jUST GET ON AND RIDE TILL THE THAI GUY DEMANDS HIS MONEY

[bucknaway]

Have any of you ever ridden a Baht Bus full circle? I have not done it yet and am kinda afraid to for some reason. In Bangkok you can't swing a dead cat over your head without hitting a tuk-tuk or a Motorbike taxi, or a meter cab, but in pattaya the alternate modes of transportation are few once you get out of the tourist areas...

My question is if it is a painless thing to do? (Riding the baht bus full circle) or is it something that has to be worked out with the driver first?

Interesting question, but they can be quite unpredictable.

If for example, you mean the beach road second road circuit, I think at one point they would almost always confront you at some point and either demand you pay the fare and leave, or ask you bpai nai and try to make you a taxi fare.
An exception might be super high season when the bus is always full.
Also, the bus might at any time change route and go towards Sukhumwit or Jomtien, etc.

And I thought you were talking about another kind of ride, in which case, you would have to get off sooner or later.

[bucknaway]

Thanks for that quick reply... I did do a little exploring on my last trip but I want to see more and I was wondering if a baht bus is the way to try it or not. And I would hate to pay 40 baht for a 20 baht ride :(

You can always rent a baht bus for as much time as you need. Although some might find this expensive, I have done this when venturing off the beaten path. Baht bus took BF and I to all the places we wanted to go, waited while BF and I toured around and then road us back to the hotel. BF handled the negotiations. 300 baht plus 100 baht tip for about 6 hours.

Bucknaway... you will get what you pay for - the adage of paying in peanuts bringing monkey entertainment. You are proposing to take smart arse advantage of the system. You remind me of people who buy a ┬г6 day ticket and spend the day riding as far and as frequently as possible in order to get a cheap ride. You can get plenty of germs that way. So what the use of it? To explore... you like exploring roads? Roads seen through slits between passengers. Sitting in a baht bus midst the crap and smoke and stench and all, for an hour, to squeeze the last drip of blood out of 10 baht... and the possibility of a rightly rightious driver asking just what kind of cheapskate Farang you are...better to walk, stopping off frequently for a drink and an adventure with a winsome Thai. I think the idea is verging on the slightly silly. A much much much better way is to find a nice mo'cy boy and do a deal whereby you have him for the day for 500 baht, or 1000 baht... he would take you EVERYWHERE. In addition you would have the pleasure of going to his kind of eating place, and get out into the sideroads of the country. Tell him: "Take me everywhere." You'll see a lot more on the back of a bike. You might also find a genuine friend. Get bold Buknaway baby. (oh and he will need the tank filled)

[dab69]

ALWAYS have wanted to just jump on a bus in BKK and see just where I will end up.
also the klongs (boats?) in the canals/ the skytrain as well.
there is always a taxi to take me where i can get back cheaply from being completely lost.

[bucknaway]

Well that is kinda what I want to do... But I want to ride on a set baht bus path so that I know in the future what my options are when I get on a baht bus.

I know I can hire someone to take me anypalce I want to go but I want to make use of the Baht Bus... There are plenty of them and one seems to come along every 30 seconds.

Thanks to one of my Thai friends having me stay on the baht bus past the royal garden mall, I found other malls and more Domon clothing shops.... Now, when one does not have what I want, I just hop on the baht bus to the next mall now....

I want to know other public secrets the baht bus has for me but I will not know until I ride it and find out.


ALWAYS have wanted to just jump on a bus in BKK and see just where I will end up.
also the klongs (boats?) in the canals/ the skytrain as well.
there is always a taxi to take me where i can get back cheaply from being completely lost.

This really shouldn't be a big problem.
Get a whole bunch of change and a map and just start riding different routes.
The buses do tend to do all kinds of unpredictable things, so if it heads in a direction you don't like, get off, and pay either 5 or 10 baht.
If the ride is short, especially between the water and Sukhumwit, 5 baht is usually OK.
Otherwise, usually 10 baht, and 10 baht to Jomtien.
If you go far out Jomtien beach road, at some point they usually just stop, or try to make you a taxi fare.
Another tip, if they try to make you a taxi fare and you don't want to be, just get off and pay the bus fare.
You could take trips for many days around town like this and become quite familiar with the area.

Bucknaway -

I do things like that too when I have lots of time in a new city - take the bus or train and ride it to non-touristy areas, though most of the time you see the drab, dreary, dirty, maybe dangerous reasons why they are non-touristy areas!

The problem with the Pattaya baht bus is that it's an informal system that depends on established custom, rather than rules (which is why you asked in the first place). A rule-based system is less prone to conflict, because the operator can simply point to the rules and ask you to pay x baht nicely. An informal system is conflict-prone, because the operator has to exert himself more forcefully to defend his rights and there is no clear formula for arriving at the make-up amount.

As others have pointed out, the informal baht bus is also liable to change routes depending on passenger requests, and there is no clear start and end of a route. This is a guaranteed source of conflict.

Not in Pattaya, but on Samui, Khon Kaen and other small places, I have hired either a motorbike taxi or the entire baht bus at quite a reasonable fee for a day or half day and seen many places quite happily. The best part of it, in my view, and I think in yours too, since you like to take photographs, is the ability to stop whenever you see something interesting and take a picture.

I wouldn't depend on these guys to be any worth as a tour guide. They have no idea what interests the foreigner. I find that if I leave things to them, they take me to kitschy places that only Thais find pretty. Anyway, their English is minimal. But it's not the destination that matters, its the journey.

Well Macaroni when you come to Sydney your welcome to get the train to REDFERN railway station,and walk across the road to check out the City Aboriginal people.Ask them if this is a tourist area?
Be sure to walk right down into Eveleigh Street and look at the burnt out cars ,graffitti and no doors on the dero houses.Tell them you have come to look at how they live and you want to save them. :argue: :rr: :monkey:
Dont forget to tell them your gay.

During my working years, I went out to a lovely lunchie every day!
If I need coffee, I buy coffee.
I don't have a car in Thailand, so I use baht buses and have learned the system. After I while, you learn the ropes and learn what to pay. A driver only yells at me about once every few months so I am doing something right.
BTW: Some of them are absolutely bonkers and on yaba!

I agree: Make a deal with a driver* to take you around for a few, or several, hours.
Get a city map and point out places where you want to go. Get off the main streets.
Treat him to lunch, take a chance: ask him where to go for the best Thai food.
*Choose a cute driver & ride up front--You may not see as much of the city...but you might see 'more' of him. :tongue: