Bhat Bus routes

[paborn]

It might be just for me; however, I have long felt the one thing in Pattaya that can be confusing, if not daunting, for the tourist is the Bhat Bus routes. Now, I have read everything I can find, looked at Youtube videos, some so amateurish as to be laughable and have come to one conclusion. There is knowledge on this board that could be deployed.

First, it seems to be that if you leave Jomtien complex by the Poseiden you will be facing the north bound route ( given that Thai traffic flow is to the left ) so it should be simple to flag one down to head to Sunee and boy's town.

Second, the confusion sets in when I try to get an idea of where to press the buzzer and get off for : (1) Sunee and (2) BT. In the visual confusion of Thai sinage and the jumble of signs, wires, etc. It would help to have a landmark for each.

Finally, on the way back some blogs mentioned a school where there is a Bhat Bus stand. Any information would be much appreciated.

[gerefan2]

You are in the correct place, outside Poseidon, to catch the Baht Bus to Pattaya. Get one going right to left...on the nearest side of the road.

For Sunee...About 400 metres after the bus passes the overpass (there is only one) look out for the VC Hotel on a street corner on the right hand side. Push the bell, get off and walk back to the VC Hotel. Go up that street which is Soi 17 until you reach Sunee Plaza on the right. About 300 metres.

For BT
Stay on the bus after it passes the VC Hotel and arrives at a major cross roads with traffic lights. There is only one.
AFTER the bus has passed the cross roads push the bell and get off. You will be outside BT, give or take a few metres.

School
To get a bus back to Jomtien turn right out of BT and walk back to the previously mentioned cross road with the traffic lights. The School is directly in front across the road and you will see the buses straight ahead. DO NOT turn left, those buses are going in a different direction.

[Manforallseasons]

The easiest thing to do is to take a motorbike taxi same spot in Jomtien as baht taxi.....you need not speak Thai just say Sunee Plaza or Boystown......also a relatively cheap way to go.

[goji]

A quick look at google Streetview ih the following location shows the school with the baht buses for Jomtien queuing outside it.

Thankfully, once you actually get to Pattaya and spend a day or so wandering around, it's so damn easy that anyone could figure it out.

https://www.google.com/maps/@12.9262113,100.8752221,3a,75y,170h,89.84t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sI-ywrONpLGSJi_XWMXpJ_w!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2F cbk%3Fpanoid%3DI-ywrONpLGSJi_XWMXpJ_w%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_cli ent%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26 h%3D100%26yaw%3D140.50996%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3 D100!7i13312!8i6656

[paborn]

Thank you so much, it was just knowing were to get off and thanks to MFAS , but I would never get on a motorbike taxi A teenager I know well lost his legs recenly in a bike crash and I've seen a few very bloody Bangkok accidents. Appreciate this.

[Captain Swing]

A tiny addendum. The soi on the RIGHT hand side of the V C hotel is AKA Soi V C, and is the one you want to get to Sunee. (The hotel has sois on both sides).

[lonelywombat]

A further question is catching the baht bas after it leaves the school to head south. Are there bus stations where you can wait. I never have much luck getting even empty busses stopping between the school and soi 17

[gerefan2]

No is the simple answer!

[lonelywombat]

No is the simple answer!
\
Is that an answer? can you be more helpful, are there stopping zones/pickup locations.
if not when is the first?

[Captain Swing]

A further question is catching the baht bas after it leaves the school to head south. Are there bus stations where you can wait. I never have much luck getting even empty busses stopping between the school and soi 17

I'd probably be better off staying out of this, but I think there's some confusion. I think the school and Soi 17 are mere yards apart--there's no need to catch a baht bus between them--just walk to the line of buses at the school. In my experience, further south on the road to Jomtien the buses will stop almost anywhere they see a passenger. Unless rules have changed, if you stand at the curb where they can easily pull over and hold out your hand they'll stop and pick you up. I think there was talk of the authorities trying to regulate their stopping, but I haven't heard of changes going into effect.

[Up2U]

\
Is that an answer? can you be more helpful, are there stopping zones/pickup locations.
if not when is the first?
Since the baht busses leave the school fully occupied there is no room for additional passengers, so the answer is no. They cannot pick up additional passengers until somebody gets off the bus, no telling when that might be.

