Thailand Guide
The east coast
Entertainment and nightlife
1 The Blues Factory Soi Lucky Star, Walking Street, South Pattaya 
www.thebluesfactorypattaya.com Considered to be the best live-music venue in Pattaya, with nightly sets (except Mondays) from the famously charismatic rock guitarist Lam Morrison and his band, and (except on Wednesdays) from the house blues band as well. Happy hour 8.30–10pm.
2 Gullivers' Travelers Tavern Pattaya Beach Rd, north of Soi 1, North Pattaya Like its branches on Bangkok's Khao San and Sukhumvit roads, this is a big-screen sports pub with pool tables, wi-fi and a streetside beer-garden.
3 Heineken Beer Garden Central Festival Centre, Pattaya 2 Road, North Pattaya. Outdoor tables and live music nightly (from about 8pm) from Thai singers and bands, doing mostly Thai pop and country.
4 Hopf Brew House Between sois 13/1 (Yamato) and 13/2 (Post Office), Pattaya Beach Rd, Central Pattaya. Cavernous and very popular air-con beer hall that brews its own Pilsener and wheat beer, serves generous wood-fired pizzas and stages live music nightly. Attracts a youngish crowd, including vacationing couples.
5 Jazz Pit Soi 5, North Pattaya Nightly live jazz (from 8pm) from the in-house trio in the cosy lounge-bar adjacent to the PIC Kitchen restaurant, and occasional high-profile celeb jamming sessions.
6 Kum Punn Pub Soi 2, North Pattaya Typically Thai take on a country-and-western bar (lots of wood and the occasional buffalo head) that's known for its live bands who play nightly sets of authentic Thai folk music as well as soft rock.
7 Minus Five Ice Bar Amari Nova Suites, Soi Sukrudee, North Pattaya; phone for free transport for groups of 4 or more
038 489488 www.minus5pattaya.com Your chance to literally chill-out at this cube of a bar sculpted entirely from ice, right down to the draught beer kegs on the ice-cold counter. For B500 (or B300 before 8pm) you get lent a winter coat and mittens and are given 20 minutes to down as many vodka shots as you can. Then it's back out into the warmth of the trendy Bangkok-style bar adjacent, or to the Minus Five Supperclub restaurant next door. Opening time: Daily 6pm–2am
8 Shenanigans The Avenue plaza, Pattaya 2 Rd, Central Pattaya; and Jomtien Complex Condotel, Thanon Tabphaya, Jomtien Both branches of this long-established Irish pub keep Guinness, Kilkenny Bitter and John Smith, serve UK-style pub food, and show big-screen sports. Leather sofas, pool tables plus free internet and wi-fi are additional draws, not to mention the 4.30–7pm happy hour.