Baht Bus Fares

[Sapillyder]

A friend (Thai) needs to get from the Police box at Dontarn Beach, Jomtien to the Dolphin roundabout in North Pattaya and back every week day. New to town she has no idea how the songtaows run or what the fares are. Can anyone advise please? Just out of curiosity, but not wishing to stir up the old double pricing debate, what would it cost for a farang? Thanks

[Jingthing]

My opinion only:

Farang: 20 baht

Thai: 10 baht

A farang can go as far as Pattaya Klang for 10 baht and it will almost always be accepted without "comment". Paying 10 as far as the Dolphin by a farang would be really pushing it, especially if the bus isn't full. I am pretty sure there will be no problem paying 10 by a Thai because I have had Thai people say they can ride all the way from far out Jomtien Beach well into Naklua for 10.

BTW, the taxi stand at the school at Pattaya Tai runs to Jomtien are 10 baht for everyone. I have even seen drivers challenge poor looking Thai people trying to pay 5 and getting off even 1/3 of the way to Jomtien. They wait in a queue for that load of people and reasonably expect a full freight.

Edited November 2, 2008 by Jingthing

[joskydive]

I've always paid 10 baht. Just make sure she doesn't ask the driver first before boarding the taxi as he will likely put the price up assuming she doesn't know the going rate.

[Jingthing]

In my experience attempts to pay only 10 to go from Jomtien to as far as Big C which is before the Dolphin a bit do get challenged fairly often, and if the bus has been empty or is empty, a challenge is pretty likely. You would have to ride this hundreds of times to come up with a percentage of times it is accepted or not accepted, but I am sure it isn't very rare that it isn't.

Edited November 2, 2008 by Jingthing

[CRUNCHER]

I usually pay 10 baht (same as Thais) as far as South Road and 20 baht beyond. Never had a problem. Lets face it, it is not a huge sum for a journey like that.

Nowhere in Pattaya shold be more than 10 baht,but sometimes willingly paying a little (repeat little) over the odds removes the chance of confontation and actually puts you in control.

Depends where you drink, but what is 10 extra baht as a percentage of a Chang or a Singha?

To the OP, 20 baht is a fair price to both parties.

Edited November 2, 2008 by CRUNCHER

[Jingthing]

To the OP, 20 baht is a fair price to both parties.

Oh geez! It is not what is "fair"; the question is what is the fare

A Thai making 200 baht a day doing such a journey RT daily, that is 40 baht or 20 percent of their income for riding in a dirty smelly cattle cart (picturesque though they may be). OK, go ahead as a farang do your guilt thing and double pay when it is not required (the drivers who think you are a sucker tourist thank you), but please don't tell Thais that they should do the same.

By your logic, the street stall charging 30 baht for pad Thai isn't charging enough, it isn't fair, better hand over 60 and advise Thais to do the same.

Edited November 2, 2008 by Jingthing

[fresnoboy]

[

Oh geez! It is not what is "fair"; the question is what is the fare ?

A problem I have found is that not being able to read Thai, I have no idea how far they are going. Some have gone to Pattaya Tai and said that was as far as they were going but still wanted 20. I was not happy but my wife said, "Oh let it go". It's not the amount of the money, it's just getting scre*ed that's irritating.

I've solved my problem and bought a car

[LennyW]

The fare is going to be whatever the driver says it is!!!

[Jingthing]

The fare is going to be whatever the driver says it is!!!

That would be a mistake, talking to the driver.

Some have gone to Pattaya Tai and said that was as far as they were going

In my experience, this happens less than 5 percent of the time. Edited November 3, 2008 by Jingthing

[BugJackBaron]

[

Oh geez! It is not what is "fair"; the question is what is the fare ?

A problem I have found is that not being able to read Thai, I have no idea how far they are going. Some have gone to Pattaya Tai and said that was as far as they were going but still wanted 20. I was not happy but my wife said, "Oh let it go". It's not the amount of the money, it's just getting scre*ed that's irritating.

I've solved my problem and bought a car

For me I was glad to rent a motorcycle for many reasons , one being the unpleasant

baht-taxi experience.

Going FROM south and 2nd to Jomtien is ALWAYS 10 baht.

Going the other way is usually 10 baht but seems to depend on the whim of the driver and

whether or not the customers are mostly farangs.

I have always felt ambivilant about paying 20 unless there was agreement before the trip.

Sure it's only 10 baht but whats next, 30? Usually I say I will check with the tourist police (phone 1155)

if they ask 20 and they always leave at that point.

