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Bangkok to Pattaya is about 150 km down Motorway 7, close enough that most people just get on a bus. The Roong Reuang coach from Ekkamai takes two to two and a half hours and costs around 145 baht. A taxi or Grab does it in about an hour and a half for 1,000 to 1,500 baht, and if you’re flying in, a direct bus leaves from Suvarnabhumi every hour. The train is the cheapest option and by far the slowest. Here’s what each one costs in 2026, where to catch it, what changed for Grab drivers on 1 October, and how to get around once you’re in Pattaya, where the baht bus is no longer 10 baht.
Bangkok to Pattaya at a glance
- Distance
- about 140 to 150 km on Motorway 7; 1.5 to 2 hours by road with no traffic, 3 hours or more on a Friday evening.
- Bus from Bangkok
- Roong Reuang coaches from Ekkamai (BTS Ekkamai), from about 5 am into the late evening, around 145 baht, 2 to 2.5 hours.
- From Suvarnabhumi
- bus 389 from Level 1 near Gate 8, hourly from 6 am to 10 pm, about 140 to 160 baht.
- Taxi or Grab
- about 1,000 to 1,500 baht with tolls; airport taxis add a 50-baht surcharge.
- Train
- one third-class train a day from Hua Lamphong at 6:55 am, 31 baht, about 3 h 40.
- In Pattaya
- baht buses cost 15 baht for up to 10 km and 20 baht at most since April 2026.
Bangkok to Pattaya: bus, taxi or train?
| Option | Journey time | One-way cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bus from Ekkamai | 2 to 2.5 h | About 145 baht | Most people, from central Bangkok |
| Bus 389 from Suvarnabhumi | 1.5 to 2 h | About 140 to 160 baht | Landing at Suvarnabhumi with a suitcase |
| Bell Travel shared transfer | 2 to 3 h, to your hotel | A little over 200 baht | A hotel drop-off without paying for a taxi |
| Taxi or Grab | 1.5 to 2 h | About 1,000 to 1,500 baht with tolls | Groups, late arrivals, heavy luggage |
| Train from Hua Lamphong | About 3 h 40 | 31 baht | Tiny budgets and anyone who likes slow trains |
| Minivan | About 2 h | From about 200 baht | We’d skip them |
Bangkok to Pattaya by bus from Ekkamai
The Bangkok to Pattaya bus most visitors take leaves from the Eastern Bus Terminal at Ekkamai, about 50 metres from exit 2 of BTS Ekkamai on Sukhumvit Road. Roong Reuang Coach runs 15 or 16 departures a day, roughly every 30 to 60 minutes, from about 5 am until 10 or 11 pm. The ticket costs around 145 baht, and some counters add a small luggage charge. The ride takes two to two and a half hours, three when the traffic is bad, and ends at Pattaya’s bus terminal on North Pattaya Road.
Fares moved twice in April 2026, when the Department of Land Transport raised and then partly cut bus fares after the spring fuel crisis; the net change on this route was about 3 baht. You can buy at the counter on the day, or online through resellers such as 12Go. Around Songkran and New Year, book at least three days ahead.
Buses from Mo Chit and Don Mueang
If you’re staying in the north of Bangkok, Roong Reuang also runs hourly from Mo Chit, the Northern Bus Terminal, from 5 am to 6 pm, for about 155 baht. It takes longer, two and a half to three hours, because it has to cross the city first. From Don Mueang Airport, the Transport Company has run a direct bus to Pattaya since March 2025: about six departures a day, around 165 baht, two and a half hours, with stops along Sukhumvit Road in Pattaya.
Suvarnabhumi to Pattaya: the direct airport bus
Bangkok airport to Pattaya is easy if you land at Suvarnabhumi. Roong Reuang’s bus 389 leaves from Level 1 of the passenger terminal, with ticket counters near Gate 8, every hour from 6 am to 10 pm. Expect to pay about 140 to 160 baht, and to reach Pattaya in an hour and a half to two hours, because the airport is already on the Pattaya side of Bangkok. It stops in North Pattaya and at Jomtien. The Transport Company also runs a few buses a day from Suvarnabhumi down Sukhumvit Road through Pattaya.
Bell Travel Service sells a shared transfer that gets you to your hotel: a coach to Pattaya, then a van to your door. It leaves Suvarnabhumi from Level 1, Door 8, at 8:30 am, 10:30, 12:30, 2:30 pm, 4:30 and 6 pm, and also picks up at Bangkok hotels at 10 am and 2 pm. Book on its website or LINE; resellers quote a little over 200 baht.
Bangkok to Pattaya by taxi or Grab
At Suvarnabhumi, the official public taxi counter is on Level 1, between Gates 4 and 7. Taxis there run on the meter, plus a compulsory 50-baht airport surcharge and the tolls, but the airport’s rules let drivers agree a price on long trips, and for Pattaya most do. Expect 1,000 to 1,500 baht all in. From a hotel in Bangkok, a taxi to Pattaya usually costs 1,200 to 1,500 baht, and private transfer companies quote about 1,200 for a car and 2,200 for a van. Motorway 7 tolls come to about 100 baht for a car. Agree the price, and whether it includes tolls, before your bags go in the boot.
