Pattaya to Maptaphut Expressway Trial

[Pilotman]

Used it twice on Tuesday,  from Ban Chang to Pattaya and return.  What a beautiful scenic road, cutting through the hills.  It didn't save me as much time as I expected to make this journey, as its a long road, maybe it was 15 minutes quicker.  Traffic was almost none existent, but that will change of course.  It is a truly impressive bit of engineering and once it is fully open in September,  it will make a great deal of difference to traffic levels on all the other roads, such as the infamous 36 to Rayong and Sukhumphit, through Jomtien, Bang Saray and Sattahip.   Not sure that it will ever be economically justified, but that never seems to matter a whole lot in Thailand and it's a great addition to the Eastern region road network, which gets more impressive by the year. 

Edited May 28, 2020 by Pilotman

[huangnon]

The missus did a trial run on Saturday. From Banchang to Foodland and back within 90 minutes. Impressive.

[OJAS]

Meanwhile in the opposite direction from Ban Chang towards Klaeng, there are roadworks galore on both Highway 36 and Highway 3 through Maptaput. Makes travelling to the immigration office from that part of the world (where I live) a right PITA at the present time.????

[jimn]

Decided to give it a trial today. Conclusion it is for Pattaya residents no benefit at all. Longer term the only benefit will be that it can keep traffic off the Sukumvit if people want to pay the toll. Today we entered the road at the bottom of the number 7 highway from Bangkok, its the only access onto it. Got the payment card and drove on a very empty road all the way until nearly UTapao and gave the card back, no charge. There are no exit roads at all, even the one leading down to the Ambassador Hotel at Ban Amphur is closed. Its a great road to bypass Pattaya but other than that its a waste of time for Pattaya people.

Edited May 31, 2020 by jimn

[LennyW]

7 hours ago, jimn said:

Decided to give it a trial today. Conclusion it is for Pattaya residents no benefit at all. Longer term the only benefit will be that it can keep traffic off the Sukumvit if people want to pay the toll. Today we entered the road at the bottom of the number 7 highway from Bangkok, its the only access onto it. Got the payment card and drove on a very empty road all the way until nearly UTapao and gave the card back, no charge. There are no exit roads at all, even the one leading down to the Ambassador Hotel at Ban Amphur is closed. Its a great road to bypass Pattaya but other than that its a waste of time for Pattaya people.

Dont think it was ever intended to be any benefit for Pattaya people, it was always meant to be a major highway for the Eastern Economic Corridor servicing Utapao airport and Mapthaput industrial zone.

The exits will be open in September when it is officially operational.

[jimn]

3 hours ago, LennyW said:

Dont think it was ever intended to be any benefit for Pattaya people, it was always meant to be a major highway for the Eastern Economic Corridor servicing Utapao airport and Mapthaput industrial zone.

The exits will be open in September when it is officially operational.

Fair comment. The only exit I see once joining off of the main 7 highway was one at Ban Amphur, which was closed. No other exits along the way. I suppose I had hoped for exits/entrances along the way for local traffic. One other observation. Anyone heading out of Pattaya needs to ensure that you dont misread the signs and head onto the new road accidently. Its a long way you have to go to correct your mistake, no turn offs and no u turns for miles.

[Inderpland]

I believe I counted two exits before the Utapao exit, one at Ambassador City and one more further down? I might be wrong.

[keithsimmonds]

14 hours ago, jimn said:

Decided to give it a trial today. Conclusion it is for Pattaya residents no benefit at all. Longer term the only benefit will be that it can keep traffic off the Sukumvit if people want to pay the toll. Today we entered the road at the bottom of the number 7 highway from Bangkok, its the only access onto it. Got the payment card and drove on a very empty road all the way until nearly UTapao and gave the card back, no charge. There are no exit roads at all, even the one leading down to the Ambassador Hotel at Ban Amphur is closed. Its a great road to bypass Pattaya but other than that its a waste of time for Pattaya people.

For Pattaya golfers who want to play at Eastern Star it,s perfect isn,t it?

Is there an exit open at Eastern Star?

[jimn]

1 minute ago, keithsimmonds said:

For Pattaya golfers who want to play at Eastern Star it,s perfect isn,t it?

