Photos: Pattaya by Matrix, Pexels License; Sharm el-Sheikh by Tanya Dedyukhina, CC BY 3.0, cropped.
Pattaya or Sharm el-Sheikh?
Our verdict in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities, and the climate month by month, so you can choose for your trip.
Choose Pattaya for
- nightlife
- food and drink
- day trips
What lies behind each score is written up on Pattaya’s own page.
Choose Sharm el-Sheikh for
- nature and the outdoors
- beaches
- families
What lies behind each score is written up on Sharm el-Sheikh’s own page.
Scoreboard
Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.
What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Pattaya and Sharm el-Sheikh.
Your match
Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.
Wins on nightlife and food and drink with your weighting.
Wins on nature and the outdoors and beaches with your weighting.
What matters to you?
When should you go?
Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.
Pattaya in July
Sharm el-Sheikh in July
Daytime high, °C
Rainfall in the month, mm
Where the figures come from
Pattaya's temperatures are measured 31 km from the centre, at Sattahip.
Pattaya has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.
Pattaya's sunshine is measured 86 km from the centre, at Bangna Agromet / Ban Khlong Samrong.
Sharm el-Sheikh has no weather station within reach, so its figures come from a gridded climate model rather than a measured record, and read a broad area rather than the city itself.
Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Pattaya: 1971-2000 (sunshine 1961-1990, rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Sattahip (31.2 km from centre). Sharm el-Sheikh: 2001-2020 normals, NASA POWER reanalysis grid, no weather station within 90 km.
Before you go
| Measure | Pattaya | Sharm el-Sheikh |
|---|---|---|
| Official language | Thai | Arabic |
| Currency | Baht (THB) | Egyptian Pound (EGP) |
| Sockets | ABCF220 V, 50 Hz | CF220 V, 50 Hz |
| Driving side | Left | Right |
| Time zone | UTC+7 | UTC+2, UTC+3 in summer |
| Emergency number | Police 191, ambulance 1669, fire 199 | Police 122, ambulance 123, fire 180 |
| Elevation | 35 m | 1 m |
| Main airport | Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK)83 km from centre150 non-stop destinations | Sharm El Sheikh International Airport (SSH)16 km from centre112 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | - | 15 days |
By the numbers
| Measure | Pattaya | Sharm el-Sheikh |
|---|---|---|
| City population | 119,532 | 73,000 |
| Museums within 10 km | 0 | 1 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 0 | 0 |
| Swim season, months above 21 °C | 12 months | 12 months |
Where else could you go?
Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Pattaya or Sharm el-Sheikh somewhere new.