Destination · Eastern seaboard
Pattaya
- Getting there
- 2 hrs from BangkokOr 90 min direct from Suvarnabhumi
- Best months
- Nov–FebCool and dry. Sep–Oct is the wettest
- Temperature
- 26–34°CWarm all year
- Nights to allow
- 2 to 4Usually paired with Bangkok
- Money
- Cards widelyCash for boats, markets and baht buses
The closest sea to Bangkok, two hours down the motorway, and a resort with a reputation it has been steadily outgrowing. The nightlife is still there if you want it; so now are a genuinely good aquarium, a sanctuary garden, several quiet southern beaches and the best offshore islands within reach of the capital.
Decide second
When to come, month by month.
Thailand does not have one season. Bar height is that month’s typical rainfall here, the symbol above it is the weather to expect, and the figures below it how busy it gets.
Pick a month to read it in full.
Peak season
January
The cool season, which here means pleasant rather than cold. The best month of the year to be walking a city.
- Typical rain
- 12 mm
- Conditions
- Cool, dry
- Crowds
- Busy
Peak season
February
Dry, clear and comfortable. Book ahead; this is when everyone comes.
- Typical rain
- 25 mm
- Conditions
- Cool, dry
- Crowds
- Busy
Warming
March
The heat begins in earnest and the air gets hazier. Still dry, still very doable if you plan around the middle of the day.
- Typical rain
- 50 mm
- Conditions
- Hot, dry
- Crowds
- Moderate
Hottest
April
The hottest month of the year, regularly touching 40°C. Songkran falls mid-month and much of the country stops for it.
- Typical rain
- 80 mm
- Conditions
- Very hot
- Crowds
- Moderate
Rain begins
May
The monsoon arrives. Rain tends to come as a heavy late-afternoon burst that clears, rather than an all-day grey.
- Typical rain
- 170 mm
- Conditions
- Hot, humid
- Crowds
- Quiet
Wet season
June
Warm, humid and green, with rain most days but rarely all day. Rates drop and the crowds thin.
- Typical rain
- 110 mm
- Conditions
- Humid
- Crowds
- Quiet
Wet season
July
Similar to June and slightly wetter. Good value, and the temples are far more comfortable than in April.
- Typical rain
- 120 mm
- Conditions
- Humid
- Crowds
- Moderate
Wet season
August
Wetter again, with longer spells of rain. Perfectly workable for a city trip; less so for anything outdoors all day.
- Typical rain
- 130 mm
- Conditions
- Humid
- Crowds
- Moderate
Wettest
September
The wettest month. Street flooding after heavy rain is normal and clears quickly, but it will interrupt a day.
- Typical rain
- 270 mm
- Conditions
- Wet
- Crowds
- Quiet
Wet
October
Still wet through the first half, then easing markedly. The last week can already feel like the cool season.
- Typical rain
- 240 mm
- Conditions
- Easing
- Crowds
- Moderate
Peak season
November
The rain stops, the humidity drops and the country is at its most comfortable. The best month to come, and priced accordingly.
- Typical rain
- 70 mm
- Conditions
- Cool, dry
- Crowds
- Busy
Peak season
December
Cool, dry and busy, with rates at their highest over Christmas and new year.
- Typical rain
- 15 mm
- Conditions
- Cool, dry
- Crowds
- Busy
Decide third
How long, and what shape.
Three shapes we actually sell. The nights are real and so is the pace — each one is a starting point we rebuild around who is travelling, not a fixed menu.
1 night · 2 days
Touch & Go
Two hours from Bangkok, and one night is the temple and the island. Neither of them is what Pattaya is famous for.
Day 1
Down the motorway, and the Sanctuary of Truth
Two hours from the city or the airport. The Sanctuary is an all-teak temple still being carved by hand, and it is the best thing in Pattaya by a distance.
Day 2
Koh Larn, then out
Forty minutes by ferry to beaches that look nothing like the mainland. Samae or Nual rather than Tawaen, which is where the coaches land.
