Baht bus Pattaya

[ichigo]

29 minutes ago, bkkmfj2648 said:

@ichigo Welcome - now you are bahtbus initiated.

That back area where you stand is my preferred area (only if it is not raining).

Why?

I feel that it is more independent from the interior area where sometimes there can be people that make me feel uncomfortable, as in they try to strike up invasive conversations that I don't want to share with everyone on the bahtbus, they are drunk or smell, etcetra.

In that back area you are mostly isolated from all of those discomforts.

Lastly, it is very easy to disembark from.

 

Thank you! I can understand your reasoning, however I had with me a back pack, a small bag on my front plus a shopping bag (because I was moving hotels) so it made the trip a little awkward lol. Perhaps if I were carrying less things then I would have been more comfortable 555

[daydreamer]

Is it guaranteed that a white striped songtaew will not divert from the Pattaya - Jomtien route?  No, but jeez, for only 10 baht, the Pattaya songtaew system works pretty darned well.  It seems like everyone gets to their destinations.  As @ichigo said, just hop off if they take a detour, take another one for a measly 10 baht, and carry on with your day.

[thaiophilus]

8 hours ago, bkkmfj2648 said:

Lastly, it is very easy to disembark from.

 

On the down side, sometimes it's too easy to disembark from. I have seen someone wearing flip-flops slip and fall off the back platform while the bus was moving.

 

[daydreamer]

16 minutes ago, thaiophilus said:

I have seen someone wearing flip-flops slip and fall off the back platform while the bus was moving.

 

Given the way Thai drivers often flee the scene when involved in a traffic accident,  the songtaew driver was likely more concerned about the loss of his 10 baht fare than the welfare of the lost passenger.  

Hopefully the person was not seriously injured.

 

[gerefan]

Standing on the rear platform is illegal. Yet another law rarely enforced. 
TIT ….

[bkkmfj2648]

35 minutes ago, gerefan said:

Standing on the rear platform is illegal. Yet another law rarely enforced. 
TIT ….

Hahaha - my favorite place in the bahtbus.

Joking aside, watch what they do at the starting station in Pattaya bound for Jomtien.

The bahtbus will not depart until there are 12 passengers onboard distributed as follows:

5 seated on each side of the interior bench seats,

1 in each of the 2 external (supposedly illegal) standing areas.

For a total of 12 passengers.

12 pax x 10 baht each = 120 baht for the driver less his gas and maintenance costs, and perhaps the station master also gets a fee.

Little money.

Thank God that along the route people disembark and additional passengers board.

The station master at the starting point will not let the bahtbus depart until it is full --> including in the supposedly illegal external standing area.

So, flouting this alleged law is part of their daily operation.

 

[Londoner]

The absence of that facility on the new ones I posted about will deny you your preference, and it will cut down on the number of passengers who can use the bus by four or so. 

But I promise you; the improvement in comfort is huge. I suspect a rise to 20 bht is iminent. And it will still be good value. Especially for a Londoner....  

[Shonen]

On 1/17/2025 at 8:53 PM, bkkmfj2648 said:

Hahaha - my favorite place in the bahtbus.

Joking aside, watch what they do at the starting station in Pattaya bound for Jomtien.

The bahtbus will not depart until there are 12 passengers onboard distributed as follows:

5 seated on each side of the interior bench seats,

1 in each of the 2 external (supposedly illegal) standing areas.

For a total of 12 passengers.

12 pax x 10 baht each = 120 baht for the driver less his gas and maintenance costs, and perhaps the station master also gets a fee.

Little money.

Thank God that along the route people disembark and additional passengers board.

The station master at the starting point will not let the bahtbus depart until it is full --> including in the supposedly illegal external standing area.

So, flouting this alleged law is part of their daily operation.

 

I get angry where they load up the bus going to jomtien. During Covid it was not safe. If there’s a very fat person they still sometimes try to fit five on each side.

I once saw a passenger flip them the finger and tell them to bleep off. I had to agree with him. I’ll tell the driver let’s go! 
 

Just past terminal 21 they try the same thing. I just walk right in front and wave down a bus driving by. Noobies get in the bus and wait until it’s full.

When I go to jomtien from Unixx condo, the buses are usually full from the Pattaya to jomtien sardines packing. I really hate it.

[gerefan]

I have to say that the Bolt Taxis are so good and very reasonable in price that I use them instead.

They are very quick to arrive and unlike the Baht bus they are never full(!) they are obviously more comfortable and if I’m paying for three people not that much more expensive.

From Jomtien to Boyztown it is usually 68 baht. (I get a discount for some reason).

And finally you are unlikely to be pickpocketed.

[floridarob]

1 hour ago, gerefan said:

And finally you are unlikely to be pickpocketed.

Depending on who's traveling with you 😆

[Keithambrose]

2 hours ago, floridarob said:

Depending on who's traveling with you 😆

You shouldn't be rude about Vinapu!

[bkkmfj2648]

5 hours ago, Shonen said:

When I go to jomtien from Unixx condo, the buses are usually full from the Pattaya to jomtien sardines packing. I really hate it.

And they are already packed southbound into Jomtien because of the above mentioned procedure by the station master to maximize the number of passengers to 12 at the starting point.

They need to allow some of the southbound bahtbuses to bypass that starting point which is near Boyztown.  Then those who live where Jomtien begins (i.e., UNIXX) would have a chance to got on a southbound bahtbus and find a seat.

[floridarob]

45 minutes ago, Keithambrose said:

You shouldn't be rude about Vinapu!

I had you in mind 😆

[vinapu]

10 hours ago, gerefan said:

I get a discount for some reason).

Good looks maybe? 

[vinapu]

9 hours ago, floridarob said:

Depending on who's traveling with you 😆

 

7 hours ago, Keithambrose said:

You shouldn't be rude about Vinapu!

