Size of Phuket vs Pattaya

[cyan]

I am curious about how Phuket stacks up against Pattaya. I have been to Pattaya a few times and though it has most anything a monger could want, I am interested in something beyond the familiar Walking Street and nearby area.

 

Pattaya is a big place, but if you just considered all the action (bars, girls, ladyboys, mongers, street vendors, shopping, etc) that are located within the boundary of Walking street/Beach Road on one side and Second Road on the other all the way from North Pattaya Road down to the harbor/pier (near Tony's Entertainment Complex) how would the size of that compare to the scene available in Phuket? Is Pattaya as twice as big? 10 times as big? I have never been to Phuket but it looks like the there is more to do/see outside the nightlife there which makes it attractive, But it also looks like it might be small, say more on par with Patpong Bangkok, which might not work if one wanted to stay there a long time.

[philkrenshaw]

Most of the beer bars and gogos are concentrated on one street (Bangla road) which is probably about as long as Soi 6, with a few scattered spots elsewhere. Bangla Roa closes to traffic at night, just like Walking Street. Pretty much nothing goes on there during the day. The beach is very nice. Lots of places for scuba diving if you're into that. Some interesting trips you can take (like out to James Bond Island). Lots of high class resorts around for tourists

[BobCh]

Most of the beer bars and gogos are concentrated on one street (Bangla road) which is probably about as long as Soi 6, with a few scattered spots elsewhere. Bangla Roa closes to traffic at night, just like Walking Street. Pretty much nothing goes on there during the day. The beach is very nice. Lots of places for scuba diving if you're into that. Some interesting trips you can take (like out to James Bond Island). Lots of high class resorts around for tourists

Not much to add here.

Gogo's and BJ bars are rare, it's more of a beer bar scene, so I'd rather compare it to Soi 7 or 8. And it truely just is one street with some small side roads.

There's a lot more family entertainment in and around Patong. Its more the place to have a longterm TGF or some LTs between beach/scuba days.

Edit: Never heard of anything like the jetsky scam in Patong. But tailors are same same of course

[999Baht]

Phuket is an island...a very big island.

Most of the nightlife/P4P is found in Bangla Rd as others have mentioned in Patong.

If you wonder around a bit you can find a little more but Phuket mainly has beer bars and nightclubs as far as places to meet girls goes.

There is a small section where GoGo's are but that is all.

 

The other towns on the island all tend to have beer bar complexes also...Kata/Karon as probably the 2nd largest on the island but it is very small compared to Patong and especially Pattaya.

 

Phuket probably has more non P4P activities on offer though.

If you do go there then I recommend finding a good girl and taking her to Phi Phi Island.

It's really an amazing place at night especially with the beach bars, fire dancing and chilled atmosphere.

[tony113]

All the action is in or near bangla road, there are a few smaller towns, cata Karon, much better beaches nicer resort type hotels and a lot more non mongering activites, but most important of all it,s a lot more expensive than patts or even bangkok

[cyan]

Thanks for all the great feedback, it is a smaller area than I expected. I have heard people (including couples/females) speak well of their visit to Phuket, Krabi, and the smaller islands close by, but I could not get a sense of how big the main nightlife area would be for the single guy traveler. It sounds like a place I would enjoy for a week or so, especially if I found a LT lady to visit some of the outlying places, but I would also be tempted to find a LT in Bangkok and just head down the coast, but not as far as Phuket since that would also be new to me.

[aum]

I really liked Phuket for tourist stuff, rode elephants, snorkeling and swimming but for nightlife, whoa, get ready for some serious sticker shock. I sat down in one place on Bangla rd and about fell out of my chair when I saw beer going for 500 baht each. I stopped in at the Hard Rock for a drink one evening and ended dropping 1000 baht for 2 mixed drinks and felt like the sucker of the century, my girl wanted to listen to the band so we checked it out. I have no idea for ST and LT, I was vacationing with my Thai girlfriend at the time but I doubt the prices are anywhere near to what we see in Pattaya. Bring some cash, it will go fast in Phuket.

[cyan]

Too bad about the high drink prices, that doesn't sound like a welcoming place.

 

Found this "Stickman Weekly 24/4/2011" report entitled: Phuket For Naughty Boys. From his report it looks like prices for food/hotel have stabilized over the past 5 years, but overall you still pay a premium.

[BobCh]

Thanks for all the great feedback, it is a smaller area than I expected. I have heard people (including couples/females) speak well of their visit to Phuket, Krabi, and the smaller islands close by, but I could not get a sense of how big the main nightlife area would be for the single guy traveler. It sounds like a place I would enjoy for a week or so, especially if I found a LT lady to visit some of the outlying places, but I would also be tempted to find a LT in Bangkok and just head down the coast, but not as far as Phuket since that would also be new to me.

If you wanna grab a longterm girl in BKK I would recommend you go to Ao Nang Beach, Krabi. There's almost no mongering scene, a few bars only, but a lot of beach, nice restaurants, lots of daytime things to do like cayaking, elephant riding, temples and lots of very nice (and almost empty) beaches. Theres also the best dive base (Day Trip to hin daeng hin muang!) but you sure prefer to dive into her in the night

 

Edit: Ask me for more details if you go there.

[Stillearly]

There are are about 20/30 bars in each Soi along Bangla, so well over a hundred bars in that area, I think the Bars are on the whole better than you would find in Patts, but if you are a fan of Gogo's then not the place for you, many are a ripoff , be careful

 

Many great beaches and things to do in the daytime, certainly worth a weeks trip, to see if you like. Drinks and Food can be more expensive, but I actually find myself spending more in Pattaya ( Lady Drinks are cheaper therefore I buy many more .... )

[paulo_131]

for partying i would say go to pattaya... well becuase even thou Phuket might have more stuff to do... why would u wanna do stuff really hung over?

maybe if patts got 2 much and u wanted 2 dry out it would be a lovely place.

 

but if ur like me (thats a big if)

i prefer to sleep off my hang over all day and stay out of that day time sun. and wait untill dark then go outside for some drinking and mongering.

 

massage girl in Phuket all quoted me 2k baht off the bat, i paid 2k for long times and they wernt 10/10's i found a couple of 10/10's and most laughed at 2k long time, i think the hotties prefer short times untill its later in the night

 

oh and i paid 1000 for a short time... she was hot but

 

yes i have seen a lot of places charge 500 baht for a beer, and there was nothing special about these places, some were empty... i find the best places are the ones with the most girls, and ucan find bars with heaps of girls that charge less

 

in Phuket bar fine was from 300-800... one of my friends was even told by the mamasan he could only bar fine the hot one if he bought 4 more drinks

 

yer id say patts for drinking, mongering, wash and repeat.....

[pubstud]

Jesus Christ I didn't realize Phuket had got that expensive. I haven't been there since a year or two before the Tsunami and I had heard that the locals went kinda crazy with prices due to the loss of income from the Tsunami but seems like they got ridiculous, what with all the other negative factors you hear about - tuktuk mafia and violence against tourists, seems Phuket is a good place to avoid.