Pattaya International Gay Pride Festival June 2026

[Kiwi306]

I wonder whether anyone on this forum has attended Pattaya Gay Pride before or is planning to attend this year's event on 26-8 June.

[bkkmfj2648]

Hi Kiwi306,

I have attended both the Pattaya City and also Jomtien Complex (Supertown) Gay Pride events in year 2024.

There were 2 distinct events on 2 different weekends in 2024.

On Saturday 8 June 2024 there was a parade held in Jomtien on Thappraya Road, ending at the Dongtan gay beach area.  It's name was Pattaya Community Pride 2024 and it was sponsored by SWING and the Jomtien Supertown Complex.  After the parade there were festivities and dancing held within the Jomtien Complex later in the evening.  The area at the Dongtan Beach was used for speeches and awards and prizes.

On Saturday 22 June 2024 there was a parade held over in Pattaya City on Beach Road, ending at the Central Festival mall.  It's name was Pattaya International Pride Festival 2024 and it was sponsored by PATTANA (the Thai conglomerate that owns the Central shopping malls throughout Thailand).  The parade started at the Central Marina shopping mall over on Second Road (near Terminal 21) and then at the Dolphin Circle it turns left towards Beach Road and terminates at Central Festival.

I enjoyed both events, but I preferred the Jomtien parade and related festivities because they were more grass roots organized, whereas, the Pattaya City parade is much more commercial, as it is sponsored by PATTANA.  Also, I was disheartened that Boyztown was absent in the Pattaya City parade activities - which disappointed me, as Boyztown has been an integral part of the Pattaya City gay community since forever.

It seems that the parade route for the Pattaya City 2026 pride parade will be the same as it was in year 2024:

The above image was extracted from the Pattaya City Mayor's office meeting and was posted crocked by them as shown above.

Below is the image that has been created for this year's Pattaya City Gay Pride event - with the parade to be held on Saturday 27 June:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLnCBdNSBbf/

 

There is still no news if SWING and/or the Jomtien Supertown Complex will organize any pride events for this year.  Today I wrote an email to SWING Pattaya (Service Worker in Group Foundation) to see if they have any plans for this year.  If they respond then I will post them here.

Some photos/video from the 2024 Jomtien / Pattaya pride events:

Jomtien Dongtan Beach - end of parade stage setup for announcements and awards ceremonies

 

Jomtien 2024 Gay Pride parade video snippet (Thappraya road at the Dongtan Beach entrance)

Pattaya City 2024 Gay Pride parade - at the beginning at the Central Marina mall on 2nd Road

Pattaya City 2024 Gay Pride parade on Beach Road

Note that also in June, Pattaya will be the host of the Circuit Festival Asia from 19 - 21 June https://www.instagram.com/circuitfestivalasia/

 

https://www.facebook.com/CircuitFestivalAsia/

 

In closing, note that on 6 May 2026, Thailand officially petitioned to host the year 2030 World Pride and is in competition with Barcelona. I believe that the final decision will be made in January 2027.

https://www.sdperspectives.com/activities/road-to-bangkok-worldpride-2030-global-pride-hub-thailand/

https://www.interpride.org/worldpride/

 

 

 

 

[Kiwi306]

Oh wow. Thanks so much for such a detailed response. I wasn't expecting that. This year there is a fringe festival the weekend before the Pride festival, so it's a similar setup to what you have described. I think the tickets have been nearly sold out for that, however.

I am seriously considering returning to Thailand about that time, but I will need to make a decision fairly soon as I guess accommodation will be heavily booked for Pride.

.

[10tazione]

17 hours ago, bkkmfj2648 said:

...

Welcome back posting!

[bkkmfj2648]

As promised, I contacted SWING Pattaya**, and they informed me that "due to budget limitations they are unable to organize the customary Pattaya Community Pride event" in Jomtien for this year 2026. 

The only outstanding feedback to obtain is if the Jomtien Supertown Complex will organize something for this year's gay pride.

I will keep checking out the 2 related Facebook feeds for the complex to see if they will post a gay pride plan or update.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/gaysupertown

https://www.facebook.com/groups/supertowngay/

Stay tuned.

 

**

              

https://www.instagram.com/swingpattaya/

 

[Olddaddy]

I attended the one in June 2024:

There was a fight between an old tourist bloke and a expat who was taking photos 🎥📸

The old guy who I think was from UK started shouting he didn't want to be in the guys background pictures , 

So the American guy shouted if you don't want to be in them....then leave !!!!!!!🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️

 

 

[PeterRS]

On 5/9/2026 at 6:29 PM, bkkmfj2648 said:

I enjoyed both events, but I preferred the Jomtien parade and related festivities because they were more grass roots organized, whereas, the Pattaya City parade is much more commercial, as it is sponsored by PATTANA.