[lonelywombat]

My last two trips I have been recovering from open heart surgery. When bhat buses arrive at that school they drive towards Jomtien, park and reverse in turn to be the first and closest to leave Second Rd and South Pattaya Rd. The distance from where those buses leave the school is 200 metres. Not a long walk for fit young men but a longish walk for somebody in recovery.
I have walked from there another 100/200 metres towards Jomtien in company of others wanting a baht bus to stop.

[pennyboy]

There are other baht buses plying the route to Jomtien that do not park at the school. There may be some baht bus rule that they do not pick up at the school but anywhere from soi 17 to Jomtien should be no problem.

[paborn]

My last two trips I have been recovering from open heart surgery. When bhat buses arrive at that school they drive towards Jomtien, park and reverse in turn to be the first and closest to leave Second Rd and South Pattaya Rd. The distance from where those buses leave the school is 200 metres. Not a long walk for fit young men but a longish walk for somebody in recovery.
I have walked from there another 100/200 metres towards Jomtien in company of others wanting a baht bus to stop.

I know how you feel. My own bouts of infirmity are what cause me to be so specific and data hungry in planning my next trip. With some knowledge, we can do things that without would be hard or impossible.

I must say, however that this sentence confuses me, "When bhat buses arrive at that school they drive towards Jomtien, park and reverse in turn to be the first and closest to leave Second Rd and South Pattaya Rd. " I'm not sure what you are saying here.

[bkkguy]

You are in the correct place, outside Poseidon, to catch the Baht Bus to Pattaya.

good luck - on my last two stays in Jomtien one could wait up to 30 minutes or more near there to get aboard a baht bus with a seat available mid-late afternoon or early evening while a steady stream of completely empty or completely full vehicles streamed by



To get a bus back to Jomtien turn right out of BT and walk back to the previously mentioned cross road with the traffic lights. The School is directly in front across the road and you will see the buses straight ahead.

according to the regulations introduced late last year the baht buses can no longer park and collect passengers at this location which by Thai logic makes it the most obvious place to wait for a baht bus to Jomtien



\
can you be more helpful, are there stopping zones/pickup locations.
if not when is the first?

according to the regulations introduced late last year a baht bus can only stop to pick up or drop off passengers at marked zones, While there are a few of these in Beach Rd and Second Rd in Pattaya they are always full of parked food carts, motorcycles, etc and I have not seen any elsewhere so in practice it is usually not legal for a baht bus to stop anywhere between Nahklua and Na Jomtien



There are other baht buses plying the route to Jomtien that do not park at the school. There may be some baht bus rule that they do not pick up at the school but anywhere from soi 17 to Jomtien should be no problem.

indeed one of the new official baht bus routes (#5) introduced late last year runs along Beach Rd and turns right at the Second Rd intersection to Na Jomtien without stopping at the school, however on my last two trips the majority of buses on Beach Rd displaying this route either turned left back along Second Rd or dumped all their passengers at the school and took off looking for more rewarding passengers for the trip over the hill - and again good luck, wandering alone between the school and soi 17 you may not be perceived as attractive as a gullible group that will pay hundreds of baht to hire the vehicle exclusively so drivers would prefer to cross the hill empty - every time late evening I have flagged an empty baht bus near soi VC and attempted to climb into the back they have just driven off not interested in a standard 10 baht fare



I think there was talk of the authorities trying to regulate their stopping, but I haven't heard of changes going into effect.

one of the definitions of insanity is to keep doing the same thing and expecting a different result - far be it from me to comment on the sanity of the local/provincial/national authorities but over the last 10-15 years they have all made so may pronouncements of new regulations that will finally bring the baht bus system under control or to introduce a workable alternative and achieved nothing.

don't get me started on metered taxis who never use their meters, and even Grab started out with decent fares but soon realised the only way to stay alive was to conform to local practice!

I have no doubt that the baht bus system works fairly well for locals, and for expats gone native - even many tourists seem willing to put up with this bullshit but I couldn't be bothered and (again the definition of insanity) I am waiting for miracles from Grab now that have acquired Uber and opened in so many other cities in Thailand!

bkkguy

[paborn]

"good luck - on my last two stays in Jomtien one could wait up to 30 minutes or more near there to get aboard a baht bus with a seat available mid-late afternoon or early evening while a steady stream of completely empty or completely full vehicles streamed by"

I must be thick. If your waiting for a bus with an available seat why would a "completely empty " one stop?

