An hour and a half drive away from the capital city, Pattaya is the beach getaway for sun lovers and beach bums in Bangkok, yearning for a slice of sun, sand and sea. Despite Pattaya being the closest beach town to the capital city, the vibrant holiday hotspot is immediately evocative of its excellent and infamous nightlife than its picture-postcard beaches. If a dose of Pattaya’s lively after-dark entertainment is what’s on your mind, the 700 meters of “red-light-district entertainment” of Walking Street won’t disappoint, while the string of gorgeous beaches on Thailand’s eastern Gulf coast that call Pattaya home will surely enchant those in need of a beach fix. Temples with the likes of Wat Phra Yai also make Pattaya a city of irony, for the city that bears the reputation of being one of the most unruly of Thailand is also home to some of the country’s most sacred and revered religious sites.