Clearly marked fare zones inside the baht taxi would be a step in the right direction.

[Jingthing]

It might depend on where you are coming from in Jomtien. Coming from inner Jomtien, I have NEVER had even ONE comment paying 10 baht if getting off before Pattaya Klang and I have been riding this for years now. I can easily believe if you picked up the bus from further out Jomtien as a farang, you would sometimes find 10 baht not acceptable. Experienced people know never speak to the driver unless you want to make it a chartered taxi.

Edited November 3, 2008 by Jingthing

[BugJackBaron]

It might depend on where you are coming from in Jomtien. Coming from inner Jomtien, I have NEVER had even ONE comment paying 10 baht if getting off before Pattaya Klang and I have been riding this for years now. I can easily believe if you picked up the bus from further out Jomtien as a farang, you would sometimes find 10 baht not acceptable. Experienced people know never speak to the driver unless you want to make it a chartered taxi.

Well you were luckier than me. I took it from Jomtien Complex which is about as inner as it gets.

Going to Naklua or past I am happy to pay 20. It is also what they will ask for

if you go from Pattay to Jomtien much past that middle road(where the Police box is).

A good efficient cheap bus system would solve these problems as well as help the traffic

congestion caused by all those empty taxis..

[Jingthing]

Bug, if you read my posts, isn't that what I said? 10 baht for all to Pattaya Klang. Possibly 20 further(Big C/Dolphin) for a farang but not a Thai.

Edited November 3, 2008 by Jingthing

[Sapillyder]

Thank you all very much for the very helpful and informative input. My friend will commence the daily journey tomorrow and I will let you know how it goes.

A follow up question I have is, do any of the baht buses coming from the North Pattaya Dolphin Roundabout to South Pattaya continue on to Jomtien? Or does one have to alight at 2nd & South and get on another? If so - how much would a Thai pay for Dolphin Roundabout to Walking Street?

Again, many thanks for all very useful advice.

[LennyW]

The fare is going to be whatever the driver says it is!!!

That would be a mistake, talking to the driver.

Some have gone to Pattaya Tai and said that was as far as they were going

In my experience, this happens less than 5 percent of the time.

You dont need to talk to the driver, if you do not hand him enough money he is going to let you know about it for sure!

[Sapillyder]

Well, due to a number of missteps today, like getting on a songtaow that turned towards Sukhumvit instead of returning to South Pattaya at the Dolphin roundabout, my friend ended up paying 45 baht round trip. Still very cheap all things considered. But we'll try to do better tomorrow and let you know.

[bangkapiboy]

A friend (Thai) needs to get from the Police box at Dontarn Beach, Jomtien to the Dolphin roundabout in North Pattaya and back every week day. New to town she has no idea how the songtaows run or what the fares are. Can anyone advise please? Just out of curiosity, but not wishing to stir up the old double pricing debate, what would it cost for a farang? Thanks

Anywhere in Jomtien to Pattaya up to Central Rd is 10B. Any farther than that and the baht buses expect 20B (example: BigC).

For your friend to get back to Jomtien she should take a baht bus from N Pattaya intersection going along beach rd. Once the baht bus reaches S. Pattaya intersection at 2nd rd simply change to the Jomtien baht bus in front of the school. This means paying 10B two times.

[BugJackBaron]

A friend (Thai) needs to get from the Police box at Dontarn Beach, Jomtien to the Dolphin roundabout in North Pattaya and back every week day. New to town she has no idea how the songtaows run or what the fares are. Can anyone advise please? Just out of curiosity, but not wishing to stir up the old double pricing debate, what would it cost for a farang? Thanks

Anywhere in Jomtien to Pattaya up to Central Rd is 10B. Any farther than that and the baht buses expect 20B (example: BigC).

For your friend to get back to Jomtien she should take a baht bus from N Pattaya intersection going along beach rd. Once the baht bus reaches S. Pattaya intersection at 2nd rd simply change to the Jomtien baht bus in front of the school. This means paying 10B two times.

Really? I could have sworn I've seen Thais go as far as North road and only pay 10 Baht.

Past North road then it gets to 20...

But again this should be clearly marked BEFORE the jouney starts.

I have had Taxi drivers stop and tell me that going from Pattaya past the Jomtien Central road is

20 and that is the proper thing to do. Not give a figure of teh day when the passenger disembarks...

[Sapillyder]

The answer seems to be 30 baht roundtrip............

