cheapest way to PATTAYA from Bangkok

Staying in Khao San Road brings a lot of advantages if you are a first timer in Bangkok and that includes its proximity to the Grand Palace Complex, Wat Pho, Wat Arun and Chinatown.Transportation is a bit constrained though coz there's no train line is nearby.I also noticed that prices are a bit high because the place is famous for backpackers.

One example is when you want to go to Pattaya or Ayutthaya. There are van pick-ups for convenience but comes at an extra charge. We paid 300 Baht for our supposed van transport to Pattaya but found out later on that the actual rate is only 91 baht from the terminal in Victory Monument.

I will talk more on that later.

Pattaya baby!

First, I wanna say that Bangkok itself is a feast.There are so many things to do, see and feel.But if you feel like you wanna experience how it is like outside the mega city, the easy options are either Ayutthaya or Pattaya.Ayutthaya is 1 hour North while Pattaya is 1.5-2 hours South.

Since we felt like we already had temple overload, (since Phnom Penh) we opted to go South and see the beach.Alam mo na, Pinoy.Nakakamiss ang dagat.

We've been really dying to see water coz we've been already travelling by land for a few days since Ho Chi Minh City.This would be the perfect opportunity to find out one of what Thailand is bragging about ----their beaches.

BUT WE WERE TRICKED

Or was it self inflicted due to our ignorance?

We knew there's a cheaper way to get to Pattaya but we were too lazy.All we wanted was to leave the earliest possible time and there are many agencies in Khao San which arrange tickets.Best of all, vans will pick you up right at your hotel.We opted for efficiency and speed rather than value especially because we were to go to Pattaya only for day tour.

The original rate was 350 Baht but the agency gave it to us for 300 Baht.That's more expensive than the 250 Baht we paid from Cambodian border to Bangkok to think it's 3 hours ride compared to Pattaya which is only 2 hours away.Okay lang.As we said, tamad-tamaran na.

But the annoying part is, the pickup completely forgot us.We were ready by 6am but we waited in front of the hotel until 8am for nothing.More annoyingly, people at the hotel (they also own the travel agency where we booked by the way) can't even communicate to us what is happening.The sickening thing if people cannot converse in English. Puro lang sila sign language and "wait".

By 8am, a taxi parked in front of the hotel and we were asked to board.We thought that would be it. Kala namin tiba-tiba na kami coz a private car (of some sort) will take us to Pattaya.There were five of us so we paid 1,500 Baht total.That's enough to pay for a taxi to Pattaya.To our disappointment, the taxi only took us to a van terminal in Victory Monument.

We were too sleepy so we were asleep the entire taxi ride which took more than an hour given the rush hour traffic in Bangkok.We were awaken by the taxi driver's call for us to disembark.We took off confused.The driver then purchased tickets for us then he was gone.I was surprised to see that one-way fare to Pattaya is only 91 Baht.Ang laki ng tinubo nila samin!

That on top of all the inconvenience.

THE CHEAP WAY TO PATTAYA

Lesson learned.So if you want a cheap way of going to Pattaya from BKK, simply get your ass to Victory Monument and take the van there. Fare is only 91 Baht. The good thing about Victory Monument is that BTS Sky Train with the same name for the station. Actually, if you take tuktuk from Victory Monument to Khao San, it only costs 150 Baht.We learned that on our way back coz we had to go back to our hotel to pick our luggages before transferring to another hotel somewhere in Silom. Nanghinayang ang mga kasamahan ko sa binayad namin.Well, as I said, lesson learned again.

Pinoys in Pattaya Thailand

Pattaya is a big city.Reminds me so much of Penang. This place is a tourism magnet for Thailand. If I am not mistaken, the area attracted 13 Million tourists in 2012 alone.Wow! That's more than twice the expected total tourist arrival in the Philippines for 2013.

You can understand why.Travel from Bangkok to Pattaya is so easy as the two cities are connected by highways.No traffic congestion to waste your time (except that in downtown Bangkok) and no annoying bumpy rides.Tourism after all is accessibility, and I mean not just access but easy access.

The original plan was to check the Elephant Village and some floating market.But since the drop off point for the van is in the same terminal to the famous islands of Pattaya, we thought of checking one of them.The destination, KOH LARN.

I will talk about it in my next post. Cheers!!!!


ALSO, please feel free to read:
***Crossing THAILAND-CAMBODIA Border via Aranyaprathet
***NAT GUESTHOUSE at Khao San Road Bangkok
***the GRAND PALACE Bangkok deserves the title "Grand"
***"bird feeding" #Scam in BANGKOK
***How to get to WAT PHO: The Temple of the Reclining Buddha
***female monks at WAT THEPTHIDARAM WORAWIHAN Bangkok
***Chao Phraya River Cruise + WAT ARUN
*** shabu-shabu dinner at MK RESTAURANT Siam Square

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