Caught the yellow bus from Pattaya to yasothon, it wasn't the VIP bus just the normal where there is a door behind the driver, so you feel locked it a cabin. Toilet very small and dated. Seats were ok but after a few hours it began to get uncomfortable. Set of on time, but the bus takes a route picking up passengers, so it's 2 hours before heading up north, well his was not true, he headed east to the Cambodia border to pick up passengers, he then followed the border before heading to wards buriram where we stopped at a very dirty cafe which must belong to the yellow bus company,  before booking, the schedule said that we would arrive in yasothon at 7:30pm but we didn't arrive to 9pm, I enjoyed he journey, it was just that we had told the hotel that we would be arriving at 8pm and also family were picking us up at the bus station. With 90 km to go at 7.30, around 54 miles, we expected to be in yasothon at 8:30 but the driver started making detours dropping people off. No entertainment on board and only a bottle of water. For 500 baht, can't complain, it's just the 13 hours sitting. Luckily no bugs or mosquitos on board, just one of the drivers wanting to chat to everyone once it went dark.

 

Just to note, the bus started off in Rayong and finished in mukdahan

Thanks for the report and reminder why I avoid such "fun trips".

13h for 600 km (from the route description, 46 km/h average).

11h for 560 km to Pattaya some years ago was my last bus trip of this kind (51 km/h).

 

1 hour ago, malct said:

but the driver started making detours dropping people off.

Sounds so familiar

No doubt the same driver for the whole 13 hour trip from Rayong to Mukdahan....No thankyou

On ‎15‎/‎10‎/‎2017 at 10:47 AM, KhunBENQ said:

Thanks for the report and reminder why I avoid such "fun trips".

13h for 600 km (from the route description, 46 km/h average).

11h for 560 km to Pattaya some years ago was my last bus trip of this kind (51 km/h).

 

Sounds so familiar

So what's the point you're really trying to make?

18 minutes ago, hobobo said:

So what's the point you're really trying to make?

It's creeping slow and nerve-racking.

 

The drivers do arbitrary detours to pick up/drop off passengers at (or close to) their houses for pocket money not taking care about the rest of the passengers.

(and that context is lost by your quoting!)

 

Is that enough?

 

My limit for a bus trip is 2 hours, prefer the train

 

I just recently started flying when possible. My ticket from Roi Et to Bangkok on Air Asia was only 1,200 when I bought it a few weeks ago. To me its well worth the extra 600 baht. The return bus trip, Bangkok to Roi Et, for some reason is often so much worse, many times you'll get a driver who seems to meander all over Isaan making a 8 hour trip 11-12 hours. Never had an issue going from Roi Et, but for only 600 baht you cut a 8-9 hour trip down to 2-3 hours total, door to door.