Driving

[cuddleypete]

hi agian

i hope some could help me i am goimg to pattaya in 9 days to meet my wife,and i would like to drive down to phuket to see some freninds of mine,for a couple of days, is it possible to drive down in one day? has anyone done before and can give me any help ,where to get maps ,and any road's to take

i hope some one can help,

many thanks the best forum

[doctormann]

hi agian

i hope some could help me i am goimg to pattaya in 9 days to meet my wife,and i would like to drive down to phuket to see some freninds of mine,for a couple of days,   is it possible to drive down in one day? has anyone done before and can give me any help ,where to get maps ,and any road's to take

i hope some one can help,

many thanks the best forum

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It's a long, long way and I think that you might be pushing it to get from Pattaya to Phuket in one day. It could take you upwards of 2 hours to get to the environs of BKK (depending on traffic). You then have to negotiate the BKK expressway system before you can even start on your way South. One time I travelled by taxi from Don Muang to Hua Hin and that took 5 hours - and at Hua Hin you have only just started! I think that I have seen somewhere that from Pattaya to Surat Thani (for Samui) by bus takes 14 hours and Phuket is even further so, unless you have more than one driver it sounds like a no-no but, Up2U, as they say.

Road maps are readily available - try somewhere like Bookazine in Royal Garden Plaza. As far as routing is concerned, you can take Route 7 as far as BKK (includes some motorway), then, once you are over the river, there's really only one road South.

Just a thought - have you considered flying down from U-Tapao airport (near to Rayong and easily accessible from Pattaya)? I'm pretty sure that Bangkok Airways do a regular service to Phuket for about 3000 Baht, one way. Certainly quicker than driving and a lot less hassle - only takes just over the hour. You can book tickets on-line at www.bangkokair.com.

Edited March 28, 2005 by doctormann

[Sophon]

It's a long, long way and I think that you might be pushing it to get from Pattaya to Surat Thani (ferry port) in one day. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Why would he want to go to Surat Thani to get to Phuket? Are you sure you are not thinking about Koh Samui?

Other than that I agree with doctormann. Pattaya to Phuket in one day although possible would be a very long drive. It's probably around 1,200 km and as pointed out some of that through Bangkok. If you are not used to driving in LOS I definitely wouldn't even contemplate doing it in one stretch.

Sophon

[doctormann]

It's a long, long way and I think that you might be pushing it to get from Pattaya to Surat Thani (ferry port) in one day. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Why would he want to go to Surat Thani to get to Phuket? Are you sure you are not thinking about Koh Samui?

Other than that I agree with doctormann. Pattaya to Phuket in one day although possible would be a very long drive. It's probably around 1,200 km and as pointed out some of that through Bangkok. If you are not used to driving in LOS I definitely wouldn't even contemplate doing it in one stretch.

Sophon

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I stand corrected - I was thinking of Samui - post has now been edited.

Phuket is even further than Surat of course so the advice is still the same.

[Bel Mondo]

Does anyone know if there is a company offering a motor yacht or large sailing yacht for hire to go to Phuket from Pattaya?

[pluto_manibo]

Dude are you high? You would have to go around the Malaysian Peninsula and back up the Melaka straits...Just hire a driver with car from Pattaya...leave at 4 am, miss all the Bkk traffic...head for samut songkram, petchaburi....Hua Hin...chumpohn....

[badman]

######, i have done penang to pattaya on a 125cc motorbike before in one day, well 22 hours to be exact, pattaya to penang by car in 15 hours, phuket is about 400km nearer, thats a doodle

[expatgaz]

Does anyone know if there is a company offering a motor yacht or large sailing yacht for hire to go to Phuket from Pattaya?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Are you mental ??

[Doctor John]

######, i have done penang to pattaya on a 125cc motorbike before in one day, well 22 hours to be exact, pattaya to penang by car in 15 hours, phuket is about 400km nearer, thats a doodle

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Same here, Penang on a motorcycle and in a Car a few times, Phuket by Bike and car, Samui by Bike and car.

Phuket Pattaya 1000 Kms.

Badman, I know who u r....

[badman]

ahhh, the good doctor, hmmmm, i thought you were banned from here, oh well, maybe next time

[wilko]

If you are going to drive to Phuket from Pattaya it is most likely you would go down and turn off just before Suratthani. (You could go via Ranong but it looks further on the map).

I've driven from Pattaya to Suratthani several times on my way to Samui. It is about 950 km and that means that in theory it could be done in 10 hours, but let’s face it, this is Thailand and you are only human.

In my case, I always seem to start later than intended and there’s bound to be a delay getting through Bkk (you can’t avoid Bkk!) or a road-blocking accident or dead buffalo to contend with.

The road South from Bkk onwards is quite good dual carriageway now, a bit pitchy and pot-holey in parts but really not too bad, but no matter what I do, I always end up having an overnight stop, which now I look forward to. I don’t particularly like driving at night in Thailand, especially on unfamiliar roads, so at about 5.30 onwards I start looking for a place to stay; as yet I haven’t been disappointed. My usual stopping place on the way down is Bang Saphan and on the way back I try to get to Hua Hin. I first found Bang Saphan in the dark and had a pleasant surprise waking up the next morning to find out where I had stayed that night. Bang Saphan is about 12 km off the main road (No 4) and on the coast.

Having said all this the distance from Suratthani to Phuket is about another 220 km so about 3 more hours. So I’d recommend you regard it as a 1 ½ to 2 day trip each way and take in some of the sights on the way down.

By the way I’m driving down the second week of April if all goes to plan (which it seldom does!)

[monty]

Pattaya Phuket by fast motoryacht would take around 6-7 days one-way

Burns probably around 100.000 liters of fuel (185.000 Baht for the fuel alone )

There's a 70 feet luxury yacht in Jomtien which would take 12 days one way on economy cruise and burn roughly 90000 liters of diesel fuel..... If you want to pay around 800.000 Baht for the trip just let me know and we'll leave the day after

[badman]

monty, that sounds great, can you just get him to use the sails though, i really dont like all those figures with loads of "0000" in, ###### tell him i will buy the beer

[alesypalsy]

I once did phucket to bangkok in a tok tok, not a pattaya one either a proper little red honda type with 5 of us in it, we had 2 drivers in front and with no sleep it took 28 hours due to the rear axle splitting and the back wheel falling off around 4 times with nutters tring to fix it, I must say looking back it was crazy but we saw a ###### of a lot of the sights thailand has to offer, one amazing trip that I would not do again, but as for driving it I reakon no problem at all, a nice drive in a day if you drive with a bit of speed, I have driven from pattaya to changmai, then from changmai to korat and back to pattaya, luckily hire car had unlimited mileage, driving in los is great, out in the country roads you will find the thai drivers help you if you want to overtake etc with use of their indicaters like truckers in the UK, I am 1 for a long drive nothing like it and the best veiws you will ever see in any country.... Anyone ever in phucket ask the tok tok drivers if they know the chaps that did the bkk drive, the 2 chaps are heros there and everyone knows the story, they never done it again, neither did we!

P.s Hello to my first post,,, And I can assure you it sure is not b/s

[Simbo]

I have done this trip twice. Forget doing it in one day. I had two over night stops.

It's not worth the drive for just a couple of days. Why not make a week of it, sightseeing on the way. I did know a Thai, who did it in one hit, but even he stopped for a sleep in the car.