Pattaya Gogo Guide Information Pages

Subject:  Taxis and transport

In Pattaya, we have a system called Baht Buses. These are dark blue Pick-ups with a passenger seating area at the rear. There are about a thousand of them in Pattaya, or so it seems. There should be Official Prices posted in all vehicles, but many Baht Buses remove or obstruct the notice, so they can VARY the fares. Before jumping off your chair and shouting, remember that these rates were fixed when Diesel was 6.99 Baht a litre and is now over 35 Baht a litre. Other areas have different coloured Baht Buses.

There are main routes in the city centre, running along Beach Road, back up Second Road and back again. Some Second Road Baht Buses turn up Central Road to Sukhumvit Highway and others up to Naklua. Some Beach Road buses go up South Road or onto Jomtien. Other roads serviced on a regular basis is Soi Buakhao and Third Road.

While the Official price is 5 Baht for a point-to-point journey on a fixed route in Pattaya, foreigners are expected to pay 10 Baht. I see nothing wrong with that due to fuel costs. Rates to Naklua and Jomtien are higher. The Baht Bus Confederation (Known locally as Baht Bus Mafia) have applied (July 2008) for a fare increase to the Land Transport Office.

If you want to go "Off route", you can hire the whole Baht Bus. If you do not like the first quote you are given wave the Taxi away and ask the next one. Having seen you reject the first one, they may be more competitive. But also think where and what time may affect the quote.

Meter Taxis: There are more and more appearing in town. They are usually down from the Airport or Bangkok and looking for a fare back home. However, they are looking to make money, so there is no harm in asking if you want a local ride. There are now official Pattaya Meter Taxis, BUT THEY REFUSE TO USE THEIR METERS, AND WILL ASK 150-300 FOR A SHORT JOURNEY.

Urban Bus Service: The new urban bus service has started again much opposition from the Baht Bus Consortium. The Green Line has been running for a few months and the Red Line has just started. The high fixed fee of 30 Baht makes it too expensive for most Thais to use. This in effect makes the Thais still use the Baht Buses. The routes are clearly shown on the massive Bus Stop signs. Not surprisingly, they do not pass the Bus Station for Bangkok Air-con buses, which the Baht Buses consortium serves. The urban buses run along the parallel Soi Potisan 500 yards away. THESE BUSES MAY HAVE BEEN FORCED OF THE ROAD BY THE BAHT BUSES MAFIA, AS THEY ARE RARELY SEEN ON THE STREETS

Tuk-Tuks: The only Tuk-Tuks in Pattaya are run by large hotels to move their residents around. Some bars also have them for their customers.

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