Don Muang Airport to Pattaya… and return

A friend in Jakarta has emailed me asking how best to get from Don Muang Airport to Pattaya/Jomtien … preferably by bus rather than by taxi or booked car … I really haven’t paid much attention to this route as I have pretty much exclusively used Suwanabumi Airport for the past years … I would be grateful if somebody here could advise how to answer my friend's query. He will also want to know how best to get from Pattaya/Jomtien back to Don Muang at the end of his holiday. Many thanks, in advance, for the advice.

This subject has recently been discussed on gaybuttonthai:
https://www.gaybuttonthai.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=11047

I just missed Christian's post but I'll leave this in...

We have always used the public taxi but it can be unsatisfactory. At times (I'm talking pre-Covid) there could be a long wait, though the ticket system ensured that the queuing was orderly. And the journey through Bangkok can be tedious, particularly when there is heavy traffic.

I recall the cost to be around 2000bht; what it is now, I don't know.

There was also a limousine service which I sued once long ago. A more comfortable car but (obviously) the same roads.

In short, the journey to Pattaya is a pain. The buses, of course are much cheaper, though again are subject to the same traffic problems. Some go to Pattaya, some to Jomtien but it's possible that a baht-bus or taxi may be needed to get from the bus station to a hotel. That cost needs to be taken into consideration.

To sum-up, BKK is an eminently better arrival point in Thailand than DMK, so much so that we are prepared to pay extra for internal flights to avoid the DMK-Pattaya journey.

I still find it amazing that people will travel thousands of miles to Thailand and then get on a bus (with all the complications involved) to travel the last 70 miles to their final destination.

Booked taxis (such as Pattaya Limo) will take you from Savanabhumi Airport to Pattaya for only1300 baht. An absolute bargain, driven well, and in a comfortable modern car.

An equivalent journey in the UK (and probably most other countries) is just short of £200....8400 baht.

once travelled by bus from BKK to Pattaya with a friend...upon arrival in Pattaya we had to get a taxi to jomtien...my friend wasted a good 45 minutes tryong to find a cheap local taxi...difference was only 50bht....i coukd have cried with frustration

I tried the bus from Ekamai once. Two memories remain; firstly getting a close-up view of the bus tyres and noting their bald spots. And secondly, breaking down outside Chonburi and having to stand on a local bus with my luggage for the remainder of the journey.
Long ago, I have to admit...but since then it's been taxis for me, the prices of which have barely changed in twenty years.

There is very simple way to get to Pattaya from Dong Mueang airport only by buses:
1. Take free shuttle bus DM to Suvarnabhumi airport
2. Take bus from Suvarnabhumi to Pattaya - the same 90 minutes as taxi or limo. Bus booth is on level 1 btw exits 7 and 8. You may choose to which terminal you will arrive - to Northern or to Jomtien. For additional money you may order shuttle van to your hotel from Northern terminal.

Thanks to all of the above for the input.

Those who preach here that one should forfeit the bus and take the taxi did not read properly-it was for an Indo(nesian)-people known to be quite frugal and used to even far worse conditions in their ´transsssport´. Plus that airtix from Indo (on a bit suspect cheap airls like Batik or Lion) are in the same range as the taxi fare.
Compared to the tipical Indo bemo a ´bahtbus/songhthaew in Pty is luxurious and also fairly expensip

...at the risk of sounding totally woke....that comes across as very racially judgemental...in other words...racist...I know Indonesians that are terribly wealthy (just so happen to all be of Chinese descent) and have no problem spending it