[scottish-guy]

It's perfectly possible to hail or jump on an empty baht bus and tell the driver your destination "non-stop" - and use him as a private taxi. For an appropriate and agreed fare of course!

Done this several times to avoid waiting for a stinking hot bus filling up outside the school - which can be a considerable time if not busy

He won't stop to pick up other passengers but you do have to prevent them hopping on to your exclusive baht bus at traffic lights etc.

[paborn]

I'm going to give grab a try as well. My vacation is too short to waste time.

[lonelywombat]

The baht buses than complete the circuit coming down Beach rd turning into second road and turning right from second road at the school.
They unload passengers there.
The waiting list for buses to fill means buses drive to the Jomtien end of the school and park. Every time a bus leaves the corner of Second and South rd, all waiting buses beside the school,drive backwards or manually push their bus, towards the load point. Each time the bus is full they take off and all waiting buses push backwards to be next to load. This has been unchanged for the 30 years I have been coming here
Not all buses join the queue which is designed to give all buses a full load, if they want to wait. You only have to compare the buses in peak times returning FROM JOMTIEN TO APPRECIATE NOT ALL BUSES USE THE SCHOOL.
Yes you can see which buses are fully loaded and which are not.
The answer seems to be buses are not allowed to pick up, which I guessed.
So after all this , where can you stop a bus not fully loaded, after it leaves the second rd.

[scottish-guy]

Thanks LW - what could be clearer than that?

[Captain Swing]

It's perfectly possible to hail or jump on an empty baht bus and tell the driver your destination "non-stop" - and use him as a private taxi. For an appropriate and agreed fare of course!

Done this several times to avoid waiting for a stinking hot bus filling up outside the school - which can be a considerable time if not busy

He won't stop to pick up other passengers but you do have to prevent them hopping on to your exclusive baht bus at traffic lights etc.
I've done this, most memorably coming back from Jomtien. I didn't want to cram into a stuffed bus at the regular stop and I didn't want to face the walk from Second Rd. to my hotel. It was worth the 200 or 250 baht and, creep that I am, I especially liked seeing the uncomprehending looks on the porcine faces of a couple of Russians when the driver shooed them away from getting on.

More commonly, I did it a number of times with my BF in order to go somewhere not on the regular route.

[colmx]

First: nobody in Pattaya calls a Baht Bus a "baht bus".... its either a Songtaew or a "taxi"... have never EVER heard it being called a "baht bus"... except on these boards

I especially liked seeing the uncomprehending looks on the porcine faces of a couple of Russians when the driver shooed them away from getting on..
I like it even better when they get on board my Boystown to NAB Songtaew and my Thai/Khmer friends shoo them of and say that its a private hire...
Sweet revenge for the number of times I haven't been allowed onto a Pattaya to Jomtien Private hire!

[frequent]

First: nobody in Pattaya calls a Baht Bus a "baht bus".... its either a Songtaew or a "taxi"... have never EVER heard it being called a "baht bus"... except on these boardsIndeed - it's amazing how many posters can't spell "baht" - as in this thread's title (bhat"!!!) or quite often "bath" - although the latter may be the software the poster is using making an auto-correct to the spelling

[paborn]

[QUOTE=colmx;244378]First: nobody in Pattaya calls a Baht Bus a "baht bus".... its either a Songtaew or a "taxi"... have never EVER heard it being called a "baht bus"... except on these boards

That may be true. But, I can tell you that it is not just this board. I have seen a dozen videos, read blogs and guide books and while they give a bow to the name "songtaew" - they, uiversally, call it a Bhat bus.

[frequent]

That may be true. But, I can tell you that it is not just this board. I have seen a dozen videos, read blogs and guide books and while they give a bow to the name "songtaew" - they, uiversally, call it a Bhat bus.Or, more usually, a baht bus

[lonelywombat]

don't get me started on metered taxis who never use their meters, and even Grab started out with decent fares but soon realised the only way to stay alive was to conform to local practice!

I am waiting for miracles from Grab now that have acquired Uber and opened in so many other cities in Thailand!

bkkguy

I had used Grab but got frustrated with drivers imported from Bangkok, who knew nothing of the roads or places in Pattaya
My first I found myself going in the opposite direction. The second time I had booked to go to the Sports Bar in Jomtien and the Grab cost was 2750 baht. The quote was for a trip to sportsmans bar in Bangkok. It took over 30 minutes arguing with driver and controller, Grab had F*****D up.
Most drivers at Grab are mostly useless, recruited from Bangkok, although I have had some good ones to return from Jomtien ,to be honest
Controllers are worse than useless as most do not know locations.

