Long distance buses, Bangkok

1 more image

well are you going straight to Pattaya after touching down at the airport? or are you going to move around Bangkok 1st then only to pattaya?

If u are going straight to Pattaya after touch down at the new airport I recommend you to take the BELL travel bus at ground floor (200baht each), takes you straight to your hotel (mini van from Pattaya bus station) cheap, comfortable and if you wanna go back to Bangkok, they provide that too, just call them, however they don't do Bangkok to Pattaya, which I wonder why?

Details:

A lady/man from Bell can be found near/ next to door 7 on the ground floor of the Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport.

Bell airport representative: +66-89 44 98 843
Bell Pattaya Office: +66-38 37 00 55
Bell Bangkok Office: +66-27 47 46 73

Time table:
Airport -> Pattaya: 8.00 / 10.00 / 12.00 / 14.00 / 16.00 / 18.00
Pattaya -> Airport: 6.00 / 9.00/ 11.00/ 13.00/ 15.00/ 17.00/ 19.00
Pattaya -> Downtown Bangkok: 9.00/ 13.00/ 17.00

Fares:
Airport - Pattaya : 200 baht
Pattaya -> Downtown Bangkok: 350 baht

Fares incl. drop off at hotel in Pattaya. The bus wil take you the bus terminal in Pattaya and the a minivan will take you to yout hotel. If you go from Pattaya to Airport/ Bangkok then minivan will pick you up, take you to terminal and then bus to Airport.

Buses are very good, have reclining seats, toilet...

For some reason, the southern bus station is found way out in the west of the city, which isn't good to get to from the city centre. Buses depart from here to all the southern provinces and main tourist destinations such as Krabi, Phuket, Surat Thani, Ko Samui, Ko Phangan, Hat Yai etc as well as to western centres such as Nakhon Pathom and Kanchanaburi. The bus station is large and modern and not chaotic at all. Simply walk through the main entrance and go up to the top floor where you'll find lots of ticket counters. An assistant will probably come over to help you out like they did for me and point you to the right counter. The new terminal is a fairly pleasant airport-like structure with air-conditioning, electronic departure monitors (in English), a few bank offices and a KFC plus other snack stalls.

Phutthamonthon Soi 1 in Bang Ramat, Taling Chan, northern Thonburi.

Not sure of the directions but if you go by taxi tell the driver, " sai tai mai." That is the southern bus terminal. Once you are in Bangkok you may also want to check at your hotel or concierge may know. Many of the VIP buses often depart from hotels. Also consider taking van. Many vans depart Bangkok for Hua Hin from hotels as well, they are just as fast, usually a bit faster but may cost a little bit more.
http://www.1stopbangkok.com/getting_here/bus/

Not sure why you need to take a bus, but it's a about a 25 hour run, that is Bangkok, Hat Yai to Butterworth, so it's not even all the way to KL, assuming that is your final destination. www.thailandday.com
Departs Bangkok at 1530 daily and arrives in Butterworth at 1530. That's a long trip, I don't care how comfortable the bus is, but that's me. That is also 1900 Baht according to this web site.
Why not take a train?? Faster and maybe even cheaper. Same web site. Bangkok to Butterworth with as 2nd class sleeper for about 1400baht or BKK to Pedang Besar ro about 1900 baht, both take about 17 hours, faster and arguably more comfortable with an AC sleeper.
For both of these it does not get you all the way to KL but I know you can get from Butterworth to KL via train or bus easily.

For probably twice that much you could fly all the way in less than 2 hours.

Good luck

I missed my flights to Bangkok for this year's songkran. Being so determined to experience songkran at Khao San Road. I decided to go to Bangkok by bus from Kuala Lumpur because the last minutes flights ticket will cost me 5X the price I paid earlier. From bus terminal in Kuala Lumpur, Puduraya, there are buses straight to Hadyai. The bus schedule is usually at night 12.00am or the latest is at 8.00am. Ticket price is RM45. If you missed the bus, you can opt for Bukit Kayu Hitam buses which is at the northern border of Malaysia-Thailand. Or else, you can take KL-Changloon bus and take a cab to Bukit Kayu Hitam (BKH) checkpoint. If you do not know where you should stop, ask the driver to remind you when you reached the destination (ie. BKH or Changloon) because the bus's last stop is Kangar. Ticket and taxi fare is RM32 and RM10 respectively. These journeys will be around 6-8 hours via the PLUS highway.

After the immigration checkpoint, you can take a taxi straight to Hadyai bus station. This will cost you around RM25/person, depending on your ability to bargain with the driver. I took an 'illegal' taxi at the duty free shopping complex. Please be reminded that the fare will rise up after 6.00pm. The journey to the bus station took me 45 minutes.

After you reached the bus station, you will see a lot of travel agencies offering packages and tickets. I bought mine at one of those and later was told that the lady who was sitting next to me paid only B717 while mine was B900. The price I paid is for VIP bus while the bus I ride was nothing like a VIP bus (24-seater) where my seat was too small with too many people. My advice is to go straight to the ticket counter 'inside' the bus station (go through the gate and you'll see a counter selling tickets). The price on my ticket was actually B717 too. The journey took 12 hours so I arrived at 8.00am.

The schedule for Bangkok's buses are at 8.30am, 3.00pm, 5.00pm and 7.30pm. The bus is a double decker bus, with toilet. They'll provide a blanket, snack, mineral water and wet tissue. They made a stop at a restaurant and I'm not sure if the meal there is actually provided for free too because I don't feel like eating at 2.00am. They will stop at Southern bus station in Bangkok and you can take the 511 bus behind the taxi terminal, for the fare of B32 (if I'm not mistaken) to Khao San Road.

Bangkok has three main bus terminals to destinations outside Bangkok.
Northern/Northeast Bus Terminal on Phaholyothin Road, (Moh Chit Station) Tel. 2720296 or 2796222, serves Chiang Mai and the north.
Southern Bus Terminal on Pinklao-Nakornchaisri Road, Tel. 4351199, on Thonburi side of the river (It's called Southern Terminal) serves Hua Hin, Koh Samui, Phuket and points south.
Eastern Bus Terminal located on Sukhumvit Road, Soi 40, Ekkamai, Tel. 391-2504 or 392-2391, Usually referred to as EKKAMAI, serves Pattaya and points Southeast to Rayong and Trad Province.

we took the city bus to Pattaya it was about 280 baht for two people it is much cheaper than going with a tour group. the buses are like taking a greyhound bus and it is very clean. they run every 1/2 hour- hour

1 more image

Buying tickets at Ekkamai bus terminal is a breeze compared to Mo Chit. It's a smaller pplace, more navigable. Counters lined the sides, and all you have to do is to find the counter window with the name of the destination you want to go and buy a ticket on the next available bus.

Words in blue are for air-conditioned buses, red for non-air-conditioned buses. Berths are labeled in English, and even the buses are labeled in English. You can't go wrong here. A ticket to Pattaya cost around 100 baht for airconditioned buses.

Pity the terminal only serves the eastern side of Thailand. Mo Chit is the main terminal for trips to Central, Northern and Northeastern Thailand. It's a like a regional terminal, bustling with people and activities. And that can be daunting to tourists who can't read the thai script.