Pattaya: 500 taxis and "baht buses" gathering dust as Covid Wave 2 proves worse than the first

[Leaver]

9 hours ago, rooster59 said:

He said that his organisation is responsible for 712 song thaews and 170 taxis and in total there are 1000 public vehicles in Pattaya.

 

 

And not one single one of those taxis operate as they should.   It's a disgrace.  

[Natai Beach]

I lived in Pattaya for ten years.

 

i have to say the songteow/baht buses were a good thing. Cheap as if stuck to the routes, never had to wait long for one, quite often some pleasant eye candy, and reasonable if you wanted to hire one to take you to somewhere not on the normal route. 
 

I often used to get a motorbike win to take me as far as the songteow regular route and go from there. Very handy when on the booze. 
 

I can’t believe people complain about them? 
 

Better and cheaper than in Samui, Phuket, Krabi, Kao Lak etc. 

[DREW99]

Question:

In the last three years has anyone hailed an aircon taxi, had the driver agree to a local destination and used the meter?

[Jingthing]

8 hours ago, notasmartassknowitallfarag said:

Once all this Covid eventually finishes they will go back to ripping tourists off. They won't learn anything from these hard times.

If ever, most likely.

But it's more likely that Pattaya will never be what it was before the bad thing.

In any case, I do have a pleasant observation.

In my limited use of baht buses in these times, I have found the drivers to be unusually polite and not trying any rip off games. 

Why exactly, I don't know.

I suppose they know the foreigners that are here aren't easy tourist marks though. 

[Jingthing]

7 minutes ago, DREW99 said:

Question:

In the last three years has anyone hailed an aircon taxi, had the driver agree to a local destination and used the meter?

If someone says yes, I wouldn't believe them. 

[Leaver]

35 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Pattaya taxis NEVER use meters. NEVER. 

 

So, you are the one who hired all 170 of them?  ????????

[Leaver]

42 minutes ago, HashBrownHarry said:

I've never used a green and yellow

 

So why comment?  You have no experience of it.

[wpcoe]

12 hours ago, Jeffr2 said:

Time for Pattaya to implement a proper mass transport system.  Worst case, some nice buses with regular routes and proper bus stops.  Kinda like what Bangkok has.

It was tried before:

 

 

Didn't last very long.  ISTR the baht bus "mafia" was instrumental in killing it?

[Meat Pie 47]

What Taxis? Pattaya has no taxis only private operators and try to get a baht bus

when you are in south Pattaya

[jacko45k]

8 hours ago, DREW99 said:

Question:

In the last three years has anyone hailed an aircon taxi, had the driver agree to a local destination and used the meter?

Well yes if one 'hails' it via a phone app!

[Jeffr2]

6 hours ago, wpcoe said:

It was tried before:

 

 

Didn't last very long.  ISTR the baht bus "mafia" was instrumental in killing it?

Wow!  Amazing map.  I'm sure the baht bus mafia were part of killing this.  I've seen the bus stops on Jomtien second road.  But no buses.  Time to implement this.  Having these nut job drivers just stop anywhere is ridiculous.  Totally block traffic....though not now as there is no traffic!

 

Thanks for the map!

[spiekerjozef]

22 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Pattaya: 500 taxis and "baht buses" gathering dust

Not because of covid but they were over-priced.

Thank you Bolt.

[lonewolf99]

I remember the Red Bus route. It was a proper bus service. 20 baht instead of the inflation busting 10 on a Bhat bus. It was also aircondtioned and I remember taking one into Pattaya from Jomtien beach and not being drenched to the skin at Songkran time.

 

Killed off by the now almost defunct Bhat bus mafia.

 

Karma has a strange way of kicking you in the nuts.

[redwood1]

21 minutes ago, Jeffr2 said:

Wow!  Amazing map.  I'm sure the baht bus mafia were part of killing this.  I've seen the bus stops on Jomtien second road.  But no buses.  Time to implement this.  Having these nut job drivers just stop anywhere is ridiculous.  Totally block traffic....though not now as there is no traffic!

 

Thanks for the map!

 

 

 Almost no wait time and a whopping 10 baht charge to go from one end of Pattaya to the other  24/7......

 

Those criminals those crooks ripping us all off...We cant tolerate this abuse anymore....

 

LOL.......Give it a rest man....The Baht buses are fantastic......

 

Out of 1000s and 1000s and 1000s of rides I have never had a bad experience...

 

[redwood1]

7 minutes ago, lonewolf99 said:

I remember the Red Bus route. It was a proper bus service. 20 baht instead of the inflation busting 10 on a Bhat bus. It was also aircondtioned and I remember taking one into Pattaya from Jomtien beach and not being drenched to the skin at Songkran time.

 

Killed off by the now almost defunct Bhat bus mafia.

 

Karma has a strange way of kicking you in the nuts.

 

Yawn......City buses dont work in Pattaya the lay out of the city is to compact, with to many stops....But Baht buses work great.....Thats why city buses have failed the 2 or 3 times they have tried them...... 

 

Baht buses are here to stay...

