Strangphotography - Travel and Documentary in Southeast Asia
🏙️ Soi Buakhao, Pattaya – Street Photography and Life Before Dawn
The Soi Buakhao in Pattaya, Thailand, is the focus of my next photo story and a new feature on my website.
Located in Central Pattaya, just south of Pattaya Klang Road and right between Second Road and Third Road, this lively street represents one of the most authentic sides of Pattaya city life.
Dozens of small alleys connect the main roads with Soi Buakhao, creating a network full of street scenes, local culture, and urban chaos
Cars, scooters, and pedestrians share the same narrow road — there are no lane markings, just constant motion and noise.
Along Soi Buakhao, you’ll find countless beer bars, Thai restaurants, and entertainment venues, all packed closely together.
Add to that two busy street markets, numerous mobile Thai street food vendors, and you get a truly vibrant Pattaya street photography location.
From a photographer’s perspective, two times of day reveal completely different faces of this place:
around 4:00 a.m., when the Pattaya nightlife fades away, and around 8:00 a.m., when the city slowly wakes up again.
In this part, I focus on the quiet moments before dawn.
At about 3:30 a.m., I headed out with my Sony Alpha 7 IV, using the Sony FE 24–70mm f/2.8 GM II lens.
My ISO was set to 6400, aperture between f/2.8 and f/4.0, and I kept the shutter speed high enough to avoid motion blur.
This setup allowed me to capture the authentic street atmosphere of Soi Buakhao at night — raw, dimly lit, and full of stories.
Even at this late hour, there are still night owls, street vendors, and wandering souls.
Some Thai street food stalls are still open, serving soup, noodles, or grilled chicken to the last visitors of the night
Inside a few beer bars, you’ll find small groups finishing their drinks, not quite ready to go home.
It’s a fascinating moment — the neon lights of Pattaya’s nightlife begin to fade, the music falls silent, and the once hectic Soi Buakhao street finally takes a short, peaceful pause.
For a photographer like me, these few hours before sunrise offer something truly special: a glimpse into the real Pattaya, beyond the stereotypes, full of mood, contrast, and life.
Pattaya Street Photography – Soi 7 and Soi 8 Before Dawn
Explore Pattaya’s Soi 7 and Soi 8 before dawn – nightlife fades, street food vendors linger, and the real street life appears through my lens.
If you decide to head out with your camera gear around 3:30 a.m., starting from Sai 3 and walking along Pattaya Klang toward Soi Buakhao, you’ll still come across a few mobile Thai street food vendors and the last motorbike taxi drivers waiting for late-night customers.
Taking a small detour through Soi 7 and Soi 8 — both well-known and somewhat infamous entertainment streets — I passed by a few quiet bars and even a small tattoo studio, still dimly lit in the early morning hours.
Around this time, just before dawn, Soi 7 has its own kind of atmosphere. You see the last night owls, the bar girls finishing their shifts, and a few who simply don’t want the night to end
One guy sat at an open-air bar playing a game of Connect Four with three bar ladies, laughing softly while the rest of the street started to fade into silence.
Down by the Beach Road, through Soi 8, the metal shutters come down as the bars close for the night.
In one of the last open spots, a few sleepless staff members were still playing a final round of pool, enjoying a quiet moment before heading home.
It’s a very special time of day — when the party lights go out, the city exhales, and Pattaya’s nightlife gives way to its quieter, more human side.