Pattaya has become a big city.

Getting bigger.

Getting more congested.

It's not just the beach anymore ... and we all know there are much better beaches in Thailand anyway.

But it lacks a modern mass transit system and has no plans to even build one.

As such, without this step forward, won't Pattaya forever be BACKWARDS in the public transportation department?

So looking to the future ... why not a modern mass transit/subway system in Pattaya?

A subway system is a non starter. The town just ain't big enough. Bigger cities in Asia than Pattaya don't have them, and I'm buggered if I can think of a similar sized city which does.

Capital outlay + tea money would make it prohibitive. The tunnel would need to be massive as all the food carts on the carriages would mean huge trains.

The mayor did have an idea for an overhead rail system when he first arrived on the scene, but haven't heard a thing about it since. Once again, huge capital outlays.

Now the biggie, closest to JTs heart. A decent bus system would be easier to start, very little construction required, most of the infrastructure exists. I believe that financing the purchase of 100 or so medium sized buses wouldn't be a huge problem. There must be hundreds of big tour buses using the same roads on a daily basis.

BUT, a few years ago when an independent company started using ac buses, a certain group ran them out of town. Violence was used to get their point across. Unless this certain group of people have had a massive change of heart, then a decent bus system is a pipe dream.

Not big enough? That's ridiculous. The Pattaya metro area is huge.

Wouldn't need to be a pure subway. Could be a train/subway combo like Tel Aviv is building; also like the San Francisco Muni Metro.

I'm certain the skytrain and subway in Bangkok used to be called pipe dreams too.

Then the traffic stopped moving ... for decades, and people finally decided to deal with it.

Yes I realize I might be talking about something 50 years from now ... but it seems to me unless Pattaya gets flooded by global warming, a real modern mass transit system has got to be the future.

Edited August 30, 201511 yr by Jingthing

Jingthing, how much did the mayor pay you to start this topic?

Post 1 "it's not just the beach anymore" Thank the good Lord for that!

Jingthing, how much did the mayor pay you to start this topic?

I don't see that public transport is a priority here. So ... nada.

Remove 50% of the Baht Buses and job sorted with the rest being obliged to stop without fail

There are not enough offices, factories, distribution centres and headquarters to provide a solid customer base from which to draw a steady flow of commuters. Add in the seasonal ebbs and flows of tourists and workers, and the fact people don't earn Bangkok salaries. Not a bloody chance, JT, of ever seeing fast, cheap, air-con transit system. This is definitely one of your battiest thread ideas. BKK, a very mature major city, didn't get the BTS until 1999.

The only way this could happen is if Bangkok sinks into the swamp and they need a dry area to put up offices. Ha! Imagine, Pattaya, the capital of Thailand. LOL

My silver bullet is create several new thoroughfares. It would mean bulldozing a bunch of buildings, I know. But cost effective in the long run. The best reason that this idea is a non-starter is that we are talking about making major changes in Pattaya.

I'm not suggesting ground is going to be broken on this anytime soon. We don't even have taxi meters here now! I'm talking about a vision of the future as Pattaya has indeed really morphed into Bangkok-by-the-sea. Is it so batty? Do you really think in 50 years time there won't be progress in providing modern public transport here? Of course this is academic at this point. Just for discussions sake ... can you really imagine no progress in 50 years?

something like the bus rapid transit they have in bangkok could work well, or a tram

something like the bus rapid transit they have in bangkok could work well, or a tram

Yeah I could see something like the all surface LIGHT RAIL system they have in San Jose, California.

An amazing similar system is just now being built in Cuenca, Ecuador.

The question I have with light rail vs. underground in Pattaya is that I don't see the street space for that in the central part of the region. That's why I wonder if a HYBRID system like Tel Aviv is building might be the only possible way here. Part surface, part under. Eventually of course. Nothing now or soon.

Edited August 31, 201511 yr by Jingthing

Can't see a subway system judging by the engineering/construction quality of the beach road

boardwalk and flooding issues. Maybe a sky rail running north south along second road. It could

run as far north and south as development warrants. Baht busses would then run loops

east west bringing people to the sky-train. The only way anything is possible however is if

you can put an end to the corruption payouts that are a way of life here. Projects like this

are just to expensive.

Why not start pretty simple with a normal bus system. Maybe hybrid busses and separate bus lanes. A new contactless payment system would be the delight..

A couple of years ago some people were considering a Pattaya tram system which would be perfectly feasible. I hope this gets taken-up.

