Pattaya tours & day trips

An honest read

Who Pattaya is actually for

Pattaya has a reputation built on one kilometre of road, and that reputation is not wrong — Walking Street exists and it is exactly what people say it is. What the reputation misses is that the city has two other lives. One is Thai families from Bangkok who come for the weekend, the beach at Jomtien and the seafood in Naklua. The other is a genuinely odd concentration of attractions: a temple built entirely of carved wood, a tropical garden that runs to 500 acres, and an island fifteen minutes offshore with water as clear as Krabi's.

So: if you are travelling with children, or you want a beach within two hours of Bangkok without a flight, Pattaya works. If you are looking for the quiet, empty Thailand of the travel posters, go south instead.

Koh Larn: which beach

The island has six beaches and they are not interchangeable. Tawaen is where the ferries land — busiest, most facilities, jet skis. Tien is the one to ask for: smaller, calmer, better swimming, a ten-minute songthaew ride over the hill. Samae is the local beach, cheapest food, fewest tourists. We default to Tien and say so up front rather than dropping you at the pier.

Day trip or overnight?

A day trip from Bangkok is 2 hours each way, which leaves you about six usable hours. Enough for the Sanctuary of Truth and one beach, not enough for both plus Koh Larn. Two nights lets you do the temple in the morning, the island on a full day, and drive back after breakfast — which is what most families end up preferring.

Getting there from Bangkok

Motorway 7 the whole way, 2 hours outside rush hour and 3 inside it. We leave Bangkok at 07:00 or after 09:30, never at 08:00. Private car with a driver is the default; the Pattaya bus from Ekkamai is cheaper and takes 2.5 hours to the north road terminal, which is not where the hotels are.