at all), because there are many pickpockets on Walking Street, including female ones. Since it’s easiest for them to approach, hug, or otherwise distract a man, the rule applies mostly to men (though women shouldn’t let their guard down either, anything can happen).
2. Don’t walk into deserted areas away from Walking Street (especially on foot); you could run into robbers.

How to Get to Walking Street?

Walking Street in Pattaya is located near the central beach and is a continuation of Beach Road. Its length is about 900 meters, so you can walk its entire span in about 10–20 minutes at a leisurely pace, but if you stop to look at all the signs and chat with every greeter, you won’t make it in under an hour.

An interesting fact – many travel agencies offer a 200-baht “guided tour” of Walking Street. Don’t fall for this obvious scam: there’s nothing here that would require a guide’s presence.

Map

Walking Street in Pattaya is marked on the map below, so you can familiarize yourself with it and use it during your walks.

Other Resorts

Naturally, other resorts have something akin to Pattaya’s Walking Street, but they can’t match the capital of Thailand’s resorts in terms of heated passions.

On Phuket, such a street is found at Patong Beach and is probably the closest to Pattaya’s main attraction.

As for Samui, its Walking Street has essentially been turned into a sort of fair, where you can buy souvenirs and browse other stores.

So, Pattaya Walking Street is the city’s main attraction, and everyone traveling to Thailand should visit it.

It doesn’t matter whether you plan to enter the local venues or not – simply strolling along and feeling the free-spirited atmosphere is worth it.

Don’t forget to share your impressions of this place in the comments; they’re useful for those who haven’t yet decided where to spend their vacation.