Outdoor Bars in Pattaya: Where to Drink Open-Air, and Where to Go When the Heat Wins

Where the Open-Air Bars Are

Pattaya's outdoor drinking is on the street, not in the venues with "garden" in the name. The best open-air bars are the beer bars along Soi Buakhao and LK Metro, the cluster of open bars and food stalls at Tree Town, the beachfront bars along Beach Road for the sunset, and the rooftop terraces on the big hotels. Walking Street is technically outdoors too, but it is a thoroughfare rather than somewhere to sit.

One correction before you plan the night around it: Las Vegas Beer Garden on Soi Diana, the biggest "beer garden" in central Pattaya, is not outdoors. It is an indoor hall, air-conditioned from the door to the stage. That is not a criticism. It is why so many outdoor nights end there.

What Makes an Outdoor Bar Worth It

You flew a long way to be somewhere warm. Sitting in a hotel bar that could be in any city defeats the object, and for the first hour or two of an evening, especially between November and February, an open-fronted bar with the street a metre away is the whole point of Pattaya.

The ones worth your time have three things. A seat that faces something: the street, the sea, the crowd. Some movement in the air, whether a breeze off the water or a fan that actually works. And no pressure; a bar where you can nurse one drink and watch the world without being managed.

The ones to walk past have the opposite: a stool facing a wall, still air, and staff whose job is to keep you buying.

The Options, Honestly

Soi Buakhao. The long street through the middle of town, and the home of the open-fronted beer bar: a counter, stools on the pavement, a fridge, a fan, a television with the football on. Nothing to look at except the street, which is the attraction. Best from about seven until the heat wins.

LK Metro. A short, bright lane of bars between Soi Buakhao and Soi Diana. Go-go bars mostly, with a few ordinary beer bars with stools out front. Fine for a drink on the way through. It is the shortcut between the street and the hall.

Tree Town. A cluster of open bars and food stalls on Soi Buakhao that sets up in the evening. Loud, cheerful, open to the sky. Eat here before the night starts; a dozen competing playlists is fun for an hour and wearing for three.

Beach Road. The bars along the front deliver what you expect: sunset, sea breeze, the sound of waves if you tune out the traffic. They are at their best from five until the sun is gone and thin out quickly after dark.

Hotel rooftops. The Hilton's and the Dusit's terraces have the best views in town and a dress code of a sort. A sunset drink, not a night.

Walking Street. Pedestrian-only, so open-air by definition, and the bars blast their music into it. But it is a place to walk through, not to sit in, and everyone on it is trying to get you to sit in theirs.

The Problem With All of Them

The heat. Between March and May the air at midnight is still in the thirties. In the rainy season, June to October, the street after a storm is humid enough to feel on your arms. A fan moves the hot air around; it does not cool it. Every open-air bar in Pattaya, however good the seat, has a clock running from the moment you sit down, and by ten on most nights it has run out.

That is why the outdoor night in this town has a second half.

The Beer Garden That Isn't Outdoors

Here's the thing about Las Vegas Beer Garden. The name promises a courtyard under the stars. What you get is better for a Pattaya night: one long hall, roofed, walled and air-conditioned, with ten open-fronted bars down both sides of a walkway and a stage at the far end. It feels like a bar street. It is a bar street indoors, at a temperature that reviewers describe as the coolest place to drink in the area and regulars describe as jacket weather.

There is a live band Tuesday to Sunday, 9 PM–1 AM, the house band MHz Band Thailand, and a DJ on the same stage on Monday. No cover charge. Every one of the ten bars hears the same set; what changes as you walk toward the stage is the volume and the seat.

The bar beside the stage is KQ Bar, the last on the right. Its seats run along the stage's edge, close enough to see the drummer count in. It has the only Guinness on draft in the complex and staff who, by every review, let you get on with your evening. When the band takes a break, the football is on the screens with the sound off.

Compared to an outdoor bar, you give up the sky. You get the band, the cold, and a room where the night can go on until three without your shirt sticking to you.

How the Night Works

Start outdoors while it is worth it. A stool on Soi Buakhao around seven, the street filling, a cold bottle while the air is still moving. Eat at Tree Town or one of the restaurants on the street. Have another somewhere with a view if the sunset is on.

When the humidity wins, walk through LK Metro to Soi Diana. You will hear the band before you see the entrance. Walk into the cold, walk the length of the hall once, and sit where the sound is right for you. If that is beside the band, look right as you reach the stage for the black-and-gold KQ sign.

Everything in that triangle is a few minutes' walk from everything else. Nobody needs a taxi.

The Practical Details

Outdoor bars on Soi Buakhao and LK Metro mostly want cash. Beach Road bars close early. Las Vegas Beer Garden is open daily 6 PM to 3 AM, music Tuesday–Sunday, 9 PM–1 AM; DJ Monday, no cover charge and no dress code; the layout is on the map page and the visitor guide covers first-timer questions. High season, November to February, is the season for the outdoor half of the night. The rest of the year, the indoor half starts earlier.

The Truth About Outdoor Drinking in Pattaya

It is real, it is good, and it has a time limit. The town's best open-air seats are cheap stools facing a busy street or a setting sun, and for an hour or two they are exactly what you came for. Then the heat takes over, and the best "beer garden" in town turns out to be a cold hall with a band in it. Do both, in that order, and you have the Pattaya night that people come back for.