Bangkok to Pattaya: every way there, honestly priced
Article updated: 2026-09-21
Best rate USD · Pattaya: 33.15 — AG : Again Pattaya Branch · Sep 20, 08:58 → Details
Pattaya is about 150 km from Bangkok, which on Thai roads means anything from an hour and a half to two and a half hours depending on the time of day and whether something has happened on the motorway. The good options are all cheap by the standards of a holiday. The problem is that the worst option is the one presented to you first, at the airport, when you are least able to think about it.
From Suvarnabhumi airport
Most people going to Pattaya arrive at Suvarnabhumi and go straight there.
The direct bus. From the public transport centre on level 1 — follow the signs, it is a short shuttle ride from the terminal — a bus runs to Pattaya roughly every hour for about 130–160 baht. It arrives at the bus station on North Pattaya Road, from which you take a taxi or a songthaew to your hotel. Cheap and comfortable, but slower in total than it looks.
Shared minivans. Around 150–250 baht per seat. They leave when full, which can mean twenty minutes or an hour, and they drop passengers in turn. Fine for one person with a backpack; tiresome with a family.
Metered taxi from the official queue. The queue on level 1 will take the fare, but for this distance drivers commonly propose a flat price rather than the meter. Expect roughly 1,200–1,800 baht plus expressway tolls, which you pay in cash as you go. Agree the number before the car moves, and never take the offer from someone who approaches you inside the building.
A pre-booked private transfer. Roughly 1,000–1,600 baht, fixed when you book, with a driver holding a name board at arrivals and the tolls usually included. The price is competitive with the taxi queue and the difference is what you get for it: no negotiation, no queue, a child seat if you asked, and someone waiting when you land at one in the morning. For two or more people with luggage this is the sensible default rather than a luxury.
Ride-hail apps. They work at the airport, with designated pickup points, but drivers can and do decline a 150 km run once they see the destination. Have a second plan.
U-Tapao. The airport that is actually near Pattaya, about forty minutes south. Few flights land there. If yours does, the ride is short and cheap.
From central Bangkok
Ekkamai. The Eastern bus terminal, at BTS Ekkamai, has frequent buses to Pattaya for roughly 130–160 baht. They are the right answer for anyone already in the city who is not in a hurry. Minivans leave from the same area at similar prices.
The train. There is a train to Pattaya. It is very cheap, very slow, runs mostly at weekends, and is not an arrival-day plan.
Taxi or pre-booked car from a hotel. Similar prices to the airport run. A hotel desk can arrange a car, usually at a mark-up; a booked transfer with a fixed fare is the same thing without the mark-up.
A quick comparison
| Option | Rough cost | Time | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airport bus | 130–160 baht | 2.5–3 h door to door | Solo, daylight, light luggage |
| Minivan | 150–250 baht | Variable | Solo, patient |
| Metered or flat-fare taxi | 1,200–1,800 baht + tolls | 1.5–2.5 h | Groups who did not book |
| Pre-booked transfer | 1,000–1,600 baht | 1.5–2.5 h | Groups, luggage, late arrivals |
| Ekkamai bus | 130–160 baht | 2–2.5 h + last leg | Already in Bangkok |
Every figure is approximate and moves with fuel prices and season; check the current price rather than the one in a forum post.
The last kilometre
Both the bus and the minivan leave you at a terminal, not at your hotel. From the North Pattaya bus station, a songthaew — the blue shared pickups that run fixed routes along the main roads — is the cheapest way down to Central or South Pattaya, and a motorbike taxi or a metered car does the rest. Agree the price for anything that is not a songthaew before you get in. A pre-booked transfer skips this paragraph entirely, which is part of its value at midnight.
Where to change money for the journey
Bangkok has some of the best cash rates in the world and Pattaya is not far behind: the town has dozens of money changers with published rates, clustered along Second Road, Beach Road and the main sois, and the difference between them and the airport is several per cent. The Pattaya page lists the shops with today’s rates so you can see what the town is paying before you land.
So the plan is simple. At the airport, change only what the first few hours need — the transfer if it is not prepaid, tolls, a meal, a bottle of water. A few thousand baht at most. Do the rest in town the next morning, where a walk of two hundred metres will usually find a better board than the one you passed. The counters at Suvarnabhumi are covered on the Suvarnabhumi page; the short version is that the ones downstairs by the rail link beat the ones in the arrivals hall.
Who should just book the car
- Anyone landing after about ten at night. The bus has stopped and the minivans are thinning out.
- Two or more people with real luggage. The per-head cost of a fixed-price car is already close to the taxi queue.
- Anyone with small children or a hotel down a soi with no name a driver will recognise.
- Anyone who does not want to spend their first hour in Thailand negotiating.
Everyone else — solo, daylight, one bag — takes the bus, changes a little money, and spends the difference on dinner.