Pattaya’s own beach is not the reason to come; the island is. We build the day around the ferry timetable rather than the hotel.
2 nights · 3 days
Quick Getaways
A family beach break within two hours of Bangkok, built entirely in the half of Pattaya that its reputation does not describe.
Day 1
In from Bangkok
The Sanctuary of Truth in the afternoon, then dinner on Jomtien rather than in the centre.
Day 2
Koh Larn
The full day on the quieter beaches. Clear water, and a forty-minute ferry that children treat as the best part.
Day 3
Gardens, then out
Nong Nooch in the morning — genuinely a serious botanical garden, whatever the elephant show suggests — and Khao Chi Chan’s laser-cut Buddha on the way north.
Where we put you decides which Pattaya you get. We do not put families anywhere near Walking Street, and we will say why if you ask.
4 nights · 5 days
Destination Deep Dive
Four nights on the eastern seaboard, using Pattaya as a base and getting out of it twice.
Day 1
Arrive, settle
Jomtien, and the evening market at the far end of it.
Day 2
Koh Larn
The whole day, on Samae or Nual, with lunch on the sand.
Day 3
The Sanctuary and the gardens
Nong Nooch in the morning, Khao Chi Chan and the Sanctuary of Truth in the afternoon light.
Day 4
Koh Samet
Further east and better again — a national park island with white sand that squeaks underfoot. A long day, and worth it.
Day 5
A last morning, then out
The floating market, or the water park with children, then two hours back to the airport.
Four nights here works well with children and less well without them. If it is two adults, we would spend two of these nights on Koh Samet instead, and we would tell you so before quoting.
What you came for
Three things worth the day.
Koh Larn
Forty minutes by ferry and the reason to come at all. Clear water, half a dozen beaches, and a different island to the one the day-trippers see if you stay past four.
- Time
- Full day
- Boat
- Ferry or speedboat
- Cost
- From ฿30 return
The Sanctuary of Truth
An enormous all-teak temple on the shore, carved entirely by hand and still unfinished after forty years. There is nothing else like it in Thailand.
- Time
- 2 hrs
- Where
- Naklua
- Entry
- ฿500
Nong Nooch Garden
Six hundred acres of formal garden and one of the best orchid collections in the world, twenty minutes south. Far better than it sounds.
- Time
- Half day
- Where
- 20 min south
- Entry
- From ฿500
For Indians
Entry requirements
- Route
- Visa exemption
- Maximum stay
- 30 days
- Fee
- None
When this starts India was moved to this 30-day exemption by the Thai Cabinet on 16 July 2026. It commences 15 days after the Ministry of Interior announcements are published in Thailand’s Royal Gazette. We confirm in writing which rule applies to your travel dates before you fly, and we will not let you travel on the wrong one.
Every traveller must also file the Thailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC) online within 72 hours of arrival. It is free, and airlines check it at the gate — without it you will not be allowed to board.
Applies to Indian passport holders. Last reviewed 12 August 2026. Entry rules change; we confirm the current position at the time of booking.
Packages through Pattaya
1 package
Worth knowing
What we would tell you on the phone.
Choose your end of the bay
North Pattaya and Jomtien are ordinary family beaches. Central Pattaya after dark is not, and the difference is about a kilometre.
The main beach is not the swim
Water quality along Pattaya Beach itself is variable. Go to Jomtien, or better, take the boat to Koh Larn.
Baht buses have a fixed fare
Ten baht along the standard route. If a driver quotes you a price up front, he is chartering you the whole vehicle.
Not automatically a family compromise
Plenty of Pattaya is family-friendly, but plenty is emphatically not. Where you stay decides which trip you get.
Pairs well with
Where most people go next.
Bangkok
Two hours, and the usual pairing for a short trip.
Koh Samet
Two hours further east, and a considerably better beach.
Rayong
Quieter coast again, and the ferry point for Samet.
Pattaya, built around you.
Tell us who is travelling and when. We will build the rest around the season.