Phuket or Pattaya?

It is a very common dilemma- will it be Phuket or Pattaya on your Thailand trip. Here we will try to clear your doubts by providing our inputs based on what we experienced at Phuket or Pattaya. Both cities have many unique features that make them special and also have many similarities that arise the doubt in selecting any one of them. A little introduction to both the cities before we summarize them. Hereunder are two images for a sample comparison, first image is of Maya Bay, Phuket and second image is of Pattaya beach.

Similarities

Phuket and Pattaya both are known for their exuberant night life. While walking street in Pattaya is popular clubbing point, Bangla street in Phuket offers the same if not better experience. Both have a popular cabaret namely Simon for Phuket and Alcazar for Pattaya. They have similar attractions in the city like the 3D museum, underwater world, Tiger Park, Big Buddha, Floating Market and Coral Islands. Both are heavily touristy with plenty of tour options. The major difference lies in the cost of living in these two cities.

Differences

Almost similar in offerings, Phuket is way expensive than Pattaya. Transport, stay, food, tours, message, practically everything is more expensive in Phuket than Pattaya. Even the tours offered in Phuket cost one and a half times more of what it would cost in Pattaya. Pattaya is for the low budget tour travellers while Phuket is for travellers with more budget. Pattaya is a coastal city located by the Gulf of Thailand which has access to nearby islands. There are not many beaches in Pattaya. Phuket is the largest island in Thailand located by the Andaman Sea and has many different types of beaches in the island. Unlike Pattaya, it has other natural attractions like waterfalls, springs along with the man made ones. It has several beautiful islands near it in the Phang Nga bay like Phi Phi islands that make it more touristy than Pattaya.

Pattaya is closer to Bangkok and hence, may be covered with Bangkok in 3 days trip. Phuket is very far from Bangkok but closer to Krabi and hence, you may visit Krabi along with Phuket in 4-5 days. Below is a summary of the differences to help you choose from the option:

Verdict

If you want to only enjoy the night life, bars, clubs and some good message at very affordable budget choose Pattaya. If you are a beach lover and have a special attraction for natural landscapes, swimming, green water, blue lagoons, forest covered cliffs, then choose Phuket but be ready for higher expenses. Our verdict in Phuket or Pattaya was for Phuket. You can experience the best of both worlds here. We enjoyed way more in Phuket than we did in Pattaya. The specialty was the island tours from Phuket and its general atmosphere. as we are not into clubbing and night life.

Our experience

We got a pretty good deal on the hotel since we visited in August, around ₹1200 per person per day in a sea facing resort. Eating local saved a lot of money and hiring a motorbike to reduce the cost of taxis is a pretty good idea. The island trips cost us a bit higher than usual as we did not have time to ask around. Regarding the island tours from Phuket, do remember, you may get the same trips from Krabi as well. This can cut down your stay in Phuket to save more.