Pattaya By Day

I rediscovered Pattaya on a recent trip to Thailand. It is now easy to travel to Pattaya from Bangkok. There are aircon buses at the airport in Bangkok that will bring you direct to Pattaya for only 106 Baht and the trip takes less than 2 hours on a direct expressway route to Pattaya. The trip is sometimes even faster than the travel time to downtown Bangkok hotel from the airport and is even cheaper than the airport shuttle.

Another option is if you are already in Bangkok and not traveling from the airport, is to take the Bell Buses that will pick you from your hotel for the trip to Pattaya. This cost a reasonable 350 Baht which is less the total cost of taking a taxi to the bus station and then the bus to Pattaya.

Anyway, the Bangkok Pattaya bus service from the airport is a pleasant ride on a really good bus with ample leg room and comfortable seats. I enjoyed the ride as much as my stay in Pattaya.

Pattaya now is more progressive but is not crowded with people and does not suffer from the traffic congestion of Bangkok. Choices for shopping and dining can now rival Bangkok. There are a number of big and modern malls, good restaurants, and reasonably priced hotels. And everything is actually cheaper in Pattaya. The place is also by the beach and therefore provides for a more relaxing vacation.

I particularly enjoy the foot massage here which for reasons unknown to me seems to be better than the ones I tried in Bangkok. And again it cost less. Next time I go to Thailand I will be making Pattaya my base instead of Bangkok.