A couple of years ago some people were considering a Pattaya tram system which would be perfectly feasible. I hope this gets taken-up.

Well, the current mayor with "interesting" family background originally ran on a platform of supporting a limited MONORAIL system, mainly for the central tourism area of town. That was met with a lot of cynicism and of course rapidly dropped.

Subway? No way. Tram? Possible in some areas if only there was a will and a city with vision. But, there's no reason why Pattaya couldn't at least have a public bus system serving most areas. A few years ago those big red bus stop signs were put up--I assume for a public bus system that never got off the ground--we all know why. Now they are slowly rusting away... For an immediate start, the city should require the baht taxis to organize and run in all areas of the city on fixed routes as part of their contract to operate. It's ridiculous that some high population areas are not served at all or served just sporadically. But, fat chance of any changes with things as they are now.

Edited August 31, 201511 yr by Rimmer

It hasn't been that long ago, has it, that a mini-bus system was attempted and failed? I think the plan was for three colors of buses, but the only one I know for sure was the Red Line that looped around Pattaya from Jomtien to Naklua and back. Fare was B30? Didn't last very long, but I don't recall there was ever a public version of why it failed.

Those nice bus stops along Jomtien Beach Road are remnants of that project.

Yeah fat chance ANYTHING in the near future, but consider how much Pattaya has changed in the last 10 - 20 years. Some in future, maybe not so fat a chance.

Remove 50% of the Baht Buses and job sorted with the rest being obliged to stop without fail

Lets have some official routes (numbered), to cover the needs of the city and not a free for all by paid up members of the Pattaya BB Mafia deciding which way they go at every junction for the easiest bucks.

Thailaaan no do subway. Ok dodo but foot long khrap.

It was quite amazing to visit Singapore and use the metro system. Snowballs chance in hell of getting something similar in Thailand.

I think some form of mass transit system could easily be made viable here in Pattaya. A few years ago I talked to a farang that worked for DHL in Thailand and they reckoned there were about 1.4 million people in Pattaya and the surrounding area. There are countless number of cities with smaller populations that have this already so why not here? Of course, foe me to set foot in one they would have to "suicide bomber proof" them first!

What, no mono rail to run from the Sanctuary of Truth to Nong Nooch Garden and the world's most intense concentration per capita of water parks

Where has the town planning in the dream factory of our illustrious city fathers gone ??? ... no doubt the petty cash is now being used to connect all those CCTV cameras :-)

Subway? Hilarious considering the already poor sewage system and areas that are prone to serious flooding. The mayors idea for a mono rail of sorts is a nice idea... unfortunately, this is only a pipe dream and doubt it will ever happen

Subway? Hilarious considering the already poor sewage system and areas that are prone to serious flooding. The mayors idea for a mono rail of sorts is a nice idea... unfortunately, this is only a pipe dream and doubt it will ever happen

That was only a tourism gimmick anyway. Similar to the Seattle monorail. Not a real mass transit solution.

As long as the city gets kick backs from the songtaew & taxi mafia, why should they care?

something like the bus rapid transit they have in bangkok could work well, or a tram

They tried a bus system, I think it was 2006. All that did was to add a few more empty buses clogging the roads.

Not big enough? That's ridiculous. The Pattaya metro area is huge.

Wouldn't need to be a pure subway. Could be a train/subway combo like Tel Aviv is building; also like the San Francisco Muni Metro.

I'm certain the skytrain and subway in Bangkok used to be called pipe dreams too.

Then the traffic stopped moving ... for decades, and people finally decided to deal with it.

Yes I realize I might be talking about something 50 years from now ... but it seems to me unless Pattaya gets flooded by global warming, a real modern mass transit system has got to be the future.

50 years from now? Very topical topic buddy.

Also Pattaya has about 300,000 residents plus tourists. Tel Aviv nearly 4m, SanFran nearly 9m.

San Francisco city and county well under one million and geographically quite a small city.

San Francisco city and county well under one million and geographically quite a small city.

JingThing,

Time for you to face reality. You aren't getting much support here. I get the feeling you are kinda lonely. Your normal efforts on baht buses and food get you respect, but you are clutching at straws here. Pattaya isn't that big and a handful of Farang guys quarrelling with you isn't going to make it big enough for the Grand Project to happen 50 years from now. Having said that, it definitely needs a public transport system, but if one ever arrives it will be road based. We got enough construction problems at the moment.

Maybe you could start another thread on how we could encourage City Hall to find ways to initially start and then expand a bus system. They could then form a working party with the jet ski guys to alleviate the problems