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.

I used one once and they were very nice, but the problem was they were only a few and you did not know when the next bus was due...

Simple answer is ban Baht buses, have a bus ever two minutes from 10am to 2am and at least four an hour at other times doing Jomtien to Nakula, with a 10B flat rate.

Bring in other routes as well including sukhumvit, and the Dark Side.

Bring in measures to reduce traffic like congestion charging, bikes 20B, cars 100B, delivery vans and lorries based on size, coaches 1,000B, do it on prepayment with fixed and mobile ANCR cameras.

Sad but true. Can only change the way of thinking here with laws and fines...

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.

the light rail would be slower and much more expensive than the current baht buses.

To solve the current traffic problems, they just need to do the following:

- ban large coaches from "inner pattaya", i.e. beachroad and second road, thappraya and jomtien beach road

- flatten some buildings near the end of beach road / beginning of walking street to do away with the bottleneck there

- strictly enforce a parking ban on all main roads

- ban food carts from traffic lanes

- construct underpasses/overpasses under major third road and sukhumvit intersections to facilitate traffic EXITING from Pattaya

Nope, light rail moves very quickly because it isn't blocked by traffic and it stops at defined stops.

I didn't start this thread as a current events topic.

It is more of a VISION thing.

We've had numerous threads on baht buses, taxis, and buses here already.

This isn't about that.

So, as an ACADEMIC question, 50 years from now, do you REALLY think Pattaya will STILL lack a real mass transit system of SOME kind?

I'm generally rather a pessimist, but I'm not THAT pessimistic.

Another reason I have thought about this is that even though it has been delayed again, there has been talk for years of a high speed link from Bangkok to Pattaya and beyond.

So the Bangkok line runs into East Pattaya ... and then what do those people do once they arrive on the dark side? Take a baht bus charter?

Whats the point of the speed link if on the other end (Pattaya) you're going backwards 100 years?

Of course, cynically speaking, the best thing for Pattaya would be for it to be completely destroyed and then rebuilt from scratch ...

Like the great Chicago fire or the great 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

Let's not forget that we may be on the brink of a major technological change in transportation. Driverless Google/Uber vehicles may be plying the streets of Pattaya within 10 or 15 years. I would hate to see money spent of expensive infrastructure that would be outdated before it is completed.

So many things to tackle before this to make the city even remotely ideal for tourists and residents alike.

Stop the big buses in town or limit them to main roads only.

Fix the pedestrian crossings.

Remove or control the street vendors giving at least 60% of the footpath to pedestrians.

More public car parking off road resulting in better traffic flow.

Proper metered taxis.

Get the CCTV cameras fixed and properly monitored.

Have a tourist office in the tourist area instead of up a hill.

Rid the city of all the scammers especially the jet ski ones.

Beach lifeguards perhaps.

etc etc

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.

Crikey. Has it been nine years already?