Is there an exit open at Eastern Star?

As far as I am aware you would exit at the Utapao turn off. Problem for you would be where you get on the road in Pattaya. Options are just up the 7 road heading to Bangkok or at the Ambassador Hotel Na Jomtien which is the only turn on/off

[overherebc]

Need to be careful if leaving BanChang going past the Maha Satun restaurant road.

Lack of signs specifically 'no-entry' at the last junction on the right before Suk' road.

Seen a couple of panic U turns where people meet head on traffic on the road off the big junction.

 

[coastguard]

There will two exits, one to the Ambassador discussed above. The other connects to 331 near the Airplane Cafe (huge jet parked there). They are calling that the Silverlake exit or Khao Chi Chan (the mountain with a giant gold Buddha outline).

 

Right now when you exit at the utapao exit you can only go one way: towards the airport (maybe 10 minutes further). For now you have to make a u-turn to get headed towards Ban Chang and Rayong. Eventually I think you'll be able to exit that direction directly onto either (or both?) sukumvit or the bypass road to Mataput. 

[drbeach]

Pilotman, it is DEFINITELTY economically justified. The expressway goes into Mapthaput industrial estate, the largest in Thailand. Also, it almost goes to U-Tapao airport, which is slated to become the international airport for the much hyped eastern economic corridor. Also, there are plans afoot to build more expressways in the eastern region, including one from Chonburi to Trat, and Chonburi to Prachinburi and Nakorn Ratchasima, through the Khao Yai mountains. Further north, Bangkok to Sra Kaew as well.

[drbeach]

On 6/1/2020 at 11:20 AM, jimn said:

Fair comment. The only exit I see once joining off of the main 7 highway was one at Ban Amphur, which was closed. No other exits along the way. I suppose I had hoped for exits/entrances along the way for local traffic. One other observation. Anyone heading out of Pattaya needs to ensure that you dont misread the signs and head onto the new road accidently. Its a long way you have to go to correct your mistake, no turn offs and no u turns for miles.

There are at least three more exits - the spur line (around 5km long) from just south of Pattaya on Sukhumvit road and Khao Chi On, as well as Mapthaput. All three of these exits won't open until September 1.

[drbeach]

On 6/20/2020 at 1:38 PM, coastguard said:

There will two exits, one to the Ambassador discussed above. The other connects to 331 near the Airplane Cafe (huge jet parked there). They are calling that the Silverlake exit or Khao Chi Chan (the mountain with a giant gold Buddha outline).

 

Right now when you exit at the utapao exit you can only go one way: towards the airport (maybe 10 minutes further). For now you have to make a u-turn to get headed towards Ban Chang and Rayong. Eventually I think you'll be able to exit that direction directly onto either (or both?) sukumvit or the bypass road to Mataput. 

I don't think you need to make a u-turn to go to Rayong. Logically you get off the expressway and keep left, there is a slip road that joins up with Sukhumvit. Keeping right and using the underpass underneath Sukhumvit road takes you towards U-Tapao airport and Sattahip.

[Pilotman]

On 6/1/2020 at 11:35 AM, Inderpland said:

I believe I counted two exits before the Utapao exit, one at Ambassador City and one more further down? I might be wrong.

you are right, there is one onto the 331 at Silver Lake 

[Eff1n2ret]

20 hours ago, drbeach said:

I don't think you need to make a u-turn to go to Rayong. Logically you get off the expressway and keep left, there is a slip road that joins up with Sukhumvit. Keeping right and using the underpass underneath Sukhumvit road takes you towards U-Tapao airport and Sattahip.

Unless they've opened it in the last three weeks, the left exit on to Sukhumvit going into Banchang was blocked off, and the only way was to go the other way towards Sattahip and take the first u-turn. 

