In short
Pattaya is the beach resort closest to Bangkok, two hours away by road. Its nightlife reputation is deserved and concentrated in a few streets; the rest of the city is an ordinary conurbation.
The Sanctuary of Truth, a hundred-and-five-metre carved wooden temple built without a single nail, has been under construction since 1981 and can be visited.
What it really costs
Pattaya is one of the cheapest coastal towns in Thailand, with plentiful monthly accommodation inherited from its foreign resident population.
Songthaews, shared pick-ups, run across town for a few baht. Taxis and motorbike taxis cost far more per trip.
What nobody tells you
The beach at Pattaya itself is poor and the water uninviting. Jomtien, to the south, is markedly better, and Koh Larn, forty-five minutes away by boat, better still.
The city attracts sex tourism, and that shapes part of its night economy. It is a reality, not a detail to leave out.
May to October is wet and the sea turns cloudy. November to February is the only real window.