Markets in Pattaya
Pattaya’s markets fall into three different kinds, and knowing which is which saves a wasted trip. There are street markets that serve the people who live here, a night market that has grown into an evening out in its own right, and a built attraction that sells the idea of a market. All five places below are worth your time — but not for the same reason, and not on the same day.
Getting your bearings
Pattaya is easy to read once you have three parallel roads in your head. Beach Road runs along the water. Second Road sits one block inland. Soi Buakhao is another block inland again, running from South Pattaya Road up to Central Pattaya Road, cutting through the middle of the city. Walking Street is at the southern end of Beach Road. Thepprasit Road runs inland in the south. The floating market is outside the city centre and needs transport.
Soi Buakhao Market
This is the market locals use, and it sits right in the middle of where most visitors are staying. It takes over the intersection on Soi Buakhao, largely under canvas awnings, with narrow aisles that get congested quickly. What is sold here is everyday: clothes, shoes, underwear, kitchen things, plants, fruit, and food cooked in front of you. Clothing is the strongest buy — shorts and t-shirts go for very little. It is not polished and it is not aimed at you, which is exactly why it is worth walking through. Market days and hours shift, so ask at your hotel before making the trip.
Tree Town
On the same street, and easy to combine with the market in one evening. Tree Town is an open-air complex rather than a market in the strict sense — a square of bars, live-music venues and food stalls with a market section attached. Walking in costs nothing; you pay at the individual stalls. The food runs from Thai street dishes to kebabs and international cooking, and the pace is unhurried compared with the south of the city. If Walking Street is the version of Pattaya on the postcards, this is the version people who stay a while actually use.
Thepprasit Night Market
The largest and best known of Pattaya’s night markets, on Thepprasit Road in the south of the city. Clothing, accessories and souvenirs fill most of it, but the food is the reason to come — a long run of stalls covering Thai dishes and a wide spread of snacks. There is live music and a general fairground feeling. Come hungry rather than come to shop.
Walking Street by day
Walking Street is famous for its nights, and most visitors never see it in daylight. During the day the same stretch carries stalls selling souvenirs, clothing and street food, at a pace you can actually walk at. If you want to look at the street itself — the signs, the architecture, the sheer scale of it — this is the only time you can do it without a crowd pushing you along. It is a short, easy detour before dinner.
Pattaya Floating Market
Vendors selling from boats along a network of canals, with crafts, souvenirs and food. Be clear about what this is before you go: it is a constructed attraction rather than a working market, closer to a day out than to shopping. Taken on those terms it photographs beautifully and it is an easy few hours.
What you will actually find
- Handmade jewelry and accessories
- Thai handicrafts and textiles
- Fresh tropical fruits and snacks
- Unique souvenirs and local art
- Ordinary household goods at local prices, at Soi Buakhao
Practical notes
- Bring cash. Most vendors take nothing else.
- Bargaining is expected, and it works best when it stays friendly — a smile moves the price further than persistence does.
- Wear something you can walk in; the ground at the street markets is uneven and occasionally wet.
- Eat at the stalls. It is the cheapest and the best food you will have in Pattaya.