[Moses]

I had used Grab but got frustrated with drivers imported from Bangkok, who knew nothing of the roads or places in Pattaya
My first I found myself going in the opposite direction. The second time I had booked to go to the Sports Bar in Jomtien and the Grab cost was 2750 baht. The quote was for a trip to sportsmans bar in Bangkok. It took over 30 minutes arguing with driver and controller, Grab had F*****D up.
Most drivers at Grab are mostly useless, recruited from Bangkok, although I have had some good ones to return from Jomtien ,to be honest
Controllers are worse than useless as most do not know locations.

For to avoid such situation you should add drop off location yourself before to place order.

7371

[lonelywombat]

Thanks Moses. I do have a Grab account on my phone. I gave the address as Sportsmans Bar Jomtien.
Grab had a delay getting a car for me and then after a delay,advised one was on the way.
He could not find my condo but eventually did. He then asked me to confirm 2750 baht.
I probably reacted badly as I was already late for dinner. Got there an hour late and still fuming.
After getting the price adjusted, I then had to guide the driver all the way ,as he was lost having just been recruited from Bangkok.

[paborn]

Frequent, at least these exchanges have taught me to ignore your constant dwelling on tiny errors in spelling, punctuation or, simply, the obvious results of auto correction software. But, you reached your summit when you complained that I debased the "like" system by using it to thank someone for kind words. You really don't have to continue .

More importantly, do the taxi cabs ( real ones ) in Pattaya respond to a dispatch system that a bar or restaurant couls call in? I do that in other places and , while it costs more, it gets the job done and does not waste precious vacation time.

[goji]

For to avoid such situation you should add drop off location yourself before to place order.
[

Is that not the whole idea of this Grab/Uber thing ? Grab knows your location. You put your destination in and get a quote for going to that destination. That's how it seemed to work, although I've only really used it in the Philippines.

Actually, any time I book a taxi by phone, the first thing I do is check the fixed price before booking. If they put in words like "approximately" before the price, time to find another taxi company.

[Moses]

Is that not the whole idea of this Grab/Uber thing ?

In some countries to show destination point isn't mandatory at time of placing order (I mean Uber, Gett) - you may just order taxi and then to use meter. I try to avoid such situation abroad and show destination point at time of booking: it is much more easy esp. in countries where not all can speak English.

[francois]

First: nobody in Pattaya calls a Baht Bus a "baht bus".... its either a Songtaew or a "taxi"... have never EVER heard it being called a "baht bus"... except on these boards



My experience is quite the opposite, colmx. People I know in Pattaya do refer to it as a Baht Bus in addition to a Songtaew; never heard anyone call it a taxi.

[colmx]

My experience is quite the opposite, colmx. People I know in Pattaya do refer to it as a Baht Bus in addition to a Songtaew; never heard anyone call it a taxi.
But who calls it a Baht Bus? A Thai/Khmer/Laos person or a farang? I have never ever heard any Asian call a Songtaew a Baht Bus in 17 years visiting Pattaya... I have only heard it being called that on message boards

[francois]

Farang.

[frequent]

But who calls it a Baht Bus? A Thai/Khmer/Laos person or a farang? I have never ever heard any Asian call a Songtaew a Baht Bus in 17 years visiting Pattaya... I have only heard it being called that on message boardsOddly enough, almost all posters here are NOT Thai/Khmer/Laos so I would expect them to call it a baht bus. Just as it's the more pretentious who use Krung Thep rather than Bangkok (listen to a Thai Airways' announcement if you want to know what the Thais do)

[frequent]

Frequent, at least these exchanges have taught me to ignore your constant dwelling on tiny errors in spelling, punctuation or, simply, the obvious results of auto correction software. But, you reached your summit when you complained that I debased the "like" system by using it to thank someone for kind words. You really don't have to continue .Summit? "nadir (http://www.dictionary.com/browse/nadir)", surely?

[paborn]

Yes, it is, indeed the "whole idea". But, if you read the thread above you see that there might be some problems with it.

[arsenal]

Brand new Honda Click. 150 baht a day in cost and a priceless return in fun and convenience.