Any advice on travelling Pattaya to Cha Am? There may be 2 or 3 of us going. Reckon we could negotiate a "taxi" for baht1500?

it's a 4-5 hour trip...i would say maybe double the amount and at least you're at a starting point for negotiations

Why not offer 1,500 plus gas money?  Or 2,000 with?  Although you may get for 1,500 the driver is not going to make much as he will have to return to Bangkok empty.  Find a happy driver is always a big plus.

Or get a bus to Ekamai for 60 baht each , and a taxi from there , maybe 1000?

Cheers, I'll try that. We'll be in Pattaya for a week or two before going. Time to find a happy hungry driver :-) Or maybe some of the tour firms do transfers and we can latch on to one of them.

Or get a bus to Ekamai for 60 baht each , and a taxi from there , maybe 1000?

I think the bus from ptty to Ekamai is 90 B now, isn't it?

Bastards , nice subtle 50% rise , mind you it was about 6 years since I roughed it to Bkk.

Lol.   I knew several blokes who travelled from bkk to ptty by orange crush bus.  Ohhh...

Why would you want to go to Cha-am???

To visit the Kings Summer residence of course!

Went to Hua Hin last year.  What a crappy beach.  

Nice town though.  Apparantly Cha Am has a much better beach.

That's in Hua Hin down the road. I think HM lives there full time these days.

If you have a budget of 1500 baht, forget it and stick ti Backpacking.  Pattaya is where all the prostitites are and they will cost you money.

The King does live in Hua Hin.  The beach in Hua Hin is lovely as is Cha Am's.