Grab and Bolt land in the same range, about 1,200 to 1,500 baht, sometimes with tolls on top. From 1 October 2026, ride-hailing apps in Thailand must stop giving jobs to drivers who don’t hold a public driver’s licence, and eight apps, Grab and Bolt among them, have signed up. It’s too early to say whether that means longer waits or higher fares. On a long run like this one, we’d book ahead.
The train to Pattaya
Trains to Pattaya still leave from Hua Lamphong, Bangkok’s old central station, even though long-distance trains to the north and south moved to Krung Thep Aphiwat in 2023 (our Bangkok to Chiang Mai guide explains the switch). Train 283 leaves every day at 6:55 am and gets to Pattaya at about 10:35. It’s third class only, with fans, and costs 31 baht; buy the ticket at the station on the day. The return, train 284, leaves Pattaya at about 2:20 pm.
At weekends there’s also an air-conditioned excursion train, 997, which leaves Bangkok at about 6:45 am and arrives a little after 9, for around 170 baht; it comes back as train 998 in the late afternoon. Pattaya station is about 3 km from the beach, so you’ll need a baht bus or a Grab at the other end. The State Railway cancelled all these trains on 26 and 27 September 2026 because of flooding, so check they’re running before you go.
What about minivans?
Bangkok’s minivans were moved away from Victory Monument in 2016. Vans to Pattaya now leave from Ekkamai, every 15 to 30 minutes, and from the van terminal at Mo Chit, for about 200 baht and up. They’re quick and frequent, but cramped, with little room for luggage, and Thai minivans have a poor safety record. Some van routes to Pattaya were suspended during the late-September floods too. We’d take the coach.
Arriving in Pattaya: baht buses, Bolt and Grab
Pattaya’s bus terminal is on North Pattaya Road, a short ride from Beach Road. The cheapest way around town is the baht bus, a pickup truck with two benches in the back, running fixed loops along Beach Road and Second Road and out to Naklua, Jomtien and Soi Buakhao. On 10 April 2026 the fare went up for the first time in about 30 years: it’s now 15 baht for up to 10 km and 20 baht at most. Some drivers still ask foreigners for more, so have coins ready and pay the right amount when you get off. Chartering a whole baht bus costs about 100 to 300 baht.
Grab and Bolt both work in Pattaya, and motorbike taxis charge about 20 to 50 baht for a short hop. Keep your Thailand eSIM working, because you’ll need data for the apps.
U-Tapao, and the fast train that isn’t coming
U-Tapao Airport is about 40 km south of Pattaya, but at the moment it only has domestic flights: Bangkok Airways to Koh Samui and Phuket, plus Thai Lion Air to Chiang Mai and Udon Thani in the October to March season. It’s handy for flying on to the islands, not for getting from Bangkok.
You may read about a high-speed line linking Don Mueang, Suvarnabhumi and U-Tapao. Don’t plan around it. The private consortium building it gave notice to end its contract in July 2026, and the State Railway is now studying a slower 160 km/h line instead, with bidding no earlier than 2028.
Dates and weather to plan around
Buses to Pattaya fill up over Songkran (13 to 15 April) and New Year, and on Chinese New Year, which falls on 6 February 2027: book three days ahead or more. In the rainy season, roughly May to October, floods can cut the eastern line. In the last week of September 2026, trains to Pattaya were cancelled and some van routes suspended for several days. Our best time to visit Thailand guide has the month-by-month picture.
What we would actually do
From central Bangkok, we’d ride the BTS to Ekkamai and take the next Roong Reuang coach. Landing at Suvarnabhumi, we’d go straight down to Level 1 for bus 389, unless it was after 10 pm; then we’d use the taxi counter and agree a price of around 1,200 baht, tolls included, before loading the bags. In Pattaya, baht buses with a pocket of coins.
Just landed? Start with our guide to getting from Suvarnabhumi Airport to Bangkok, read up on Thailand currency and the 220-baht ATM fee, and fill in your TDAC before you fly. Heading on from Bangkok? See Bangkok to Phuket.
Looking for the rest? Every Thailand guide we’ve published, from the TDAC to tipping, is sorted by topic in our Thailand travel guide.
Heading west instead of east? Our Bangkok to Kanchanaburi guide covers the 100-baht Thonburi train, buses from the Southern Terminal and the River Kwai sights.
Sources
- Airports of Thailand (Suvarnabhumi) — public taxi service, surcharge and long-distance fares.
- Bell Travel Service — Suvarnabhumi and Bangkok to Pattaya transfers.
- U-Tapao Rayong-Pattaya International Airport — airlines and routes.
- Pattaya Mail — Don Mueang to Pattaya bus, March 2025.
- Pattaya Mail — baht bus fares from 10 April 2026.
- The Nation — ride-hailing driver licence rule from 1 October 2026.
- Khaosod English — eastern line trains suspended by floods, September 2026.
- MGR Online — the three-airport high-speed rail project.
- Cornerstone — Bangkok to Pattaya train times and fares.
Data checked: 2026-10-06
