Pattaya is a 145-kilometer drive from Bangkok, and sits to the south-east of the capital.
Here are the main choices after you arrive at Don Muang International Airport
How to get there
By Taxi
Ignore the pests that will hassle you inside the airport's terminal building - they're too expensive - and head outside.
There, you can catch a taxi right by the terminal (pay the 50 baht surcharge at the ticket booth and ensure the driver turns the meter on).
Your driver could take you direct to Pattaya for around 1,000 baht, or you can save about 900 baht and ask him to take you to the bus station.
There are two main bus stations in Bangkok: Ekamai and Morchit.
Ekamai is closer to Pattaya and the best one to head for.
Once you leave the airport, look for the 'airport bus booth'. The A3 bus will get you to Ekamai for about 100 baht.
Once you arrive at Ekamai nip over the road to the main bus building. Here, you can buy your ticket to Pattaya for 90 baht. They leave every 30 minutes between 05.20 and 23:00.
Most buses are air-conditioned and can pack your luggage safely away. Once you're at Pattaya Bus Station, a plethora of transports will be fighting their way through to offer transport to your hotel.
If you decide to head for Morchit, which is closer to the airport, then expect to pay 100-130 baht or so for the taxi from the airport, and 90 baht for a ticket to Pattaya.
Buses leave every half hour from 05:30 - 17:00.
Head for Booth 48 to purchase your ticket.
Buses run until late in the evening, but do not run all night, so check your arrival times.
If you arrive at Pattaya in under three hours, then well done!
Contacts:
Morchit (Northern Bus Terminal) Kamphangphet 2 Road, Bangkok Tel: (+66) 0 2936-3660, 2936-3666)
Ekamai (Eastern Bus Terminal) Sukhumvit Road, Bangkok
(+66) 02 391-8097, 2391-2504.
Once you are sunburnt, skint and ready to return home, buses leave for the airport every two hours between 07:00 - 17:00 and cost 200 baht.
By train
Trains are slow, cheap and not very popular with Thais.
However, should you wish to see some countryside on your way to the hotel, then trains are an option. There are first and second class tickets, which will result in much-needed air conditioning,
You should love trains with a passion if you choose this method, as there's only one a day and they are marginally faster than walking.
Most folks go by bus or taxi.
Contacts
Pattaya Railway Station. Off "Siam Country Club Road". Tel: (038) 429285
Sri Racha Railway Station
Tel: (038) 322504. Half way between Bangkok and Pattaya, and impossible to find. They don't speak much English either.
U-Tapao Airport is a little-known place 30 kilometres away from Pattaya (Tel: 245595-7, 245599).
It is little-known with good reason: It's situated on a military base, is for domestic flights, and hasn't got a great reputation.