From Dontarn Beach 7-11 Jomtien to the Dolphin roundabout, 10 baht no problem, then on the return leg, 10 baht to the traffic lights near Walking Street, change vehicles and then another 10 baht to Jomtien. Not a bad deal really. I might try it myself one day to see if a farang could get away with it or not.

[grahamhc]

Believe it or not, but there is an OFFICIAL PRICE TARIFF SHEET that was posted in ALL the taxis a couple of years ago - only in Thai, of course, but soon ripped out by the drivers. The tarrif was set by the (Government) Land Transport Office, not the Baht Bus consortium.

I was in a songteow the other day and he still had it suck on the cab window in the passenger section. An exapmle was "Private hire of up to 5 people on central area 60 Baht." - You try getting that! Normally I have to pay 80-100 baht from second road / Pattaya Thai to Third Road.

Outside Soi Diamond, they are parked up and ask for 150 Baht. 10 yards further and will accept 100 baht (the price of a beer in WS)

[Jingthing]

The answer seems to be 30 baht roundtrip............

From Dontarn Beach 7-11 Jomtien to the Dolphin roundabout, 10 baht no problem, then on the return leg, 10 baht to the traffic lights near Walking Street, change vehicles and then another 10 baht to Jomtien. Not a bad deal really. I might try it myself one day to see if a farang could get away with it or not.

Exactly right. Northbound, most times a farang can make it to Pattaya Klang for 10B but going further to Big C or the Dolphin for you enter a farang grey area especially in an empty bus.

[justbob]

from dongtan beach if you give 20 baht usually you get change:

before pattaya klang - 10 baht

after but before big c - 5 baht

big c and after - 0 baht

but if you give 10 baht just at the pattaya klang it's okey

if you give 10 baht near big c you will have a conversation with driver . i see many times that even thais pay 20 baht for this trip.

Edited November 11, 2008 by justbob

[gk10002000]

I always give 20 baht if I get from Johmtien down to Big C. 9/10 times the bus goes all the way. For the distance and convenience that is a hel_l of a price in my opinion.

[torrenova]

Bt10. Why ? because that is the fare. It is a single journey whatever Somchai thinks.

To reverse the argument, would a very short journey warrant a fare of less than Bt10 ? It should but it does not. Thus, a longer fare which should perhaps warrant a higher fare is the other side of the coin.

I regularly went from VIew Talay 2 to Naklua (Dolphin Roundabout) for Bt10 and rarely challanged.

[Jingthing]

Bt10. Why ? because that is the fare. It is a single journey whatever Somchai thinks.

To reverse the argument, would a very short journey warrant a fare of less than Bt10 ? It should but it does not. Thus, a longer fare which should perhaps warrant a higher fare is the other side of the coin.

I regularly went from VIew Talay 2 to Naklua (Dolphin Roundabout) for Bt10 and rarely challanged.

For very short baht bus rides where the driver recognizes you (they usually do) even farangs can pay 5 baht with very little chance of being challenged. I am talking short rides (for example Royal Garden to Soi Diana). Even though they will accept 5 for short rides I personally don't like doing this just because there is some stress about being challenged and I don't like stress. To those who say why not walk a short distance (my preference also)? Sometimes too hot, sometimes too wet, sometimes no sidewalk/footpath to walk on, sometime dangerous to walk.

There is another situational time even a farang can pay 5 baht and not be challenged. For example from Carrefour on Pattaya Klang if the driver turns a different way than you wish to travel (for example turns north at 2nd road and you want to go south) you can pay 5 baht with the logic that the driver did not complete your expected journey. Only talking from experience, have never been challenged doing this (but these buses are usually rather full).

Edited November 12, 2008 by Jingthing

[Cuban]

Just to add my 2 satang to this thread rather than start a new one very closely related....

The 10 baht flat fare issue kicked off when gas prices were pushing then through 40 Baht a litre.

We are currently going down and looking to test 20 Baht a litre.

5 Baht / 10 Baht debate soon to re-open.

[farangpattaya]

The fare is going to be whatever the driver says it is!!!

I'm not a regular user anymore, but there should be some kind of 'fare-table' visible for passengers in every Song-Taew; stating zones, max. # passengers, fares, etc.

The fares were THB 5 for everybody in 2004, of course they might have gone up, but they were always the same, for Thais and tourists.

[Jingthing]

5 Baht / 10 Baht debate soon to re-open.

I doubt that.

there should be some kind of 'fare-table' visible for passengers in every Song-Taew

Generally, most do not have this. I think those are about charter fares, which of course are not adhered to.