Forgot!
It's a long weekend and Thai tourists from Bangkok and elsewhere (upper middle class, government officers etc.) don't care about bar closures.
It has become a firm rule that long weekends are even worse in traffic than ordinary weekends. Late Friday influx starts. Saturday noon, absolute chaos towards Central parking garage. Monday before noon, exodus starts.
So report back on Tuesday
Foreign oversea tourists don't contribute that much to the traffic chaos.
It's not limited to Pattaya. A mate just came back from Udon Thani. Seemingly all wheels on the road.