Driving to Pattaya

[uktony]

Stupid question time.

Next month I will be driving from Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport to Pattaya. Google maps want to send me down Highway 3 (and for some reason says it will take 23 hours for the journey). Left to my own devices I would have gone down the Chinburi-Pattaya highway.

Why would I NOT use the highway and use 3?

Are there any fees for the highway? and if so how much? (Not an issue, just to be prepared)

Tony

[steve187]

Yes do number 7 road Chonburi/ Pattaya toll road, you collect a card at the first toll, hand that into the second toll and pay 60 baht i believe

[brewsterbudgen]

Very quick now that all the roadworks are finished. The toll is 60 baht.

[Jip99]

Where are you headed for in Pattaya? That may be a factor given the works on Sukhumvit Road.

The distance from the airport to the Sukhumvit Road is 117 km and should take about an hour and a quarter.

Beware - the speed limit for most of the road should be 120 km/ph but sections (notably around Chachoengsao have restrictions of 90 km/ph and they do have cameras.

[KittenKong]

Next month I will be driving from Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport to Pattaya. Google maps want to send me down Highway 3 (and for some reason says it will take 23 hours for the journey).

You have probably checked the "dont use toll roads" box in Google Maps. You may have selected the wrong mode of transport also. Review the settings.

But they are right about the time taken. 1 hour to get to Pattaya by motorway and then 22 hours to cross Sukumvit: total 23 hours.

Edited January 7, 2016 by KittenKong

[smutcakes]

The highway 7 is the best option. The only bit to really pay attention on is making sure you get on the highway heading the right direction. Once on highway 7 heading towards Pattaya it is literally impossible to go wrong. You probably had it set to walking which might be why it said 23 hours.

Elevated highway 3 is a horrible road when busy, as is the Chonburi bypass road. A higher percentage of maniacs on that road than most, and that is saying something.

[Jip99]

Next month I will be driving from Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport to Pattaya. Google maps want to send me down Highway 3 (and for some reason says it will take 23 hours for the journey).

You have probably checked the "dont use toll roads" box in Google Maps. You may have selected the wrong mode of transport also. Review the settings.

But they are right about the time taken. 1 hour to get to Pattaya by motorway and then 22 hours to cross Sukumvit: total 23 hours.

In fairness, it is easy enough to get ON the Sukhumvit ... the reason I asked the OP's destination is because the art comes in where to go after that!

[KittenKong]

Elevated highway 3 is a horrible road when busy, as is the Chonburi bypass road.

I usually go that way to IKEA and I rather like it, particularly for the view. Never seen it busy. Maybe I've been lucky with my timing.

For the airport I use the motorway, of course.

[smutcakes]

Elevated highway 3 is a horrible road when busy, as is the Chonburi bypass road.

I usually go that way to IKEA and I rather like it, particularly for the view. Never seen it busy. Maybe I've been lucky with my timing.

For the airport I use the motorway, of course.

I have had some decent journeys as well going inbound to BKK. The areas near BKK though outbound particuallry in or around rush hour are terrible, with people weaving in and out and very limited hard shoulder should you have an issue, not that its too relevant given the hard shoulder is generally treated like another lane.

Plus its a bit of a hot spot for miscreant traffic officers looking for goodies.

[cooked]

23 hours? Uncheck the walking option!

[OMGImInPattaya]

23 hours? Uncheck the walking option!

Yep...that's his problem...select drive...not walking as the transport mode ?

[digbeth]

For those of you that prefers Buraphawithi Elevated toll way or Hwy 3 but don't travel to Bangkok often....

At the moment there are roadworks on the Chonburi Bypass on the last bit before the new bridge/flyover that joins you to highway 7, they are constructing a toll gate in the middle of the road, forcing you to detour using the side road and joins the Highway 7 on the side road instead... during busy hours there are quite a queue on the bottleneck;

and as the trucks slow down as they climb the bridge, and sometime the truck overtake each occupying both lanes and you are stuck behind them for ages. (it mostly affect outbound, towards Pattaya traffic, so going to Bangkok is no problem)

In my experience, people driving on the Buraphawithi expressway generally behave themselves better than on the 'motorway' Highway 7, especially on big holidays or long weekends, but any accidents or broken down car could easily block all traffics on the expressway for hours

<and not for a slightly related comment/rant>

As a regular driver to Bangkok, without the easy-pass and the m-pass motorway, getting stuck behind queues to pay at the toll gate would be unpleasant, during the holidays, they would be unable to cope with the extra traffic, hence making the roads free during New Year and Songkran Holidays, or else the queue would be tens of kilometers long... and now they are constructing more toll gates on the stretch of highway 7 all the way to Pattaya!