[longball53098]

The exit to BC is still closed,,,,,,,only exit choice is towards Utapao

[steve187]

On 7/5/2020 at 7:56 PM, drbeach said:

I don't think you need to make a u-turn to go to Rayong. Logically you get off the expressway and keep left, there is a slip road that joins up with Sukhumvit. Keeping right and using the underpass underneath Sukhumvit road takes you towards U-Tapao airport and Sattahip.

at the moment you can only exit the new stretch of road at the Ban Chang end heading to wards Sattahip, you would have to do a u turn if heading towards Rayong.

the Mataphut flyover exit goes nowhere so i doubt it will open anytime soon, the left exit toward Rayong is closed at the moment, forcing all  traffic to use the underpass towards Sattahip

[Cake Monster]

Many people will still choose to use Route 36 or Route 331 to transit into Rayong Etc.

Toll fees Vs time

15 Mins Vs 120 Baht ? for Thais is a No Brainer

[steve187]

1 minute ago, Cake Monster said:

Many people will still choose to use Route 36 or Route 331 to transit into Rayong Etc.

Toll fees Vs time

15 Mins Vs 120 Baht ? for Thais is a No Brainer

where do you get 120thb from, i think the new bit is around 30thb

[Susco]

3 minutes ago, Cake Monster said:

Many people will still choose to use Route 36 or Route 331 to transit into Rayong Etc.

Toll fees Vs time

15 Mins Vs 120 Baht ? for Thais is a No Brainer

The part of highway that replaces route 36 and route 331, is 30 Baht, not 120

[EVENKEEL]

Going to Rayong is a <deleted> shoot no matter which way you go. Road construction galore.

[huangnon]

^Yep, takes far longer now to get to Rayong than it does Pattaya.. lol

 

Took the new motorway to Pattaya last Sunday morning, and seemed like I had the road all to myself. Impressive stretch of road and views, and was there in no time at all. Have to be careful of construction vehicles still traversing up and down though.

Edited July 7, 2020 by huangnon

[LennyW]

36 minutes ago, huangnon said:

^Yep, takes far longer now to get to Rayong than it does Pattaya.. lol

 

Took the new motorway to Pattaya last Sunday morning, and seemed like I had the road all to myself. Impressive stretch of road and views, and was there in no time at all. Have to be careful of construction vehicles still traversing up and down though.

And the speed cameras are active;-)

[LennyW]

7 hours ago, Cake Monster said:

Many people will still choose to use Route 36 or Route 331 to transit into Rayong Etc.

Toll fees Vs time

15 Mins Vs 120 Baht ? for Thais is a No Brainer

36 is not good right now...roadworks galore!! 

[Jai Dee]

From Pattaya Mail:

 

[keithsimmonds]

I like it....used it 3 times now to play Golf at Emerald 40 mins door to door top of Khao Noi to Emerald.

[drbeach]

On 7/6/2020 at 4:48 PM, Eff1n2ret said:

Unless they've opened it in the last three weeks, the left exit on to Sukhumvit going into Banchang was blocked off, and the only way was to go the other way towards Sattahip and take the first u-turn. 

You're right. i watched a video and it's indeed blocked off. Also, yesterday I even took the expressway for the first time and the exit was indeed still blocked.

 

I do hope they open it soon along with the other exits, rather than opening them all at the same time. Would make sense to progressively open, but looks like that's not going to happen.

 

Not a big deal, I decided to head along the coast to Phla beach and then via Rayong to my destination further east. Was a bit time consuming due to all the traffic and traffic lights in Rayong itself. Probably not worth taking this expressway any more to get to points around Klaeng or further east if arriving from Bangkok since it takes you unnecessarily further away.

[drbeach]

9 hours ago, steve187 said:

at the moment you can only exit the new stretch of road at the Ban Chang end heading to wards Sattahip, you would have to do a u turn if heading towards Rayong.

the Mataphut flyover exit goes nowhere so i doubt it will open anytime soon, the left exit toward Rayong is closed at the moment, forcing all  traffic to use the underpass towards Sattahip

Yes, I realized that too after watching a recent video and using the road myself yesterday. I believe the Mapthaput flyover will open in September along with all the currently unopened exits.

[drbeach]

1 hour ago, Jai Dee said:

From Pattaya Mail:

 

I understand the flyover to Mapthaput, which is part of this expressway and ends up in the industrial estate, will open in September too. It may or may not be quicker to get to Rayong and beyond, by getting off the expressway at the very end instead of in U-Tapao like at present.