Bus from Bangkok Ekamai to Pattaya bus station non stop on highway with no stops ?

[Lumbini]

How do you know if bus you board from Bangkok / Ekamai Bus station going to Pattaya bus station is non stop on highway with no stops or one that stops again and again ? and can you choose ? Sometimes you get on and bus goes straight to Pattaya bus station staying on highway whole time and other times you make stop after stop dropping people off as bus crawls through stop lights as it goes down the coast bypassing the highway that is so much faster and direct ?

[morrobay]

You buy the ticket at the official window in the station for the express bus. If you  haven't figured that out by now?? 

[Lumbini]

You buy the ticket at the official window in the station for the express bus. If you  haven't figured that out by now?? 

There is a choice you have of buying and express ticket or a ticket with many stops when you are standing at Eakami bus station buying a ticket to Pattaya ? No I did not figure that out or know I had a choice please explain [emoji780]thank you [emoji294]️

[johng]

The "ghost" busses as my wife calls them...will often have hustlers trying to quickly usher you onto the bus and you pay on the buss...we got caught out once...it was horrible stop every 3 mins to let poeple on /off ..bus broke down everyone transferred to a bus with not enough seats...I sat on the gearbox cover next to the driver who kept trying to get me to stand...I told him I've paid for a seat I'll sit.

The proper bus tickets are available from the the glass windowed booth..on the right if I remember correctly...with a sign saying Chonburi,Sri-Ratcha,Pattaya,Sattahip...
fuzzy memory now though [emoji1]

[KhunBENQ]

Just look for the company logo of

"ROONG REUANG COACH" as seen on their website:

https://pattayabus.com/V2/bangkok-to-pattaya-timetable/

Price seems unchanged at 108 Baht.

That bus goes over the Bangna Trad tollway.

Used to do at least one stop on Sukhumvit near Central rd. and ends at Jomtien bus station.

 

Edited May 23, 2018 by KhunBENQ

[Peabody]

I haven't used the Ekkamai bus for several years, but, 9 times out of 10, there were 2-3 people who had what seemed to be unscheduled stops, taking us off the highway and on to the more coastal roads, creeping along with traffic. The only thing I could figure was they slipped the driver/helper a little extrafor the special stop.

[theguyfromanotherforum]

I take Ekkamai bas to Pattaya and vice versa at least once a month with wife and this never happened to me.

 

You can usually request one of several stops once in the city, but only if you didn't store the luggage.

[digbeth]

There used to be a moratorium about Rueng Rueng Pattaya coach coming back from Ekamai not going into Chonburi City during rush hour like 4-6PM, any other time is fair game as they try to fill the empty bus with passengers that stops earlier along the route, but in the past years that I have used them I've never had a bus that went into Chonburi and Sri Racha at all. Maybe the passenger numbers throughout the day is good enough that they don't need to pad the seats with Chonburi passengers anymore, the couple of time that I had used the bus recently it's filled with independent Chinese tourist now.

 

The official 'request' stops seem to start at Rong Poh (north of Nong Prue) that's where the bus turn right back up north on Sukhumvit from Hwy.36 before coming back down to Pattaya 

[lamyai3]

On 5/23/2018 at 12:28 AM, Lumbini said:

How do you know if bus you board from Bangkok / Ekamai Bus station going to Pattaya bus station is non stop on highway with no stops or one that stops again and again ? and can you choose ? Sometimes you get on and bus goes straight to Pattaya bus station staying on highway whole time and other times you make stop after stop dropping people off as bus crawls through stop lights as it goes down the coast bypassing the highway that is so much faster and direct ?

If your talking about the regular bus (as opposed to a minivan), you can't really control it. For the most part the usual drop offs are close to the destination (Naklua etc) and it's not usually a diversion. There was a recent problem with the buses stopping to fill up with gas and leaving everyone to wait and hopefully buy something in the adjacent shop just before arriving at the Pattaya bus station, but maybe they got a slap on the wrist as they seem to have stopped doing it now. 

