Hi Apollo,
I agree with most of what has been said already.
Description of Pattaya - Bangkok on steroids - no joke
I think the advice from River is spot on - If you love phuket like most of us do and haven't tried Pattaya yet then it would be better to stay Pattaya for only a short time just to give it a ''test run''
I don't know how many times you have visited los but many newbies may find Pattaya a bit much to handle as it is full on in your face right from the moment you arrive - I just returned from there and ended up in hospital due to my excess drinking and shagging.
My 1st tryout of Pattaya was 6 months ago - 1 week Pattaya and 2 weeks Phuket and a visit to the Phi Phi islands which was a perfect combiantion of full on crazyness and then relaxation.
I just done 3 weeks in Pattaya and to be honest I loved it but it does get a bit much at times as there are so many women after your blood.
As for the quality of women, I have heard a lot before that bangkok and phuket has better looking women - don't believe it
Pattaya has thousands more women than those places put together - so if you think about the statistics - you are going to find stunners in amongst more average girl on a much larger scale.
Everywhere I walked in 3 weeks my jaw was dropping at some of the talent.
The Agogo's and discos of Walking st in particular are crammed full of real beauties. There are also many great catches in Soi 7 - 8 and the bars around and near soi 2.
Something else I liked about Pattaya - many beer bars away from Walking st simply do not close down - hence I had to be treated in hospital
I was drinking on Soi 8 and many other areas like that until 5 - 6 - 7am quite regularly, you will also notice that the action starts in beer bars and Agogo's early afternoon - Patong ladies tend to turn up very late evening - sometimes as late as 9pm - Pattaya beer bars can be packed to the rafters by 2 & 3pm.
The opportunity for s/t in the day is far greater as a result before choosing your l/t sleepover in the night. Then of course there are many s/t bars, far better soapies than maybe even Bangkok which is always going to be a matter of debate.
And the prices for food and drink in general are kept very low and rival most other tourist areas quite easily - only places like Issan may be cheaper.
Personally, I love Pattaya but it is a lot to take in, especially on your maiden voyage, you need to joing the
www.pattayatalk.com which you will find on the FLB BAR website as another member already mentioned.
Good luck & enjoy