[MTH]

Where are you headed for in Pattaya? That may be a factor given the works on Sukhumvit Road.

The distance from the airport to the Sukhumvit Road is 117 km and should take about an hour and a quarter.

Beware - the speed limit for most of the road should be 120 km/ph but sections (notably around Chachoengsao have restrictions of 90 km/ph and they do have cameras.

HW7 would be my preferred route from Suvarnabhumi to Pattaya.

As for the speed limit, my take on the flashing 90 km/h signs are that they are the “recommended maximum speed”, kind of a warning as they are around areas where the humps are quite bad and also along one of the sharper bends of the road. I always cruise in these “90 zones” at around 120 km/h and so far never got a speeding ticket mailed to me, even though they have cameras. If they were actual speed limit signs, when would in that case the official speed of 120 be legal again, the big boards that list the speeds for different type of vehicles are quite sparse along the road, so no obvious marker on when you could resume 120 km/h, or is there a set distance from the last sign of how far the speed is in effect? Well that's my take on it and I could be wrong here, but haven't read or heard anything to the contrary. If anyone actually have received an official speeding ticket in these "90 zones" I'd love to hear about it.

[topt]

Where are you headed for in Pattaya? That may be a factor given the works on Sukhumvit Road.

The distance from the airport to the Sukhumvit Road is 117 km and should take about an hour and a quarter.

Beware - the speed limit for most of the road should be 120 km/ph but sections (notably around Chachoengsao have restrictions of 90 km/ph and they do have cameras.

HW7 would be my preferred route from Suvarnabhumi to Pattaya.

As for the speed limit, my take on the flashing 90 km/h signs are that they are the “recommended maximum speed”, kind of a warning as they are around areas where the humps are quite bad and also along one of the sharper bends of the road. I always cruise in these “90 zones” at around 120 km/h and so far never got a speeding ticket mailed to me, even though they have cameras. If they were actual speed limit signs, when would in that case the official speed of 120 be legal again, the big boards that list the speeds for different type of vehicles are quite sparse along the road, so no obvious marker on when you could resume 120 km/h, or is there a set distance from the last sign of how far the speed is in effect? Well that's my take on it and I could be wrong here, but haven't read or heard anything to the contrary. If anyone actually have received an official speeding ticket in these "90 zones" I'd love to hear about it.

Agree with you apart from the fact that there are a number of fixed black 90 on a white background surrounded by a red circle signs sometimes on the opposite side where the flashing signs are - generally between the Rayong and Lam Chebang junctions. This "discussion" has come up before with never a definitive answer.

I drove back last night from BKK at a steady 120 so I will let you know in about a months time if I get a ticket.......

[uktony]

Thanks for all the help

60 THB ready

Not sure where in Pattaya yet, waiting for wife to make up her mind.

Tony

[KhunBENQ]

23h from Bangkok to Pattaya.

Pitfalls of modern technology or a view to the future

As others wrote: you clicked on the pedestrian icon.

Edited January 8, 2016 by KhunBENQ

[NanLaew]

About 6 years ago, I had an attack of nostalgia for when Highway 3 was the ONLY road to Pattaya and decided to take that route home from work. That's about 5 hours of my life that I'll never get back.

[timberpond]

Be careful on the highway... the speed limit is 120km/h.

I got 2 speeding tickets... one is 121km/h and the other is 123km/h.

They both cost me 2000 baht each.

[Jip99]

Where are you headed for in Pattaya? That may be a factor given the works on Sukhumvit Road.

The distance from the airport to the Sukhumvit Road is 117 km and should take about an hour and a quarter.

Beware - the speed limit for most of the road should be 120 km/ph but sections (notably around Chachoengsao have restrictions of 90 km/ph and they do have cameras.

HW7 would be my preferred route from Suvarnabhumi to Pattaya.

As for the speed limit, my take on the flashing 90 km/h signs are that they are the “recommended maximum speed”, kind of a warning as they are around areas where the humps are quite bad and also along one of the sharper bends of the road. I always cruise in these “90 zones” at around 120 km/h and so far never got a speeding ticket mailed to me, even though they have cameras. If they were actual speed limit signs, when would in that case the official speed of 120 be legal again, the big boards that list the speeds for different type of vehicles are quite sparse along the road, so no obvious marker on when you could resume 120 km/h, or is there a set distance from the last sign of how far the speed is in effect? Well that's my take on it and I could be wrong here, but haven't read or heard anything to the contrary. If anyone actually have received an official speeding ticket in these "90 zones" I'd love to hear about it.

It is NOT advisory, it is the limit. The Thai Highway Code says such road are 120 km/h UNLESS otherwise indicated. Same happens on the tollway in Bangkok.

