Pattaya Travel Forum

between bussing and renting a taxi from BKK to Pattaya which is better? it looks like we will be a four-people-group and I have read somewhere that we can rent a taxi to pattaya at the price of 1300 baht. if 4 of us share 1300baht with a taxi, do you think it's better than the choice of train/bus?

Yes we did this and it was much more comfortable door to door and quicker. Split between 4 people or 2 couples much better.

Unless you are on a very tight budget a taxi wins every time.
It is door to door.
You don't have to wait or conform to a time table.
You can get them to stop when you want a ***.
You can tip them to drive to the speed limit (90kmph)
If he's good get his company number for the return trip.
1300 baht should include tolls...
Agree the price before you set off
You might find 4 in one cab is too cramped if you have a lot of baggage.
You can rent a larger vehicle for more money (or 2 cabs)...look at the limo hire in arrivals.
DON'T get a CAB FROM A TOUT....GO DOWNSTAIRS AND GET ONE FROM A KIOSK OR TABLE OUTSIDE.
Journey tine is a bit over 1.5 hours....roadworks and traffic permitting.
there are 2 main routes
route 7 - the motorway - parts still being worked on
Route 34 - the "flyover" with tolls too - less traffic at first but on leaving you join route 3 with heavy traffic and pot-holes.
If you have more than one person to a cab they may try and upthe price a little - use your bargainig skill\s here if you have any......(bargaining is NOT another word for "insult" or "argument"

Four people go for a taxi.

what do you mean by "better" a bus will certainly be "cheaper" but definitely not better allow an average pricc of about 400baht per head which is approx 6-7 euro a head . fantastic value for a door to door service for an hour and a half journey

If you go to the 1st level of the airport and look for exit #7 (there is a number right above the exit out to the parking garage), right next to the information desk is a lady that does bus to Pattaya. She doesn't have an official counter / business. It's just a lady there with a clipboard taking names. I believe it is Bell Travel.

It's about 100 - 130 per person. Bus leaves every 2 hours on the even hour for Pattaya (8am 10am 12noon 2pm 4pm 6pm 8pm). Once you arrive at the bus station on North Pattaya road, they will put you in a minivan and give you door to door treatment for no extra charge. I've taken the bus the last several times and it has averaged 1 hour and 30 minutes (+/- 5 minutes).

FYI: The return bus to the airport is the same. You can make arrangements for them to pick you up at the hotel by minivan, drop you off at the bus station and take you to the airport all for 100 - 130 baht. I think I paid 130 but the last couple times my wife paid and she would only ask me for a couple hundred baht vs 260 baht. Also, the return schedule to the airport, buses leave Pattaya on the odd hour (9am 11am 1pm....etc).

A couple more things.

The bus is very comfortable. Each time I've taken the bus, there were only 7 - 15 people on the bus. The bus holds 40+ seats so it's not crowded.

When you transfer from the bus to a minivan in Pattaya, you will probably have 2 - 4 other people in the minivan with you which means the driver will have about 3 stops. You might be the first stop or you might be the 3rd stop but you will get dropped off at your location. Usually the minivan goes down North Pattaya to Beach rd and down beach road until he heads up soi 2 or soi 8 as needed .....etc. If you know the area then you can figure when your stop will be. I was on a minivan once when there were 4 people going to 1 stop and he did them first. Figure an extra 5 minutes - 10 minutes to exit the bus and get on the minivan and about 5 minutes - 15 minutes to get you to your destination. Altogether it comes to about 2 hours.

why do you say "DON'T get a CAB FROM A TOUT"? have you had a bad experience? i always get an independent driver usually aroun 500 - 600 baht door to door service and never ever had a problem. i am interested to hear what bad experiences you have heard of or experienced???

regards,

mike.