The trip to Pattaya from Bangkok should take anywhere from 1.5 – 2 hours from Bangkok. Booking a car from Bangkok to Pattaya is the quickest method of transportation, but it will cost you between 1,000 baht (at best) to $1,800 all depending on your luck.
We looked at options for a shared coach or bus to save some money. We ultimately came to Bell Travels Services because it worked for our schedule. We booked it from 12go.asia, but there are other websites with the same offerings.
We booked the 1:30PM bus from Bangkok to Pattaya with a pickup from our hotel in Silom. The arrival would be 3 hours later at 4:30 PM in Pattaya. For approximately 390 baht (approx $11-12 USD) per passenger, that sounded like a great deal. From the description, I assumed that Bell Travel would pick us up from our hotel and then pick up a couple more passengers in the area then we’d be on our way to Pattaya — the three hour trip factoring in pickups and potential traffic.
The reality was a little different. A smaller shuttle bus picks you up not at 1:30PM time, but we were scheduled to get picked up a full hour earlier at 12:30PM. That forced us to change our plans a little the following day, but wasn’t day changing.
When the shuttle bus picks you up, it ships you and other passengers in the area to Bell’s main hub in Bangna where you board a larger bus with other ticket holders from other areas.
You’re not done yet. From Bell’s offices, the larger bus then makes one more stop to Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) for another pickup of passengers.
Once all those airport passengers from BKK are loaded up into the bus, then you’re on your way to Pattaya which should take on 1-1.5 hours.
Now at Bell’s Pattaya hub, riders are then dispersed in reverse; passengers were grouped into smaller shuttles based on the location of their hotels.
Final Word: Bell Travel Services
Bell Travel Services from Bangkok to Pattaya wasn’t the most polished or efficient service nor the friendliest (in my experience). That said, there wasn’t anything during my trip that was unacceptable.
Would I use Bell again from Bangkok to Pattaya? Probably not. I’m not into the extra 1.5 hours it takes to get things going when it takes 1.5 hours to get to Pattaya — that’s double the time.
I recommend taking a taxi/private car if you have more than 3-4 people in your group as it makes more sense price wise (and it would be faster). Haggle on the street with taxis — because they’ll be happy to work off the books (non-meter). You can also have your hotel arrange for the taxi, but that’ll add a service fee on top, likely an additonal 200-500 baht.
If you’re traveling by yourself or with a friend, watching your bahts and have a couple hours to add to the trip, Bell’s not a bad option in those scenarios. For more Bangkok travel tips, go here.
Bell Travel Services
Address: 321, Bangna-Trad Road, Bangna, Khet Bangna, Bangkok, 10260, 10260
Phone: 02 747 4673