Cost me 500 Baht to find that out when a very clear picture of my car arrived in the post one day!

That said, I am sure the cameras are not permanently on.

[Jip99]

Thanks for all the help

60 THB ready

Not sure where in Pattaya yet, waiting for wife to make up her mind.

Tony

Best not to offer a choice

[digbeth]

Where are you headed for in Pattaya? That may be a factor given the works on Sukhumvit Road.

The distance from the airport to the Sukhumvit Road is 117 km and should take about an hour and a quarter.

Beware - the speed limit for most of the road should be 120 km/ph but sections (notably around Chachoengsao have restrictions of 90 km/ph and they do have cameras.

HW7 would be my preferred route from Suvarnabhumi to Pattaya.

As for the speed limit, my take on the flashing 90 km/h signs are that they are the “recommended maximum speed”, kind of a warning as they are around areas where the humps are quite bad and also along one of the sharper bends of the road. I always cruise in these “90 zones” at around 120 km/h and so far never got a speeding ticket mailed to me, even though they have cameras. If they were actual speed limit signs, when would in that case the official speed of 120 be legal again, the big boards that list the speeds for different type of vehicles are quite sparse along the road, so no obvious marker on when you could resume 120 km/h, or is there a set distance from the last sign of how far the speed is in effect? Well that's my take on it and I could be wrong here, but haven't read or heard anything to the contrary. If anyone actually have received an official speeding ticket in these "90 zones" I'd love to hear about it.

It is NOT advisory, it is the limit. The Thai Highway Code says such road are 120 km/h UNLESS otherwise indicated. Same happens on the tollway in Bangkok.

Cost me 500 Baht to find that out when a very clear picture of my car arrived in the post one day!

That said, I am sure the cameras are not permanently on.

120 is only for Highway 7 and 9

(even that, for some people they feel that the law is not quite clear if legally the limit is only 90 and there's a moratorium to not prosecute anyone going under 120)

Other highway like 331 or the 4 going south is only 90 all the way, at the regular checkpoints on these routes you'll hear the protest of 'I though the limit was 120' when the police has pulled speeders in

Expressways in Bangkok... 80-90 depending on sections, speed cameras set to 110-120,

In any case going 121+ kph anywhere means you'll likely be exceeding most speed limits by a margin wide enough that in western countries, court appearance is likely

[topt]

120 is only for Highway 7 and 9

(even that, for some people they feel that the law is not quite clear if legally the limit is only 90 and there's a moratorium to not prosecute anyone going under 120)

Other highway like 331 or the 4 going south is only 90 all the way, at the regular checkpoints on these routes you'll hear the protest of 'I though the limit was 120' when the police has pulled speeders in

Expressways in Bangkok... 80-90 depending on sections, speed cameras set to 110-120,

In any case going 121+ kph anywhere means you'll likely be exceeding most speed limits by a margin wide enough that in western countries, court appearance is likely

Can you say where this comes from or give us a reference for these statements - IE how do you know?

........ and there's a moratorium to not prosecute anyone going under 120)

.......... speed cameras set to 110-120,

[balo]

It takes around 23 hours to walk from BKK to Pattaya, you should switch your GPS to driving, not walking. It takes around 1.5 hours down hwy 7.

Edited January 9, 2016 by balo

[digbeth]

120 is only for Highway 7 and 9

(even that, for some people they feel that the law is not quite clear if legally the limit is only 90 and there's a moratorium to not prosecute anyone going under 120)

Other highway like 331 or the 4 going south is only 90 all the way, at the regular checkpoints on these routes you'll hear the protest of 'I though the limit was 120' when the police has pulled speeders in

Expressways in Bangkok... 80-90 depending on sections, speed cameras set to 110-120,

In any case going 121+ kph anywhere means you'll likely be exceeding most speed limits by a margin wide enough that in western countries, court appearance is likely

Can you say where this comes from or give us a reference for these statements - IE how do you know?

........ and there's a moratorium to not prosecute anyone going under 120)

.......... speed cameras set to 110-120,

The one about Highway 7 and 9, the law from 1979 doesn't directly say the speed limit, but that it is to be set by ministerial regulation, which had been get updated a few times since then, but I have gotten into argument with people who believed that the national speed limit is 90 and nothing above, hence "some people feel" qualifier in my statement...

I hadn't found the exact ministerial regulation published online but it is quoted by the traffic police here , seem the latest ministerial regulation was updated in 1992

as for expressways cameras set at either at 110 or 120 I've got pulled over at the toll gates on The Don Mueang Tollway going north and the cops say the limit is 90, but 110 or 120 is hearsay, so take it with a grain of salt