What's a good 3-day itinerary for Pattaya?

Pattaya runs on a 15-kilometre north-south axis, and Day 1 stays in the upper half. Take a songthaew to the Sanctuary of Truth in Naklua by 9am, before tour buses fill the car park around 10:30. The building stands 105 metres tall, entirely hand-carved from teak, and the smell of raw wood reaches you 50 metres before the entrance. Budget 90 minutes; admission is 500 baht. Lunch at Mum Aroi in Naklua, where a 200-baht steamed sea bass with lime arrives on a steel platter with a view of the fishing boats. Walk the Naklua fish market afterward, where the wet concrete floor carries salt air and charcoal smoke from 40-odd grilling stalls. By 4pm, ride a songthaew south to Terminal 21 Pattaya on Second Road, where the Pier 21 food court sells most dishes for 45-60 baht. Walking Street opens at 6pm. Mind you, it is loud, the pavement gets sticky, and it smells like spilled beer by 9pm. One pass down the 500-metre strip is enough.

Day 2 moves to Koh Larn. The public ferry leaves from Bali Hai Pier at the south end of Walking Street, costs 30 baht, and takes 45 minutes. The 8am boat is half-empty. Tawaen Beach is the first stop and the most crowded, with jet-ski touts and 100-baht sunbed rentals packed along the sand. Skip Tawaen and take a motorcycle taxi for 50 baht over the hill to Samae Beach on the west side, where the sand is coarser, the water is clearer, and maybe 30 people share 400 metres of shoreline on a weekday. Lunch at one of Samae's beachfront shacks runs 120-180 baht for fried rice or pad thai. The warm wind off the Gulf of Thailand smells like salt and coconut oil. Return ferry leaves at 4pm or 5pm. Back on the mainland, dinner at Nang Nual near Bali Hai Pier, a 2-storey seafood hall where 300 baht gets a grilled squid platter and a cold Singha while the pier lights reflect off the harbour.

Day 3 covers the southern corridor. Hire a taxi for 300-400 baht for the full day; settle the price before you leave. Head to Nong Nooch Tropical Botanical Garden 18 kilometres south of central Pattaya. The garden opened in 1980 and spreads over 200 hectares, with a topiary section so precise it looks like a geometry exam in plant form. Nong Nooch holds one of Southeast Asia's largest cycad collections, and the humid air sits heavy between them. The Thai cultural show runs at 10:30am and 3pm. Viharn Sien sits 2 kilometres further south and holds over 300 Chinese artefacts in a quiet museum that rarely draws more than a dozen visitors at once. Afternoon at Jomtien Beach, 6 kilometres back toward town, which is wider and calmer than Pattaya Beach with fewer hawkers. Dinner at Glass House in Na Jomtien, where 250-baht grilled prawns arrive with sand between your toes and waves that break 5 metres from the table.

Songthaews loop Beach Road and Second Road for 10 baht per person, but after dark the drivers quote 100-200 baht for the same route. Grab works in Pattaya and removes the bargaining. Late August temperatures sit around 29°C with 70% humidity, so pack cotton or linen; anything heavier feels miserable within 10 minutes. Rain tends to come in sharp 30-minute bursts around 3pm, then clears. The baht currently trades at about 33 to the dollar, making a 60-baht food court meal roughly $1.80. Pattaya rates 6.2 out of 10 for solo-traveler safety (see the TTDI Solo-Safety Index), a figure shaped more by the nightlife strip than the daytime beach areas. North of Soi 6 after dark, Naklua Road is mostly Thai families at noodle carts charging 40-50 baht.