Getting Around Pattaya - Songthaew

Otherwise known as Baht Buses, these are essentially nothing more than pickup trucks that have been converted into buses to ferry tourists around the city from various attraction points, and to and from their Pattaya hotels. While other cities in Thailand offer tuk-tuks as a form of transportation, for the most part they do not exist in this city, outside of a few privately operated examples that you can hire to pick you up outside of your Pattaya hotel and take you wherever you want to go throughout the city.

There are anywhere from 800 to 1,000 songthaews in operation around Pattaya, all of them coloured dark blue and easily recognizable. While the official bus fare is five baht for trips within the city itself, expect to pay more as a foreigner given the fact that there is a distinct rate difference between local fares and foreign fares. While you do not necessarily need to know the exact change, it can reduce potential hassles to a minimum, as sometimes you can run into drivers who either do not have change or will expect you to go to another vendor somewhere along the street in order to get exact change. Flat fees only apply when the bus is operating as a public transportation method, so if you see one that is empty and parked along the roadside, you could mistakenly give the driver the impression that you are looking to charter the entire songthaew for travel around the city or to your Pattaya hotel, in which case you could find yourself paying significantly more depending on your negotiating skills.

The busiest route is the beach circuit from the Pattaya hotels in that district, ranging from the junction of Second Road and South Pattaya Road and north along Second Road to the Dolphin Circle roundabout, then along the full length of Beach Road before it heads east along South Pattaya Road to complete the circuit. Because the service is nonstop you can easily find transportation even in the middle of the night when everyone else is sleeping. While the routes can vary from time to time, depending on whether or not the driver has decided to pick up a single fare for a taxi ride, for the most part the routes stay the same, other than little jaunts down side streets that you are not expected to pay extra for. If you feel that you have been overcharged by a driver, there is always a three digit vehicle number in the top left of the windshield which you can then report to the police or city manager, as well as the district bus cooperative. However, the chances of this happening are fairly rare as the fares are very cheap and dishonesty is incredibly unlikely.

Lek Boonlert is an editor and content reviewer at DirectRooms and is responsible for all Pattaya Hotels content. Visit Pattaya Hotel for more info.

By Lek Boonlert