a friend told me that there are direct buses running from the north road station direct to arayaprathet. is this true :-) !! i need to do one mo visa run before moving on.

if not, elsewhere? perhaps the gas station on sukhunmvhit>>>?

Yes this is true . It goes all the way to Makdaharn . The first bus leaves around 7am. I dont know how you will get on getting the return bus from Aranya Prathet.

Yes this is true . It goes all the way to Makdaharn . The first bus leaves around 7am. I dont know how you will get on getting the return bus from Aranya Prathet.

A mini bus from Aran to trat (100baht) leave every hour.Its parked on the left hand side inside an open car park 50 yards on your right as you enter Thailand from customs. Not sure if you can get a bus to Pattaya from here (i would assume so!) I caught one that went direct to Bangkok. I think the closest it got to Pattaya was 10klms! Should a bus not go to Pattaya from Trat, you could get one to Chanthaburi then onother to Pattaya from here.

If memory serves me correct there is 6am and 11am from the Sukhumvit rd. That takes you to Aran.

Aran to Pattaya via Trat!!! Thats a <deleted> of a long way around!!! Are you thinking of Hat Lek SEATramp?

Some of the Pattaya-Issan services go through Aran but they are very irregular.

It you miss a direct bus Aran can be reached in easy stages from Pattaya via Chonburi, and sometimes if you are unlucky via Chacheongsao and Kabinburi too.

Buses are very frequent between these places so its not as much of a ball ache as it may seem as long as you aviod busy times.

The first time I did this was in the reverse direction after we missed one direct bus from Aran to Pattaya and the next one was full. My mate was new to Thailand and he really enjoyed the trip as did I. Its a nice gentle roll through central Thailand. Its not much use if you are one of these people who has to be everywhere yesterday, but if you're happy enough to grab a few beers, kick back and let Thailand slip by you then this route shouldn't have too many nightmares for you.

I've done this route a few times now.

Aran to Pattaya via Trat!!! Thats a <deleted> of a long way around!!! Are you thinking of Hat Lek SEATramp?

I'm afraid i was. Thanks for correcting me.

thanks all -

even to hat lekis the long way round. even to chantaburi. im always looking to save a few baht but if it gets all convoluted its better just to take the dread mini bus. it would be best to just stay the night in aranyaprathet but the whole thing gets stretched out and pricey and by the time you do all this if one is going to stay the night-best just go to padang (although this is getting old).

thx