Visiting Pattaya right after Songkran--a good time?

[asdsrfr-old]

I am planning a trip to Thailand sometime in the next few months. Right now the dates that seem to work best would have me arriving just after Songkran has ended. I plan on spending at least a few days in Pattaya--not sure after that where I will head.

My question is--Do a lot of the barboys head home for Songkran? Are the Pattaya bars going to be quieter than usual? If so--when would be a better time to come?

Songkran is 13-15 April in about 90% of places. A few areas including Pattaya have different dates. No doubt a Pattaya resident can confirm those dates.

[Surfcrest]

My question is--Do a lot of the barboys head home for Songkran? Are the Pattaya bars going to be quieter than usual? If so--when would be a better time to come?

Yes, a lot of bar boys go home for Songkran (especially the good looking ones that have made enough money to go home).

Yes, the bars will be quieter.

The problem is going out without getting soaked. Who wants to sit in an air conditioned bar with wet clothes?

[Smiles]

Asdsrfr, you can bet on this: Very Hot.
Not that it's not hot most of the time in Thailand, but April can be a real scorcher with little rain and a dry, brownish ambiance hanging over the countryside views.

I know April is your dates for this trip, but for others who may be in planning mode:

(IMHO of course)

(1) November, December, January are the best months ... first couple of weeks in November can still be rather rainy, which gives the landscapes a greeny lush hew, and the waterfalls still have, er, water. The evenings in these months can be really pleasant and cool, especially in middle December. Also it's the best time for GoGo bar/Host bar population ... not a small consideration. End of January can start to get hot, but mostly the humidity level is quite low. Best time for The Beach (except for Jomtien/Pattaya for which there is no 'best time').

(2) August, September, October: if you like rain, and lots of it, come in these months. I like it then very much because all around is green and clean and ridden with flowers and birds and happy rice farmers. Also a lack of farang (good), but an equal lack of the above mentioned GoGo bar/Host bar population (bad bad bad). Downside to these months (besides the already mentioned 'bad bad bad') is an ever-present high humidity, which saps the energy and lowers brain function (a problem for those already lowered).

(3) February, March: Can be pleasant, though getting quite hot every day (in comparison to #1). The 'Dog Days' of winter/spring where expats ponder and fret existentially over whether to (a) quit Thailand entirely, or (b) find a longterm boyfriend and give up the Butterfly Nature, or (c) throw themselves off some 14th floor balcony (SEE: "Becoming a Drama Queen ... for 6 Seconds"), or (d) pledge to "do better" in the later months regarding one's flimsy record of 22 'offs' a week (average).

(4) April: Fuckin' HOT!!! Waterfalls are just 'falls' ... hardly a trickle of water. A general amorphous grouchiness appears. Air conditioners work overtime. Boys wilt on the GoGo pole.

(5) May, June, July: Fly away. No experience. Yet.

[TrongpaiExpat]

The official dates in Pattaya might be 17,18 and for most other places 13-15 in reality Pattaya gets a jump on the water madness sometime around the the first weekend before, so that would put it from the 10th to 18th. I am not 100% sure that Friday the 9th will be totally dry.

There's a few trouble spots. There's a lady bar on Beach road that puts out big barrels of ice waster and the prime target is songtows. The offender are all farang, and they wait for the songtow to slow for traffic and hit the passengers with large buckets of water thrown from the open rear area of the vehicle. Those arriving in street clothes, luggage, lap tops and shoes are the preferred target.

Next, is the road to Jomtiem, there are several bars doing the same but the worst is over by the Beverly Hotel where some Arabs set up a pressure hose and hit whatever goes by, full force.

Then last, if you want to go to the beach, that section of the road with all the bars, past Jomtiem Complex hit you with water but not as bad as the ones above.

All this I refer to is before the official Pattaya Songkran event.

In Bangkok it's only madness from 13 to 15 and in select areas. It stops at 1800. MRT (the subway) were refusing people entry if you're wet--good for them.

I agree with E Dok Tong. Pattaya's unofficial motto is 'if something's worth doing, it's worth overdoing' - and songkhran illustrates it with a vengeance. It may only be 3 days in most of Thailand but in Pattaya you can bank on it lasting 10 horrible days - the moronic tattoed foreigners who enjoy chucking buckets of filthy water over bus passengers and motorcyclists will see to that. So the dates to avoid here are 10 - 17 April inclusive. After that, perfectly OK for a visit - hot of course, but that's what you come for, isn't it? Enjoy....

[RichLB]

As a long time resident in Pattaya, I concur with all the previous comments. But, if you've never been here during Songkran, think seriously about experiencing it. There really is nothing like it in the world - the entire town (country) gets involved in a mad water fight. You'll get soaked, smeared with baby powder, and meet lots of laughing, fun people (along with a few grouches). Having seen Songkran once, you might not want to see it a second time, but some of us really love it.

[thrillbill]

Songkran in Thailand starts up in Changmai first, then jumps around to places like Phuket, Bangkok, then Pattaya. The problem with Songkran in Pattaya, (like the other replies have suggested), some of the locals and farangs start about 9 days before the "official" Songkran dates for Pattaya. And it is true, it becomes "old hat" when you get wet while walking to the bank or grocery store during the whole week. That is why many of us who live in Pattaya, get the #uck out of here and go elsewhere. True, Songkran can be fun for the "official" two days so I suggest to spend Songkran in Phuket or at soi 4 in Bangkok. Dont' try to arrive in Pattaya during the official days of their Songkran, the traffic is so clogged up that the taxis take an hour or more to get to your hotel once they have hit the city. When I arrive in Pattaya during Songkran, I have to make sure that I arrive after 10pm at night. True about April - May.... it is the hottest time in Thailand.

My question is--Do a lot of the barboys head home for Songkran? Are the Pattaya bars going to be quieter than usual? If so--when would be a better time to come?

Songkran in Pattaya will run, as it has for decades, from 13 - 19 April, with the main "festivities" on the 19th. This is covered at length here on an annual basis, and is unavoidably obvious if you live here, which makes some of the above posters curiously uninformed.

A lot of the boys do head home for Songkran, and a lot also have to go home around that time to report for conscription (20/21 year olds), which alone makes it the worst time to visit as a "sex tourist" (no offence) even if you have actually avoided songkran. Some of the bars have so few boys and customers that they find it easier to close for a week.

"A better time" ? Any other time.

[Shuee]

give it a try i say, you normally find not many falang about & easy pickings at the bars

[painai2]

If you come to Pattaya on April 20, you will have missed Songkran 100%. There are fewer tourists, but the bars are always open. It may be hot, but not really that much hotter than any other time of the year. It's always hot in Pattaya for that matter. I would say April (from April 20 on) and May in Pattaya are great times to visit.