The Jomtien Parade sounds more like the massive Pride Parade held annually in Taipei at the end of October each year. That was started many years ago and continues to be run by a grass roots organisation of individuals rather than commercial concerns.

[bkkmfj2648]

Tomorrow, Saturday 27 June 2026, will be the Pattaya International Pride Festival 2026 and then out of nowhere they announce an alcohol ban that commences at 6pm tomorrow and runs for 24 hours.  The gay pride parade starts at 4:30pm - so you can only drink for the first 90 minutes of the gay pride festivities.

So much for going over to Boyztown for a drink after the gay pride festivities conclude at the Central Festival mall.

How could the below listed organizers not know about the local election timetable?

Either the election schedule was announced after the permits were issued by the Pattaya City authorities for the Gay Pride parade -OR- the parade organizers did not check to see if there were going to be any holidays or elections that may impede festivities with alcohol?

T.I.T. - This is Thailand.....

 

[Mavica]

41 minutes ago, bkkmfj2648 said:

Tomorrow, Saturday 27 June 2026, will be the Pattaya International Pride Festival 2026 and then out of nowhere they announce an alcohol ban that commences at 6pm tomorrow and runs for 24 hours.  The gay pride parade starts at 4:30pm - so you can only drink for the first 90 minutes of the gay pride festivities.

So much for going over to Boyztown for a drink after the gay pride festivities conclude at the Central Festival mall.

How could the below listed organizers not know about the local election timetable?

Either the election schedule was announced after the permits were issued by the Pattaya City authorities for the Gay Pride parade -OR- the parade organizers did not check to see if there were going to be any holidays or elections that may impede festivities with alcohol?

T.I.T. - This is Thailand.....

 

BYOB!

[BjornAgain]

4 hours ago, Mavica said:

BYOB!

What the smart man about Pattaya is doing.

Wear Your Own.

[bkkmfj2648]

1 hour ago, BjornAgain said:

What the smart man about Pattaya is doing.

Wow - that image gave me a hearty chuckle.

Then afterwards, I thought about how piss warm that beer would become in that jacket in tomorrow's Gay Pride parade 32 degree heat.

Yuck!!  In less you are into piss warm beer....

[bkkmfj2648]

Yesterday was the Pattaya International Pride Festival 2026. 

But before I share my experience at the Pattaya Pride Festival, we need to first insert a missing photo collage/video of the Circuit Festival Asia event that took place in Pattaya on the weekend of 19 - 21 of June 2026, which took place at the fabulous Zign Hotel in Pattaya.  www.thezignhotel.com

Asia’s Ultimate Gay Dance Festival successfully concluded its 7th edition, which was intentionally timed to coincide with the long weekend in China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

I did not attend - I don't have the stamina or gym buff body that tends to be a pre-requisite for these types of events. Did any of you attend this event?

However, with all of you, I can drool and enjoy the eye candy that were posted on their Instagram pages at:

https://www.instagram.com/circuitfestivalasia/reel/DZ1177FJI24/

https://www.instagram.com/circuitfestivalasia/reel/DZ6kC4cp8uM/

 

We were fortunate yesterday because it was very overcast which kept the hot rays of the sun off of both the parade participants and us spectators.

This is my 3rd Pattaya Pride March and what was unique/different this year was that I noticed more participation of Indians.  Their section of the parade was quite large.  Living here in Pattaya I rarely see gay Indians in the Jomtien Complex or over at the beach. Occasionally, I will see some over in Pattaya city or over on Koh Larn.  Perhaps they have their own gay venues and/or hangout places??

or perhaps it was just one of the many Indian Walking Street clubs wanting to show solidarity with the gay community?

Regarding the make up of the 82 participating parade entities - very few were gay bars.  I noted 2, one from Boyztown = Castro Bar and one from the Jomtien Complex = Fun Bar.  From the official list shown below, the majority of the parade participants were; businesses, NGOs, hotels, clubs, etc. 

I was VERY happy to see that Hornet was an official parade participant.

Credit to Christian Köppel for this photo from his FB page, as his photo is much better than mine

I found the Dr Tattof Medical Laser Solutions group to be one of the most sexy in the parade:

Credit to Christian Köppel for this photo from his FB page, as his photo is much better than mine

I never heard of Dr. Tattof in Pattaya - and upon research I discovered that this Bangkok business does have a branch here in Pattaya at Terminal 21.

I won't bore you with my millions of photos, that if I uploaded them into our gayguides forum, I fear that they would consume the slowly depleting memory on our server that is perhaps causing the slowness of our forum of lately.

So, instead I share some good post-parade social media feeds that can give you a sense of this year's experience:

Then after the parade concluded there was the after show over at the Central Festival mall where the politicians and parade officials spoke and then afterwards there were some very sexy models that strutted their stuff (from social media user = bankssensations - found on both Tiktok and Instagram)

 

Afterwards I walked over to Boyztown to see what the annual Pattaya Gay Pride situation looked like:

Wow, pretty scary and gloomy - more spooky than Sunee Plaza

Boyztown neon marquee turned off = no illumination

 

That was depressing so I took the bahtbus (songthaew) over to Supertown to see what their situation looked like:

ah, how encouraging - the lights are on in the Jomtien Complex on Pattaya's Gay Pride night

 

In Boyztown everything was closed but over in Supertown almost everything that was not a bar (restaurants and massage shops) were open for business. 