[redwood1]

All you baht bus haters don't worry your Monorail is coming soon....LOL 

[Jeffr2]

10 minutes ago, redwood1 said:

 

 

 Almost no wait time and a whopping 10 baht charge to go from one end of Pattaya to the other  24/7......

 

Those criminals those crooks ripping us all off...We cant tolerate this abuse anymore....

 

LOL.......Give it a rest man....The Baht buses are fantastic......

 

Out of 1000s and 1000s and 1000s of rides I have never had a bad experience...

 

24/7?  If you are only in central pattaya.  Try getting one to take you to jomtien after about 1am.  Right. Or, try to get one to take you to Sukhumvit?  Right.  Either pay up or wait a long time, perhaps while standing in the rain.

 

It's not about the money, it's about the service.  Which is at a standard for a 3rd world country.  Thailand can do better.  Sadly, corruption gets in the way.

 

Baht buses are fantastic for some, not so much for others.  So ya, give it a rest man....the baht buses are not fantastic....LOL

 

[redwood1]

7 minutes ago, Jeffr2 said:

24/7?  If you are only in central pattaya.  Try getting one to take you to jomtien after about 1am.  Right. Or, try to get one to take you to Sukhumvit?  Right.  Either pay up or wait a long time, perhaps while standing in the rain.

 

It's not about the money, it's about the service.  Which is at a standard for a 3rd world country.  Thailand can do better.  Sadly, corruption gets in the way.

 

Baht buses are fantastic for some, not so much for others.  So ya, give it a rest man....the baht buses are not fantastic....LOL

 

 

I highly suggest moving to live on a baht bus route or getting a motorcycle.....

[Inn Between]

How much is the baht bus on one of the regular routes in Pattaya, these days? It was 5 baht when I moved there around 2000. I left Thailand a few years ago due to a family situation, but I lived south of the city for quite a while and definitely enjoyed their cheap service in the early days before having my own transportation. Let's hope they're back on the road and full of both Thais and tourists before too long. 

[Jeffr2]

11 minutes ago, redwood1 said:

 

I highly suggest moving to live on a baht bus route or getting a motorcycle.....

Ummm...never....

[Salerno]

22 minutes ago, Inn Between said:

How much is the baht bus on one of the regular routes in Pattaya, these days?

 

10 Bht.

[NoshowJones]

21 hours ago, Bangyai said:

 

Yes , a lot of people have returned home and the result is a lot of little provincial towns are a lot busier than before. If I go into our nearest town ( 5 km away ) to the night market it is as busy as hell with more food stalls than before. Even got a kebab stand now which we never had before. Also see more tattooed young girls around but wife wont let me gawk. 

Who wants to gawk at girls with tattoos? Just a big turn off for me. If I wasn't a happily married guy, I would

not <deleted> them for free.

[Leaver]

7 hours ago, possum1931 said:

Who wants to gawk at girls with tattoos? Just a big turn off for me. If I wasn't a happily married guy, I would

not <deleted> them for free.

 

You won't see the tattoos if you turn the light off.  ????

[Leaver]

11 hours ago, redwood1 said:

The Baht buses are fantastic......

 

Out of 1000s and 1000s and 1000s of rides I have never had a bad experience...

 

 

I agree.

 

Long live the baht buses.

 

May the taxis go hungry and die.  No sympathy from me.  

[Neeranam]

On 1/9/2021 at 9:19 AM, rooster59 said:

All the tourists - Thai and foreigners - have simply vanished

I wonder why, they all go for the stunning beach, which is probably still there????

[Yahooka]

As one who is used to the abysmal Phuket taxi system I don`t have any complaints about the system in Pattaya at all ???? !

[jvs]

On 1/9/2021 at 2:36 PM, KhunFred said:

There are some exceptions. For a while, I was using a cane, due to an injury. I climbed onto the back of a songteaw which was packed, and the driver stopped and made two seated customers ride on the back platform in order to give me a seat. He said he was afraid I would fall off. ????

He was not being nice,he was afraid he would not get his money if you would fall off.

[Leaver]

1 hour ago, Yahooka said:

As one who is used to the abysmal Phuket taxi system I don`t have any complaints about the system in Pattaya at all ???? !

 

Phuket doesn't have a taxi system. 

 

The system there is criminals controlling the essential service, transport, and being able to charge whatever they want, because they know tourist must pay it. 

 

In many cases, the taxi from Phuket airport to a hotel in Phuket cost more than the flight to Phuket. 

 

It's a disgrace.  

[jacko45k]

21 hours ago, redwood1 said:

Out of 1000s and 1000s and 1000s of rides I have never had a bad experience...

I have, they can be quite grumpy. From being dumped at the roadside as the vehicle was waved down and asked to go to a specific place, to the rudeness one is subjected to at these pack them in queues in the evenings... in the vicinity of the Tai/2nd Rd crossing. They even get involved with the pick-pocket teams that can be encountered... how else would they ride for free. 

In the early days of Pattaya they were great though.... 

[jacko45k]

21 hours ago, redwood1 said:

 

I highly suggest moving to live on a baht bus route or getting a motorcycle.....

Or moving off the baht bus route and getting a motorcycle.... last time I was on a baht bus waiting that is what I did after being yelled at to 'shuffle up' and make more room.