Pattaya

By taxi

Public taxis serving the airport must have a meter, be air-conditioned, and be less than five years old. The driver should have an Airports of Thailand certificate.

To Bangkok - widely advertised in Pattaya at 800 baht the lower price is because it'll be a Bangkok cab returning home, and easily arranged through most travel agencies and hotels/guesthouses. The driver pays 300 baht commission to the agency, if you can hail one yourself you might be able to negotiate lower. Minibuses can also be chartered taxi-style from around 1800 baht.

From Bangkok - prices range from 1500 baht the official meter-taxi rate to 1000 baht; arranged car services will tend toward the higher end, but licenced meter-taxis should be negotiable to the lower end of the range. Allow about 90-120 minutes, depending on where in Bangkok you're coming from; more around rush hour.

From Suvarnabhumi Airport - the official meter-taxi price to Pattaya is 1050 baht 1100 baht to Jomtien plus the 60 baht highway "motorway" or "expressway" toll this isn't necessary outside peak times, when travelling down below is just as fast. Allow around 80-90 minutes in favourable conditions.

Scams to watch out for when headed for Bangkok by taxi include being told that the pre-paid price is fully inclusive, but then, on arrival at the first toll booth, being told that the expressway fees are extra.

Many of the more upmarket hotels can arrange for an additional fee to have you met at the airport gate by a personal driver with a limousine, thus avoiding the need to negotiate with taxi drivers, or you can book a limousine in advance online (http://www.limousine.in.th/)

By plane

U-Tapao Airport (http://www.utapao.com) IATA: UTP | ICAO: VTBU | tel: +66-38245295, often known somewhat inaccurately as "Pattaya Airport", is at Sattahip, just off the main Sattahip - Chanthaburi Sukhumvit highway, 30km south of Pattaya. Primarily a military facility, it's the closest airport fielding commercial passenger flights, but only to a handful of destinations. There are no commercial passenger flights connecting U-Tapao directly with Bangkok.

Schedules all daily, as at January 1st 2006:

Bangkok Airways PG (http://www.bangkokair.com) flies to/from Ko Samui USM and Phuket HKT - UTP-USM & USM-UTP flights are usually slightly less expensive than BKK-USM & USM-BKK flights

- PG272 - UTP 12:10 to HKT 13:50 - PG271 - HKT 14:20 to UTP 16:00 - PG252 - HKT 09:20 via USM 10:40 to UTP 11:40 - PG285 - USM 13:10 to UTP 14:10 - PG286 - UTP 14:40 to USM 15:40 - PG284 - UTP 16:30 to USM 17:30

The easiest way to transfer between U-Tapao and Pattaya is by direct door-to-door minibus - driving time is normally about 30 minutes 200-250 baht per person for pre-booked services. Metered taxi costs 750 baht including motorway tolls, if purchased at hotel.

If speed and convenience don't matter, the ad-hoc option is to hop on virtually any bus on Sukhumvit Road. Going south, if it's a bus that terminates at Sattahip you'll have to swap buses or finish the journey by songthaew; if it's going further east eg Rayong, Chanthaburi or Trat it'll drop you off at the airport entrance as it goes by. Going north, wait for a bus that's going further than Sattahip and then you won't need to transfer. Alternatively, the white songthaews that ply Sukhumvit Road between Pattaya and Sattahip charge just 20 baht.

Or to buck the trend big time, go by rail 3rd class, weekdays only between Pattaya and Sattahip, get off just before or after the line crosses Highway 3, and connect with the airport by songthaew or bus. The fare for the 40-50 minute train ride is 6 yes, six! baht - depart Pattaya 10:18AM, arrive Sattahip 11AM; depart Sattahip 1:30PM, arrive Pattaya 2:21PM - but don't forget, no trains on Saturdays or Sundays.

By train

Provided it's a weekday, the most economical way to travel between Pattaya and Bangkok by public transport is by rail. The one-way fare is just 31 baht, and if you've never experienced a 3rd class Thai train, this can be an interesting experience.

From Monday to Friday, a single daily 3rd class no aircon train departs Bangkok's Hualamphong Train Station at 06:50 and arrives at the main Pattaya station at 10:18, before continuing on to Sattahip; it then returns via Pattaya at 14:21 and terminates back in Bangkok at 17:40 on Saturdays and Sundays it turns back to Bangkok at Chachoengsao, so is of no practical use for getting to or from Pattaya on weekends. Regardless of direction, simply turn up and buy a ticket at the station. This train can't be pre-booked.

Pattaya has two train stations, both just east of Sukhumvit Road:

Pattaya Train Station

tel. +66-38429285 is the main stop, just north of the junction with Central Pattaya Rd from Sukhumvit Rd, turn into Soi Pornprapanimit and then turn left immediately before the road crosses the railway line. A Baht Bus waits here for the train to arrive and charges a reasonable 30 baht/person to anywhere in the Pattaya Beach area; in the opposite direction, budget around 40-50 baht for a motorbike taxi from Beach Rd. Facilities comprise a small snacks / chilled drinks counter, toilets, a solitary payphone, and the ticket office, which also sells maps of Pattaya.

Pattaya Tai Train Station

is a small unmanned halt about 3 km further south, and hence closer to Jomtien, near the Sukhumvit / Thepprasit Rd intersection.

At the main Pattaya Train Station, tickets must be bought before boarding and are only sold in the final 30 minutes prior to departure. The fare from/to Bangkok is 31 baht, from/to Sattahip 6 baht.

As the Pattaya Tai halt has no ticket office, passengers are permitted to board here without tickets and then pay on the train 32 baht to Bangkok.

The surcharge for transporting a bicycle up to 20 kg between any two points on this line ie Bangkok-Sattahip is 80 baht.

Tickets for other journeys can be purchased up to a maximum of 60 days in advance at the Pattaya Train Station ticket office between 08:00 and 16:00. The same tickets can also be arranged through Pattaya agencies, who will add on a 200-300 baht markup to cover their assistance and the cost of sending a moto-taxi to collect the tickets from the station.

Travelling by train although is the most economical, is far less comfortable than travelling by bus train is non-aircon, not very clean, and no toilet. Also travelling by train takes longer time, as much as 3.5 hours compared to bus 1.5-2.5 hours.

By car

Pattaya is located 147 km from Bangkok and can be reached in a comfortable 2-hour drive. There are two convenient ways to get there.

Via the Bangkok-Chon Buri-Pattaya Motorway Highway 7 The motorway is linked with Bangkok’s Outer Ring Road., Highway 9 and there is also another entrance at Si Nakharin and Rama IX Junction.

Via Bang Na-Trat Highway Highway 34 From Bang Na, Bang Phli, cross the Bang Pakong River to Chon Buri and take Chon Buri’s bypass to meet Sukhumvit Rd, (Highway 3, passing Bang Saen Beach, Bang Phra to Pattaya.

Most visitors arrive by road from or via Bangkok, many having flown in to Suvarnabhumi the "new" BKK. Much smaller numbers arrive direct by road from the north and east, by rail from Bangkok, and by air via U-Tapao from Ko Samui or Phuket in Southern Thailand or Siem Reap in Cambodia.