I was hungry, so I stopped in the My Favorite Diner and I had meatloaf tonight.  There were many customers eating inside.  Note that the exterior bar area has its gates down - to comply with the local elections No Alcohol rules.  Buenos Mexican was also open with some customers as well as Yupin's.

My meatloaf meal

Was it good?  It was enjoyable.  Growing up in the USA, meatloaf tends to come in many varieties - especially if moms are involved.  In my situation, my mom used to mix the ground beef with eggs, parsley, cheese, tomato sauce and other spices - it was like an Italian type of meatloaf.  But as you explore various parts of the USA the meatloaf tends to be very different.  Tonight's meatloaf was fresh and decent - perhaps lacking some spices and/or sauces.  Anyway, I have rarely seen meatloaf in Pattaya and I can recommend this one if you are in the mood for a good moist meatloaf.

 

Are the Gay Pride festivities finished in Pattaya = no

Tonight at 6pm ends the Alcohol Ban - and tonight will be the next Pattaya Gay Pride event which will take place over at the Lay Beach Club (next to the Hard Rock Cafe) on Beach Road.

https://megatix.in.th/events/dreamland-pool-party-at-lay-beach-club-pattaya-house-afro-tech-indie-dance

 

Am I going?  No, I am not into this type of house techno dance music.  From the above list of DJs you may remember that some of them played in the former Dragon Music Lounge - that went out of business. In my opinion, that place never took off because they did not offer DJs that would play music that us elder farangs like to dance to - Abba, Michael Jackson, Lady Gaga, etc.  So, instead, us old folks perform the Jomtien Complex mantra =  "farang sit and farang drink".

Maybe one day, somebody like our @Olddaddy will open up a proper dance club in the Jomtien Complex??  T-dances??  Disco music ??

 

Stay tuned for Pride Night in the Jomtien Complex, aka Supertown - which will take place on Saturday July 18, 2026

 

[Olddaddy]

I certainly will ...with Boy George music and the Communards and Adam Ant and Pseudo Echo

Oh the memories 🤣 

[bkkmfj2648]

On 6/28/2026 at 2:04 PM, bkkmfj2648 said:

Regarding the make up of the 82 participating parade entities - very few were gay bars.  I noted 2, one from Boyztown = Castro Bar and one from the Jomtien Complex = Fun Bar.  From the official list shown below, the majority of the parade participants were; businesses, NGOs, hotels, clubs, etc. 

And this is the BIG difference between Pattaya City's gay pride event versus Jomtien's gay pride event.

One word = GRASSROOTS - Jomtien's is sponsored by the grassroot local entities that make up the Jomtien Complex, aka Supertown.  I believe that the only NGO type of sponsor is SWING Pattaya.

 

Whereas, Pattaya City's gay pride had an entirely different sponsorship / make up (see below list) - where the primary sponsor was Pattana - the corporate owner of the CENTRAL shopping malls throughout Thailand.

Out of the 82 entities that participated in Pattaya's 2026 International Pride Parade - only 2 gay bars out of the 82 entities were represented = 2.4% - of which, only 1 bar participated from Boyztown and the other gay bar was from Jomtien.

As Jomtien is technically part of Pattaya - this shows how 2 parts of the same city celebrate Gay Pride in very different ways.

 

 

[bkkmfj2648]

On 6/28/2026 at 2:04 PM, bkkmfj2648 said:

But before I share my experience at the Pattaya Pride Festival, we need to first insert a missing photo collage/video of the Circuit Festival Asia event that took place in Pattaya on the weekend of 19 - 21 of June 2026, which took place at the fabulous Zign Hotel in Pattaya.  www.thezignhotel.com

Asia’s Ultimate Gay Dance Festival successfully concluded its 7th edition, which was intentionally timed to coincide with the long weekend in China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

Today I came across a Youtube review of the Circuit Festival Asia (CFA) parties that were held in Pattaya in year 2025 vs. this year 2026, as compared by 2 different people who attended them.  I found this 31 minute discussion very interesting and enlightening because it discusses:

• Pricing - Why paying more for VIP access may be worth it in some cases - instead of paying the standard General Admission price,
• Venue review,
• Entertainment details - who attends these types of events and what was on offer,
• HomePa - a term I never heard before (equals Home Party) - and strategies that can be used to get invited to them,
• Pros and Cons of attending a CFA versus a traditional White Party.

If you have attended one of these Circuit Festival Asia parties let us know if you agree with these what these 2 critics had to say.