Buses In Thailand

[bluntmadblade]

Hi everyone I am traveling to Thailand this March for the very first time and I only have two weeks time. I want to make it cheap so I am planning to travel to different cities in Thailand by Bus. I read in recent internet forums and blogs citing horror stories of Thai traffic accidents . How safe is it and Can anyone recommend major bus stations in Bangkok and other cities from where I can buy the tickets? Thanks for your help in advance.

Cheers

[infothailand]

Hi there, well as long as the Thai transportation authorities keep on issuing driving licenses to anyone and the traffic police keep on forgiving the mad motorists for few hundred Bhats the problem is going to be there for a very long time. Its safe if you are careful. Don't trust the drivers to stop on the Red light while you cross the street. This is how things work in roads in Thailand. So far as the bus stations are concerned there are couple of major bus stations in Bangkok. I would suggest Ekimai bus station as it is the least crowded. You can find bus tickets to Pattaya, Rayong, Trat and other cities east of Bangkok. I would also suggest you read an article on snip . All the best for your Trip to Thailand.

[craigt3365]

One major rule no matter where you are is to not take night buses if you can. Here in Thailand, government buses "seem" to be better than the tourist/private buses.

[54321]

A Thai friend of mine told me he was given a driving license for his 18th birthday, I was not sure if he was telling the truth until he gave me a lift one day! take the train

[movsrus]

One bit of advice would be to take a long sleeve shirt or light jacket if you are going to travel by bus at night. Thais like their air conditioning and it can get very cool in the bus at night. Also, many buses have video players which run either continual Thai music videos or cheap kung <deleted> movies. Best to take a set of ear plugs with you to help block out the noise. If possible, take the VIP bus for any of your travels. It costs a bit more but they tend to make less stops, the seats are more roomy and will recline and most serve some kind of snack or water during the trip.

Bus accidents do happen but given the number of buses on the road I would venture to say they are probably not much more dangerous than it would be in your country. It is safer to take the train but it will cost more and they tend to stop more often unless you are on an express train,.

[dddave]

I have traveled extensively around Thailand by bus and while it certainly does have it's challenges, it is a great way to see the real Thailand.

Yes: there have been some horrific bus accidents in Thailand...as there have been in almost every country in the world, including the USA. As somebody else pointed out, there are literally thousands of bus trips in Thailand every day that don't crash.

Do a "Google" ""bus travel thailand"" and you will find many articles on the first page that will be helpful.

One of the bigger challenges is actually finding first: the correct bus station for the destination you want and then finding the correct ticket window for the route. Many larger cities have several bus stations for different destinations; Bangkok has three and just getting to some of them is more difficult than it should be.

In Thai bus stations, each destination will have it's own ticket window and frequently, they are only labeled in Thai. Bus stations are swarming with touts who will grab you and drag you to a window where you will be charged nearly double the actual fare, a portion of which will go to the tout...Even security guards are in on the scam so there is nobody really safe to ask questions of. The best thing to do is have somebody at your hotel write the destination for you on a piece of paper and you look for those characters on a window sign.

The pages you'll find on Google will explain the bus class system better than I can.

[Bpuumike]

Hi there, well as long as the Thai transportation authorities keep on issuing driving licenses to anyone and the traffic police keep on forgiving the mad motorists for few hundred Bhats the problem is going to be there for a very long time. Its safe if you are careful. Don't trust the drivers to stop on the Red light while you cross the street. This is how things work in roads in Thailand. So far as the bus stations are concerned there are couple of major bus stations in Bangkok. I would suggest Ekimai bus station as it is the least crowded. You can find bus tickets to Pattaya, Rayong, Trat and other cities east of Bangkok. I would also suggest you read an article on snip . All the best for your Trip to Thailand.

Unless you are heading North in which case use the Mo Chit bus terminal. I suggest a VIP bus if they serve your destination. Much more comfortable than the regular aircon buses and don't cost much more. I like to take an overnight bus as you don't waste a day and there tends to be less traffic. Most reported accidents seem to be on the Chiang Mai route (I don't go there) and would probably fly.