[thaibeachlovers]

On ‎5‎/‎23‎/‎2018 at 7:54 AM, morrobay said:

You buy the ticket at the official window in the station for the express bus. If you  haven't figured that out by now?? 

Unless that's a new development you are incorrect. There is no "express" bus. However, there is a bus that stops all the time and doesn't have a toilet on board, but that's not what the OP is asking about. That bus is not the one you buy a ticket for at the ticket counter. You pay on the bus.

 

OP, you will never know, as the stops you reference are caused by people asking to be dropped off, and sometimes there won't be any such wanting to travel on the bus you get.

[thaibeachlovers]

On ‎5‎/‎24‎/‎2018 at 7:39 AM, lamyai3 said:

If your talking about the regular bus (as opposed to a minivan), you can't really control it. For the most part the usual drop offs are close to the destination (Naklua etc) and it's not usually a diversion. There was a recent problem with the buses stopping to fill up with gas and leaving everyone to wait and hopefully buy something in the adjacent shop just before arriving at the Pattaya bus station, but maybe they got a slap on the wrist as they seem to have stopped doing it now. 

I got caught with the "diesel stop" too. Happy to hear it's stopped.

 

The unscheduled stops are a problem when they have to divert through Chonburi to drop off as the traffic is bad. Still, it's a lot quicker than when I first used the bus from Ekamai and it took over 4 hours.

[morrobay]

27 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Unless that's a new development you are incorrect. There is no "express" bus. However, there is a bus that stops all the time and doesn't have a toilet on board, but that's not what the OP is asking about. That bus is not the one you buy a ticket for at the ticket counter. You pay on the bus.

 

OP, you will never know, as the stops you reference are caused by people asking to be dropped off, and sometimes there won't be any such wanting to travel on the bus you get.

New development ?? What the heck are you talking about ?? https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g293916-d9773655-Reviews-Ekamai_Bus_Terminal-Bangkok.html

The official window is in the middle image on the right.for the official bus that leaves from the slip in the station. For the past 15 years that I know of !   It is the most express bus. IE after leaving the express way it may make a few stops along Sukimvite and unfortunately sometimes will exit for stops at Lam Chabang. But by far better than the local busses that the touts snag unsuspecting tourists in the front of station.

Edited May 25, 2018 by morrobay

[thaibeachlovers]

1 minute ago, morrobay said:

New development ?? What the heck are you talking about ?? https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g293916-d9773655-Reviews-Ekamai_Bus_Terminal-Bangkok.html

The official window is in the middle image on the right.for the official bus that leaves from the slip in the station. For the past 15 years that I know of !  

I'm well aware of the window, as I've used it hundreds of times, but not recently, so covering myself in case there was some mythical "express bus" started up in the last couple of years.

That window does NOT sell express bus tickets, as there is no such option. It sells tickets to Pattaya North Rd bus station that stops off at places near Pattaya if someone gets on that wants to get off before the destination.

[Kaoboi Bebobp]

3 hours ago, morrobay said:

New development ?? What the heck are you talking about ?? https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g293916-d9773655-Reviews-Ekamai_Bus_Terminal-Bangkok.html

The official window is in the middle image on the right.for the official bus that leaves from the slip in the station. For the past 15 years that I know of !   It is the most express bus. IE after leaving the express way it may make a few stops along Sukimvite and unfortunately sometimes will exit for stops at Lam Chabang. But by far better than the local busses that the touts snag unsuspecting tourists in the front of station.

 

This is correct, to a T. One year I took the bus every day for 7 weeks in and out of Bangkok. My total return trips probably run close to 200, including many this year. There was sometimes a diversion north on Suk from Hwy 36 for a u-turn and drop-off, but that was rare. The only stops for the Roong Reuang (Pattaya-Bangkok bus) were only occasionally Laem Chabang and sometimes at Nakluea, then straight south on Suk to the u-turn to go to the back of the Pattaya Bus Terminal. 

 

The Pattaya window at Ekamai is the only "almost express" bus service to Pattaya.

Edited May 25, 2018 by Kaoboi Bebobp