Bad experience on Bus back from Bangkok

[craigt3365]

I took the bus back from Bangkok 2 days ago. They dropped off 2 passengers near the Harbor Mall in Laem Chabang. Not unusual. But then they started heading up 36 from Suk. Went quite a way and then did a U-turn and stopped at a petrol station to fill up! We had to wait some 30 minutes for them to finish. It was a 3 hour trip on the "direct, no stop" bus to Pattaya. Little traffic as it was mid day.

A scam to get you into their store? I don't know, but I was quite upset as were many of the other passengers. Other buses were there filling up, but none had passengers. Only ours.

Oh...and the AC didn't work on the bus either! Rough day.

[sharecropper]

Was that from the airport or Ekamai?

[craigt3365]

Ekamai. The direct one. Not the one that says they are direct then stops in Chonburi and drives down Suk! 555555

[crickets]

Its a painful trip. I did it once a week for two years. There are also many turds u have to sit next to and bus drivers who look like they are about to fall asleep and also use their phones.

[BeefSlapper]

I used that few times no complains. All good.

http://www.airportpattayabus.com

http://www.pattayavan.com

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[BruceMangosteen]

You were obviously not on the direct bus which operates out of the terminal on Pattaya Nua. I've suffered a few breakdowns but never a fuel stop and lack of AC. The drivers are always alert and often there is a first mate on the bus. You can easily buy two seats if you want to avoid other passengers or simply sit alone with a bag. It's a good service, good reputation built up over the years. Never going to be perfect, but good and economical.

[recycler]

I avoid public transportation in Thailand like the plague!

[mcfish]

Its a painful trip. I did it once a week for two years. There are also many turds u have to sit next to and bus drivers who look like they are about to fall asleep and also use their phones.

turds and sleeping bus drivers and you still chose the bus?

why?

[craigt3365]

I left from the North pattaya station. Returned with the same company. Via Ekamai. Lady at the counter at Ekamai said it was a direct bus. No stops. LOL

Had to go near the US Embassy. So the airport bus would not have been as convenient.

I've done this many times over the years. Never stopped for fuel!

[Kabula]

Occasionally the buses do have to fill up with gas while returning to Bangkok. According to Thai Law all passengers must exit the bus while filling the bus with what I believe is natural gas. The reason for this is that if there was a spark there would be many casualties if the bus caught on fire. If you were uncomfortable you could get off and flag down or call a taxi for the remainder of the trip. Life is short, make it comfortable.

[manarak]

I left from the North pattaya station. Returned with the same company. Via Ekamai. Lady at the counter at Ekamai said it was a direct bus. No stops. LOL

Had to go near the US Embassy. So the airport bus would not have been as convenient.

I've done this many times over the years. Never stopped for fuel!

I now avoid taking the bus from north pattaya station.

the airport bus is most convenient for me when I got to bangkok because I take the airport link from the airport to reach the city - no jams - usually getting off at makkasan.

from makkasan, the US Embassy is easy to reach.

[joepattaya1961]

There is no direct bus between Ekemai and North Pattaya.

On the way TO Bangkok it will stop at Central Bangna, HomePro BangNa, BTS UdomSuk (if needed)

On the way FROM Bangkok they often stop at Roong Ruang busstation Bang Na, Laem Chabang, Nong Yai and the intersections at Banglamung and a temple along Sukhumvit before making the U-turn back to the station.

The stop at the gas-station is not regular, but it happens.....unfortunately.

Bad aircon? Probably bus 48-1.

[craigt3365]

I left from the North pattaya station. Returned with the same company. Via Ekamai. Lady at the counter at Ekamai said it was a direct bus. No stops. LOL

Had to go near the US Embassy. So the airport bus would not have been as convenient.

I've done this many times over the years. Never stopped for fuel!

I now avoid taking the bus from north pattaya station.

the airport bus is most convenient for me when I got to bangkok because I take the airport link from the airport to reach the city - no jams - usually getting off at makkasan.

from makkasan, the US Embassy is easy to reach.

