Early last month when I went back to THailand I decided to save money and go by bus.I found the bus booth with 2 girls inside outside near the taxi rank.I paid 100 b ,actually could of been 110b,anyway sat there for 20 to 30 mins.

The girls pointed my bus out,he took me to Ekkamai,waited in the heat for 30 mins,,paid 110 b for bus trip,bought a couple of drinks,took about 2.5 hours to get to Pattaya.Then i motorbike taxied to my hotel room.Total was about 220 baht and a waste of about 4.5 hrs.A taxi would have saved me about 2 hours and the heat.

Anyway going back,i went to see my favourite travel agent MIM IN SUNEE PLAZA ,opp boy e san bar.Mim is very good and oce aranged my return flight to Sydney.anyway got a taxi back for 1200 b.Mim was telling me she is heading to Sydney,Australia in late NOvember and then onto the GOLD COAST for a week so she maybe busy this month.

Her hotel room in SYdneys Darling Harbour is $400 per night!

Must be money in the Thailand travel business!!!

If you need a good travel agent,go to see Mim in Sunee,she has a very good reputation and wont let you down.

She can even arrange your return airfare to Thailand hich i do sometimes as its half price what i would pay in Aussie land.

Edited by: vbbb at: 4/11/05 10:40 pm

She also gives quite good one on one lessons in the Thai language for farangs. 200 baht for an hour.

I also noticed one or two boys from the area using her for English lessons.

During her lessons, she used phrases like 'suppose you want to say to your boy.......' to make a point. A bit presumptious on her part, I thought, but thats what becomes of being seen too often in the Plaza.

minibus or large bus?

the large bus looks like more fun, possibly being crowded in with a bunch of Thai guys...

The buses are big and airconditioned but mostly very old and the leg room is not very generous. Ask for an aisle seat (no window). Getting to Pattaya bus station is not very easy from Jomtien nor is the return. You hang around for the bus - they are always full. Door to door is on average 4 hours.



Getting from Ekamai to Silom area can be by skytrain/subway. But that's hardly cheaper than a taxi for one. At rush hour times you do at least move.



The buses, I repeat, are mostly old. If they go on the ground under the elevated motorway from Chonburi to Bangkok then you get a very bumpy ride. Sometimes they take the elevated section. Occasionally they go on Motorway 7 and sometimes they hike all the way through Chonburi and Sri Racha town centers. The Bang Na to Eckamai section can be very very slow at rush hours - tip get off at Tesco Lotus stop and take the skytrain.



Coming back from Bangkok make sure you get the bus from bay one. There is another Pattaya bus and sometimes guys touting for it. It goes along Pattaya Suckhumvit and then down to Jomtien. It goes country routes and stops a lot - allow 4 hours just for the bus trip.



Sorry that it's all negative but that's how I find it and the good thing is that it is cheap and regular. It is a shame that this major tourist route is not better served by road or rail.



An alternative - Bell Travel. they operate from Pattaya Bus station. They pick up and deliver from your home/destination. Then you transfer to a big bus which seems always half empty and runs from Bang Na to Pattaya Bus Station. The charge to Bangkok is about B350. Book on 038 420 016 Pattaya or Bangkok 027 474 6755 (funny number of numbers but it works)

It's no quicker than the regular bus door to door. It depends where you are on the pickup/drop off lists. I think that there are a few other services running minibuses to Bangkok.

Edited by: wowpow  at: 7/11/05 1:13 am

Wowpow:  I'll confirm most everything that you said about the bus service, and I used it at least once (often twice or more) per month for about nine months this past year, and still use it occasionally.



Last Friday, my Pattaya-Ekamai bus would NOT let us off at Onnut Tesco Lotus, so that we could use Skytrain.  We were stuck in the crawling traffic all the bloody way to Ekamai.  Had it been just me, a falang, wanting to get off at Onnut I could kind of understand, but there were several khon thai who were miffed, too.



One bus they use is so old, the window sills and window frames are *wood*!



And, in all of those commutes, only once did I get to sit next to a handsome young Thai guy.

Hey guys, please do tell me if it is advisable to take a bus to Pattaya from Ekamai. I plan to travel there by bus and if the bus service is all that bad, should I be better off getting a taxi there? Was thinking of saving some money but if its not worthwhile, I'll get a cab.

The staff on the Pattay bus are not trying too hard to be friendly.



Getting stuck in local traffic in Chonburi and Laemchabang adds to the time - Friday night is worst.  



How much is 2000 B worth to you?  

blinkblink:  If money is not tight, I would recommend a metered taxi for B1500 (plus about B100 in tollway fare) door-to-door from Bangkok to Pattaya.  If nothing else, you can call 1661 and order a taxi that way.



The bus service is "tolerable," but all the negatives wowpow talked about are very real.  By the time you take a taxi or Skytrain from your hotel to Ekamai, the bus from Ekamai to Pattaya Nua, and then a baht bus or taxi from there to your final destination in Pattaya, it can easily be three hours, often more if traffic is bad.



But, if money is tight, and time is abundant, the bus is reliable, if not slow.  I sometimes put up with the bus because a bi-weekly commute via taxi/limo adds up quickly.

PS: There is also scheduled bus service, operated by the same company, from Morchit bus station in Bangkok.



Depending where you are starting from in BKK, that might be a faster choice:  the bus gets onto the freeway system almost directly from Morchit station, whereas the bus from Ekamai chugs along Sukhumvit and can take 30 to 45 minutes (or more) just to get to the freeway.

i have often felt like just hopping an orange (or whatever) and seeing where it takes me in Bangkok. You know, just to see more of the city sightseeing. I can always take a taxi back...

same way with the water taxi, probably couldn't find my stop on the way back on the river.

once a thai  boy was waiting at the bus stop and he asked "where you go". I am all ready for the next one to ask.

walking around the sidewalks I am always noticing all the guys dressed so nice for work and going home after a long hot day. bus stops are a major attraction   

Guess I will just have to call up Phom n Gem to book a taxi when I am in Bangkok. Hope he's still in service.

Well Silom, if that question "how much is Bht2000 worth to you?" was for me......hmmmmmm should I say that could make a boy in Pattaya very happy or even in Bangkok.

 I have lots of time but I would hate the heat and dust. Thanks again.

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Guess I will just have to call up Phom n Gem to book a taxi when I am in Bangkok. Hope he's still in service.

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I used Gems & Phon a just a few weeks ago, 1300 baht one-way, door to door, plus toll and tip. Nice, comfortable cars, safe drivers.