Glad you guys have fun on my expense but enjoy while it lasts. I'm not short of selfesteem

[orson]

Does the Pattaya jomtiem baht bus pass by sansuk guesthouse? I’am planning to stay there, any reviews on that place?

[bkkmfj2648]

1 hour ago, orson said:

Does the Pattaya jomtiem baht bus pass by sansuk guesthouse?

Yes

Ring the bell when you see the below Sansuk sign

[colmx]

On 1/15/2025 at 7:09 AM, bkkmfj2648 said:

No, if you are northbound from Jomtien going into Pattaya city - 10 baht can bring you as far north as the Terminal 21 shopping mall before the bahtbus heads towards beach road to head south.

 

I have to respectfully disagree with this and your advice is likely to get someone a tyre iron in the head from an angry Songtaew driver

The fare is 10B from Jomtien to South Pattaya/Central shopping Mall. If you cross Pattya Klang/Central road and head on towards Terminal 21 then the fare increases to 20B.

Of course on a busy day the driver might not notice how long you have been on the Songtaew, but if there are few passengers they will and wont be shy in calling you out about it

[bkkmfj2648]

7 hours ago, colmx said:

The fare is 10B from Jomtien to South Pattaya/Central shopping Mall. If you cross Pattya Klang/Central road and head on towards Terminal 21 then the fare increases to 20B.

Thanks for this enlightenment.  I stand corrected.

After almost 2.5 years of living in Jomtien - I never experienced having to pay 20 baht for a journey northbound past the Pattaya Klang / Central Road intersection which originated from Jomtien.

I am more than happy to pay 20 baht or even 50 baht to go all the way from Dongtan, Jomtien to Terminal 21 in northern Pattaya.  The bahtbus system is such a bargain in my opinion.

 

[colmx]

8 minutes ago, bkkmfj2648 said:

.  The bahtbus system is such a bargain in my opinion.

Agreed! after spending 5 days in Phuket last week where a tuktuk costs a minimum of 300 baht to go anywhere, the Pattaya Baht bus system cant be beaten!

[Londoner]

6 hours ago, colmx said:

Agreed! after spending 5 days in Phuket last week where a tuktuk costs a minimum of 300 baht to go anywhere, the Pattaya Baht bus system cant be beaten!

Yes....that's an increase of 30% since we were there pre-Covid. The baht-bus system in Pattaya is remarkable value and you can hire one from outside Terminus 21 to the Complex for 200bht. A taxi  costs 400. 

I don't know about other users but our experiences with public transport in Chiang Mai aren't that good either. Tuk tuks charge 200bht for what I regard as a short journey- Tapae to Night Market, for example. And I never got the hang of the bus service there. 

[daydreamer]

1 hour ago, Londoner said:

I don't know about other users but our experiences with public transport in Chiang Mai aren't that good either. Tuk tuks charge 200bht for what I regard as a short journey- Tapae to Night Market, for example. And I never got the hang of the bus service there. 

@Londoner - You are correct, the tuk-tuks in Chiang Mai, as in most areas of Thailand charge farang excessive rates for very short distances.  Next time you are there, try taking a songtaew.  The red colored trucks are seemingly everywhere, as they do not follow a fixed route.  They will go anywhere inside or outside the moat, Suthep Road, Night Market, Chotana Road, Airport Plaza, etc. 

For trips further outside the city, there are other colored songtaews departing from other locations, such as the white trucks that will take you to the Bo Sang Umbrella Market (traditional paper umbrellas).  The trucks depart from next to the Flower Market, along the Ping River, close to Warorot Market. 

The last time I rode a red colored songtaew in Chiang Mai, the cost in the city was a flat 30 baht, more if you went further outside the urban area.  Unlike in Pattaya, you have to state your destination when the red truck stops.  If the driver accepts your destination, jump on - without discussing the 30 baht fare.  Most of the songtaews in Chiang Mai have a more enclosed passenger cabin than the open-air ones in Pattaya.  Many of them have sliding glass windows - handy during Songkran.

I was in Chiang Mai two years ago, but I was driving a rental car then, so I didn't take any songtaews.  The above info is from about 4 years ago.  Someone else may have more updated info on Chiang Mai songtaews.

[macaroni21]

2 hours ago, Londoner said:

I don't know about other users but our experiences with public transport in Chiang Mai aren't that good either. Tuk tuks charge 200bht for what I regard as a short journey- Tapae to Night Market, for example. And I never got the hang of the bus service there. 

Those absurd prices were what I experienced in my visit pre-Covid, though with a bit of hard bargaining (exhausting!) I recall being able to get a discount on occasion, and the distances I wanted to travel were always longer than the 1 km from Thapae Gate to the Night Market (I would walk that distance). That was why on this recent trip I was using Grab except the fixed-price taxi that I took from airport Arrivals to hotel. But my policy is usually that any distance less than 3km is to be done on foot, so even Grab wasn't used much.

As an example of Grab costs, a 6-km trip last December cost 126 baht, though of course the pricing would vary depending on traffic conditions, availability of drivers, etc.

[Shonen]

Today I saw a foreigner spit at a song tow driver. I don’t know what the issue was. The driver drove off in front of central festival on beach road.

[Ruthrieston]

I stopped using baht buses years ago, it was ridiculous being packed in like a tin of sardines. For years I used motorbike taxis, but they are dangerous too, often driving crazy speeds and almost never giving me a helmet to wear. Now that Bolt Taxi app is here I am so grateful, and the prices are good, often the same or even less than I was paying for the motorbike taxis. Picked up in the front of my condo building and delivered to the door of the shopping centre I want to visit, from Pratumnak where I live all the way to Terminal 21 is 120 Baht.