Night markets in Pattaya: Thepprasit, Jomtien and more

Pattaya's night markets are spread from north to south along the coast. Thepprasit, the largest, sits inland on the road that links South Pattaya to Jomtien. Jomtien's market faces the beach further south. Pattaya Night Bazaar and Runway Street Food are on Second Road in the centre, the Marina Night Market is in North Pattaya and the Pratumnak market is on the hill between the two bays. Each has its own days, its own crowd and its own strengths, and none charges for entry.

Which night markets are open in Pattaya in 2026?

When is Thepprasit Night Market open and what is it like?

Thepprasit is the one to choose if you have a single evening. It is also called the Pattaya Weekend Market, and that name tells you when to go: Friday, Saturday and Sunday, from about 17:00 to 23:00, when all of its stalls trade. From Monday to Thursday only a small part of the market sets up, and the visit is not worth the ride.

The market fills a large plot on Thepprasit Road, close to the Sukhumvit Road junction and next to Outlet Mall Pattaya. Long lanes of clothing, shoes, bags, watches, phone accessories, toys, homeware and pet supplies run back from the road, with a food section of shared tables alongside. Friday is the calmest of the three nights. On Saturday the main lanes are shoulder to shoulder by 20:00.

• Arrive before 19:00 to walk in comfort and find a table.
• Eat first. The popular food stalls sell out from about 21:00.
• Check zips, seams and sizes before paying: quality varies from stall to stall and there are no refunds.
• Skip the imitation branded goods. Customs officers can confiscate counterfeits when you fly home.

What is Jomtien Night Market like?

Jomtien Night Market is smaller, daily and built around dinner. It sets up from about 17:00 on the land side of Jomtien Beach Road, in the stretch around Soi 9, and trades until about 23:00. Food is the main draw: grilled seafood, Thai noodle and rice plates, Indian and Mexican stands, burgers, crepes and fruit shakes, with a large area of tables in the middle and a small children's playground. Around them, stalls sell clothing, handicrafts, accessories and souvenirs. The sea is across the road, so the usual pattern is sunset on the sand, then dinner here.

Because it runs every night, it is the market to fall back on from Monday to Thursday, when Thepprasit is not worth the trip. It is also the easiest with children: the tables are plentiful, the lanes are wide and the beach promenade opposite gives them room to run before or after dinner.

If you like the idea of staying within walking distance, the Jomtien area guide describes the beach road soi by soi.

What will you find at Pattaya Night Bazaar and the central markets?

Pattaya Night Bazaar is not really a night market. It is a covered, fixed-stall arcade of more than 250 units on Second Road in the centre, and it trades all day. Go between 16:00 and 21:00, when every unit has its shutters up. It is the practical place for souvenirs: T-shirts, elephant-print trousers, Thai silk scarves, wooden carvings, lacquerware, soap flowers, herbal balms, dried fruit, luggage and phone cases. There is no food inside, though vendors set up on the pavement outside in the evening.

Runway Street Food, also on Second Road, is the opposite: nearly all food and drink, laid out beneath a retired jumbo jet. Stalls trade from about 16:00 to 01:00, entry is free and there are few clothes or souvenirs. The View Pattaya, a Ferris wheel more than 100 metres high, opened on the site in December 2025 and turns daily from 16:00 to 01:00: a seat in a standard six-person gondola costs foreign visitors 480 THB and a seat in a four-person VIP gondola with a glass floor 600 THB. The Marina Night Market in front of Central Marina adds more than 100 street food vendors and stalls of clothes and gifts from about 17:00 to midnight. On Pratumnak Hill, the daily market on Phra Tamnak Road serves Thai dishes next to Russian ones.

The Pratumnak market's food is described in Russian food in Pattaya, and the air-conditioned alternatives in the Pattaya shopping malls guide.

What should you eat and what does it cost?

Other things worth trying are som tam (green papaya salad, made mild on request), roast duck on rice, grilled river prawns, coconut ice cream served in the shell and kanom krok, small coconut pancakes cooked in a dimpled pan. Choose stalls with a queue and food cooked to order in front of you.

The dishes are explained one by one in what to eat in Pattaya.

How do you bargain and pay?

Food and drink are sold at fixed prices, shown on signs: do not bargain for them. Clothes, bags, souvenirs and anything without a price tag are negotiable. The custom is light and friendly.

1. Ask the price, smile and offer about 60 to 70 percent of it.
2. Meet somewhere in between. Buying two or three items from the same stall earns the best reduction.
3. If the price does not suit you, say thank you and walk on. Do not agree a price and then decline to buy.
4. Where a stall shows printed price tags, the discount is small or nil.

Cash is standard. Bring 20, 50 and 100 THB notes, because stallholders struggle to change a 1,000 THB note early in the evening. Many stalls display a Thai QR code, which works with Thai banking apps and some Asian e-wallets, but not with a foreign credit card. ATMs are found at the convenience stores beside each market and charge foreign cards a withdrawal fee.

How do you get there and back?

The central markets are walkable from most hotels between Beach Road and Second Road. For Jomtien, the baht buses on the Jomtien route run the length of Jomtien Beach Road: the shared fare is 15 THB for trips up to 10 km and 20 THB beyond, paid to the driver when you get off. Thepprasit is not on a fixed baht bus route from the centre, so use Grab or Bolt, which show the fare before you book, or a motorbike taxi from a marked stand with the fare agreed first.

Coming back is the harder leg. After 22:00 baht buses thin out, and drivers waiting at the market gates quote charter prices for the whole vehicle. Book a ride in the app while you finish eating, set the pickup at the main gate and expect a short wait on Saturday night. At Thepprasit, show the driver the Thai name, ตลาดเทพประสิทธิ์, if the pin is unclear. Keep bags zipped and phones in front pockets in the crowded lanes, as you would in any busy market.

Fares, routes and ride apps are set out in getting around Pattaya. For a daytime market on the water, see the Pattaya Floating Market guide.