Sorry to go off topic, but since I'm the OP. LOL. I looked into this. I'm not going to the US embassy, but the Uzbekistan embassy. A bit towards Suk from the US embassy.

The skytrain takes me within a few hundred meters of there. Easy and short walk. Makkasan seems quite a bit further. Either taxi or a switch to the skytrain.

I get off at Udom Suk station. Before Ekamai. Hardly any traffic to that point. So it's a short trip to Ploen Chit. What do you think????? I'm open to options! I have to go again on Wednesday. Ugh.

[joepattaya1961]

I left from the North pattaya station. Returned with the same company. Via Ekamai. Lady at the counter at Ekamai said it was a direct bus. No stops. LOL

Had to go near the US Embassy. So the airport bus would not have been as convenient.

I've done this many times over the years. Never stopped for fuel!

I now avoid taking the bus from north pattaya station.

the airport bus is most convenient for me when I got to bangkok because I take the airport link from the airport to reach the city - no jams - usually getting off at makkasan.

from makkasan, the US Embassy is easy to reach.

The problem with the bus from the airport to Pattaya is, that the average waiting-time can be up to 2.5 hours, but will be at least 1 hour. At least, that's my experience.

[Berty100]

did a U-turn and stopped at a petrol station to fill up! We had to wait some 30 minutes for them to finish.

Call yourself a lucky bastard, because usually there is a queue of more than 20 buses at that gas station

[Berty100]

Occasionally the buses do have to fill up with gas while returning to Bangkok. According to Thai Law all passengers must exit the bus while filling the bus with what I believe is natural gas. The reason for this is that if there was a spark there would be many casualties if the bus caught on fire. If you were uncomfortable you could get off and flag down or call a taxi for the remainder of the trip. Life is short, make it comfortable.

Flag down a taxi on road #36? Good luck with that,

[ukrules]

I had a bad experience on a bus once - just being on the bus. Now I take either a taxi or a limo and it always seems to work out much better for me.

You have increased comfort, can tell the driver to change the air conditioning setting if you want and of course there's plenty of luggage space and nobody around to steal it.

[Mburo]

I think u were simply unlucky on that trip. I use the bus weekly. Never had a problem. If u want to be really fast get the first or second bus out in the morning which will get u to BKK in less than two hours. You're correct - take the BTS from Udom Suk to Ploenchit and its a five minute walk to the Uzbek embassy. And FYI I had one of the best holidays ever last October in Uzbek, highly recommended. Really enjoyed it.

[KittenKong]

I now avoid taking the bus from north pattaya station.

the airport bus is most convenient for me when I got to bangkok because I take the airport link from the airport to reach the city - no jams -

That's what I do also. Not least because the Jomtien terminal is just a very short walk from where I live. Hourly buses, well organised, no messing about.

[onemorechang]

Stay away from mini vans if you can.

They could be the most dangerous from of transport in the world,

[craigt3365]

I think u were simply unlucky on that trip. I use the bus weekly. Never had a problem. If u want to be really fast get the first or second bus out in the morning which will get u to BKK in less than two hours. You're correct - take the BTS from Udom Suk to Ploenchit and its a five minute walk to the Uzbek embassy. And FYI I had one of the best holidays ever last October in Uzbek, highly recommended. Really enjoyed it.

I got to the bus station at 6:15. The 6:20 bus was sold out and the 7:00 bus had only 4 seats left! Quite busy!

I'll be in Uzbekistan shortly. Can't wait! About a 3 week trip, or so.

[Bangkok Barry]

They do this sometimes, and not only on that route. My bus from Mukdahan to Khon Kaen made a detour to refill and I got a bit anxious as I had a flight to catch. As for the Pattaya bus, it isn't a non-stop even though it's easy to assume that it is. They will usually ask at Ekamai (in Thai only) if anyone wants to get off along the way, and some do usually once it reaches the outskirts of Pattaya. And it does sometimes make diversions. Very obliging of them. Frustrating, but there you are. I once saw Pattaya Airport that way. Charming little place used as a flying club.

