Soi Buakhao and Tree Town: Pattaya Nightlife Without Walking Street

Short answer: Soi Buakhao is where Pattaya goes out when it is not performing for tourists, and Tree Town — the open-air food and bar complex halfway along it — is the best-value eating in the city. It is cheaper than Walking Street, far less intense, and the food is substantially better. If you have written Pattaya off as one long neon strip, this is the street that changes your mind.

We have filmed up and down this soi more than anywhere else in Thailand. Here is what is actually there, what it costs, and how it compares to the version of Pattaya everyone already knows.

Where Soi Buakhao is

Soi Buakhao runs north to south between Second Road and Third Road, roughly parallel to the beach and about a ten-minute walk inland from it. The busiest stretch is between the LK Metro junction and Soi Chaiyapoon — known locally as Soi Pothole, for reasons that become obvious — and that is where most of the bars, food carts and massage shops are stacked.

It is a working street, not a pedestrian entertainment zone. Motorbikes come through constantly, there is no pavement in long sections, and it runs from late afternoon until very late. That mix is exactly why it feels less staged than the beachfront.

Tree Town: the food court is the real reason to go

Tree Town sits just off Soi Buakhao and is the single most underrated thing in Pattaya. It is an open-air complex of small bars and restaurants under string lights and tropical trees, with a genuine night food court at its centre — dozens of kitchens, one seating area, street-stall prices.

The variety is the point. Northeastern Thai grills, seafood, noodle stalls, Japanese, a few Western options, all in one place at 60 to 150 THB a dish. You can eat there four nights running and not repeat yourself. Unlike the beach road restaurants, nobody is standing outside with a laminated menu trying to pull you in.

What things actually cost here

Moo kratha, the best-value meal in Thailand

If you eat one thing here, make it moo kratha — Thai barbecue hotpot. A domed grill pan goes on hot coals at your table with a broth moat around the rim, and you cook your own. The buffet version gives you unlimited raw pork, chicken, prawns, squid, mushrooms, greens, noodles and usually dessert and ice cream, for a flat price per person.

We filmed one near Soi Buakhao charging about $5 a head for the full spread. Most places run 199 to 349 THB depending on how good the seafood selection is. Two people eat themselves to a standstill for under 700 THB. Nothing else in Pattaya comes close on value.

If you are new to Thai street eating and nervous about it, the short version is that busy places with high turnover are the safe ones — the longer version is in our guide to street food, ice and tap water in Thailand.

The drink deals

Tree Town is where the all-you-can-drink offers live. We filmed one at Butsaba running 199 THB — about $6 — for two hours unlimited, with a counter on the wall so you know exactly when your time is up. Two hours of SangSom and soda for the price of two beers on Beach Road.

Ordinary bar prices on Soi Buakhao are 70 to 120 THB for a large beer, against 150 to 220 THB in the beachfront and Walking Street venues. That gap is the entire argument for drinking inland.

Massage, which is the other reason to be on this street

Soi Buakhao has more massage shops per hundred metres than anywhere else in the city, and the competition keeps prices honest. A one-hour foot massage is around 200 THB; we regularly pay about $10 for a full two hours. Traditional Thai body massage runs a little more. Shops are open from late morning until well past midnight, and you rarely need to book.

Soi Buakhao vs Walking Street

They are not really competitors. Walking Street is a spectacle — go once, walk its length, take the photos, and understand that prices there are set for people doing exactly that. It is pedestrianised after 6pm, loud, and heavily aimed at first-time visitors.

Soi Buakhao is where people who live here actually spend their evenings. It is cheaper across the board, the food is better, and it is open to traffic, which makes it feel like a street rather than an attraction. Most visitors do Walking Street once and Soi Buakhao repeatedly.

Practical notes

• Cash. Almost everything here is cash only. There are ATMs on Second Road, and Thai banks charge around 220 THB per withdrawal, so take out more, less often.
• Getting there. Any baht bus on Second Road drops you within a two-minute walk for 10 THB. From Jomtien it is a 20-minute ride.
• Scooters. Soi Buakhao at night is the worst place in Pattaya to be learning to ride. If you do rent one, read what voids a motorbike insurance claim in Thailand first — riding unlicensed is the single most common reason claims get refused.
• If something goes wrong. Pattaya has good private hospitals and pharmacies on nearly every corner. Our guide to getting sick in Thailand covers who to go to for what.
• Late food. The noodle stalls run well past 3am. This is a genuine feature of the street.

For how the street fits into the rest of the city, see our Pattaya neighbourhood guide, and for what a full day here costs, Pattaya on $50 a day breaks it down line by line.

Quick answers