Bhat Bus routes

[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

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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