Think Pattaya Nightlife Is All Clubs? You Haven't Heard of Nuru House!

Honestly, when American sailors from the Lincoln poured into Pattaya a while ago, they had spent 272 days at sea and could finally let loose. To protect Pattaya's image, Thai police carried out a vice crackdown beforehand, detaining more than 40 people involved in illegal prostitution. Even so, I think we all know the first thing those 5000-plus sailors did ashore was head straight for Pattaya's bars and clubs, spending the pay they had saved for over half a year. For Pattaya, though, that spending was just a drop in the ocean. A little aside: the American sailors' favorite club turned out to be Hollywood in Pattaya.

So is Pattaya all about bars and clubs? In fact, plenty of Thai operators have already started opening Japanese-style massage venues there. Today I'm talking about a newly opened place called Nuru House. Its owner is French, and something hilarious happened when I visited. I simply couldn't understand his English; I had no idea what he was saying. Eventually he asked a Thai woman beside him, in Thai, for a phone to translate. As soon as I heard Thai, I realized I could understand him, so I replied in Thai. There we were, a Frenchman and a Chinese man communicating in equally imperfect Thai, while the Thai women beside us burst out laughing.

One distinctive feature is that the venue connects directly to the bar next door. The bar isn't large: just a cocktail counter and a lounge area with sofas. I think the property used to be a small guesthouse before being renovated into this, and it does have a sense of design. Blue lighting dominates the bar, and the bartender is French too. In a seaside city like Pattaya, that atmosphere is already pretty wonderful. Picture yourself sitting there with a few friends, cigars lit and drinks in hand: very comfortable indeed. Sometimes I think that, if I retire someday, I'd like to run a little bar like this, just enough to host a few good friends. Or head over to the sofas and chat about life and dreams with the Thai women, right? Although it's newly opened, you know how construction work in Thailand goes. Even a railway can take more than 5 years, and the Rama2 elevated road has had collapses during construction year after year. They've been working on it for ages; they really know how to drag things out. So although the venue is new, the renovation itself took quite a while. The rooms don't have that formaldehyde smell, helped along by the sea breeze. Open a window and even the shower gel scent struggles to linger; all that's left is the smell of the sea. O(∩_∩)O Haha! Anyway, the rooms look very upscale, like somewhere I couldn't afford to stay. You can tell real effort went into them. In practice, though, the packages are very good value: a 40-minute drinks package costs 2000 baht.

It's on Pattaya Third Road; just search for it in Google Maps for directions.

So, if you're in Pattaya and don't know where to go, you could take a look and keep this place as an option. Or just drop by for a drink in the evening. We're here to enjoy ourselves, after all.