[gios50hk]

My wife and I use the bus service from Pattaya approximately once a month and generally, it's pretty good. On our last trip (end of April) the BKK to Pattaya bus suffered a failure to the air-con after only about one hour. It was an extremely hot day (as it has been recently) so this made the remainder of the journey very unpleasant. Indeed, many of the Thai passengers - including a heavily pregnant lady - were bitterly complaining to the driver about how unbelievably hot conditions were, and I assume asking for a replacement bus to be provided. Despite this, the driver unashamedly continued until we arrived sweaty, dehydrated and thoroughly miserable back in Pattaya. I have to say, that it has damaged our view of the Pattaya-BKK bus service and we are considering alternatives for our future trips.

[bobbin]

There is no direct bus between Ekemai and North Pattaya.

On the way TO Bangkok it will stop at Central Bangna, HomePro BangNa, BTS UdomSuk (if needed)

On the way FROM Bangkok they often stop at Roong Ruang busstation Bang Na, Laem Chabang, Nong Yai and the intersections at Banglamung and a temple along Sukhumvit before making the U-turn back to the station.

The stop at the gas-station is not regular, but it happens.....unfortunately.

Bad aircon? Probably bus 48-1.

I don't make that trip often, but bus 48 shows up more often than not. What a clapped-out unit. Usually a much nicer bus when returning to Pattaya...

[Kaoboi Bebobp]

There is no direct bus between Ekemai and North Pattaya.

On the way TO Bangkok it will stop at Central Bangna, HomePro BangNa, BTS UdomSuk (if needed)

On the way FROM Bangkok they often stop at Roong Ruang busstation Bang Na, Laem Chabang, Nong Yai and the intersections at Banglamung and a temple along Sukhumvit before making the U-turn back to the station.

The stop at the gas-station is not regular, but it happens.....unfortunately.

Bad aircon? Probably bus 48-1.

I don't make that trip often, but bus 48 shows up more often than not. What a clapped-out unit. Usually a much nicer bus when returning to Pattaya...

48 is the route number, 1 is the bus number. The highest number I've seen is 48-67. I think I've been on virtually every bus in the fleet the past 5 + years, having done 150 to 200 round trips. I even started taking notes on them but as soon as you mark one off for bad air con, 3 months later you have to get on it because of the sked and it's been fixed.

The worst ones are the Golden Dragons, whose chassis sways with road undulations and the seats and aisle are too tight. However, they have good air con.

I prefer the old roomy Mercedes. However, sometimes the air con doesn't work too efficiently. A couple of old Scanias have been fine.

[Kaoboi Bebobp]

Back to the OP. As I said, I've been on virtually all the buses. I just came down from Bangkok on Tuesday. Worst trip ever! 3 hours, 15 minutes, beating my previous worst trip of 2 hours, 50 mins. It took half an hour to run on Suk from Ekamai to Phra Kanong. Sometimes we sat still for minutes on end. Into the southern bus depot, then to the motorway toll gate, which was almost an hour, when it usually takes 30-35 minutes. Torturous highway traffic and then we stopped for an NG fill-up, first time in a long time I had to stop at the 36 station. I think it was the need for a refill because of the endless delays.

Overall, with my 150 plus trips, I've only had two bus failures: crazily enough, going to BKK and returning the next day. Both buses broke down. On the return, several of us hired a taxi, which probably took just as long to get to Pattaya as the replacement bus.

[WishWashMan]

Was that from the airport or Ekamai?

probably didnt take the govt bus!

[BlindMagician]

Death traps. Would never go on one.

[innerspace]

Been doing the same nua to ekamai trip regularly for months now. Never happened once until last trip a week or so ago both trips out and back stopped at that exact same gas station.

My guess is paid off with cheap fuel to force passengers into the shop. Made a long enough journey even worse, will be looking into alternatives from now on.

[facthailand]

<deleted>, get over yerself! Every busline has their regular contract for fuel. It's almost always a U-turn.

Any detours are due to the fact that the Expressway route east is heavily under construction.