Three Bangkok terminals sell a seat on the same Pattaya coach, and almost every guide on this route lists them as equal doors. They are not equal. Ekkamai, on Sukhumvit Road at Ekkamai BTS, sells the run cheaper, gets there faster, and keeps selling four hours later than Mo Chit 2 does. Both coaches finish in the same bay at North Pattaya Bus Terminal, so the terminal you leave from is the part of this trip you actually control.
The gap is small in money and large in time. The Ekkamai window sells the seat at $4 (THB 148). Mo Chit 2 charges $4.40 (THB 158) for a run that takes roughly an hour longer. Before you commit to a side of the city, look at current departures and fares on the corridor.
The rest of the day has a simple shape. It’s 150 km east down Motorway 7, about 2 to 2.5 hours from Ekkamai and closer to 3 hours from Mo Chit 2. The last Ekkamai coach goes at 22:00. The last one out of Mo Chit 2 goes at 18:00. If you’re landing at Suvarnabhumi, skip the trip into Bangkok altogether and take route 389, which is the only Pattaya bus that runs through to Jomtien.
Photographer: iMahesh. Source: Wikimedia Commons. License: CC BY-SA 4.0.Bangkok to Pattaya by bus, 150 km and three terminals that are not equal
Start with the corridor, because it settles most of the booking. Roong Reuang Coach runs the scheduled service from all three Bangkok departure points, so you aren’t choosing a company. You’re choosing a terminal, and the terminal changes the fare, the running time and how late you can still leave.
The numbers that decide it:
- Distance: about 150 km, Bangkok to Pattaya via Motorway 7.
- Ekkamai Eastern Bus Terminal (สถานีขนส่งเอกมัย): $4 (THB 148), 2 to 2.5 hours, every 30 to 60 minutes from 05:00 to 22:00.
- Mo Chit 2 Northern Bus Terminal (สถานีขนส่งหมอชิตใหม่): $4.40 (THB 158), about 3 hours, roughly hourly from 05:00 to 18:00.
- Suvarnabhumi Airport route 389 (ท่าอากาศยานสุวรรณภูมิ): from $3.60 (THB 130), about 2 hours, roughly hourly from 06:00 to 22:00.
- Arrival point: North Pattaya Bus Terminal on Thanon Pattaya Nuea, except route 389, which mostly ends at Jomtien.
- Luggage: one bag plus one backpack, 20 kg, in the hold.
- Booking: not needed midweek. Coaches leave every half hour from Ekkamai.
Two of those lines do the work. Ekkamai is cheaper and faster than Mo Chit 2 and stays open four hours longer, which settles the terminal question for anyone starting in central Bangkok. Route 389 is the only service on the list that reaches the south end of the city without a second leg. Everything else lands you in the same place, 6.4 km short of where most people are going.
Ekkamai out to Pattaya, the 148 baht coach that runs until 22:00
Ekkamai is the answer for anyone anywhere on the BTS Sukhumvit line. The Eastern Bus Terminal sits at the Ekkamai station exit, which removes the cross town transfer that every other Bangkok terminal on this route adds before the journey even starts. Buy at the counter, walk to the bay, go.
The coach itself is a vehicle of 40 seats with air conditioning, a reclining seat wide enough to sleep in and a proper hold underneath. That hold is the real argument against the van, and it costs less than the van does. Departures run every 30 to 60 minutes from 05:00, and the service doesn’t wait to fill, so a missed departure costs you half an hour rather than an evening.
Two things are worth knowing before you board. Reviewers note that the cabin air runs cold on this corridor and that the overhead vents are not adjustable on every coach, so regulars pack a layer for a daytime run. Announcements are usually in Thai, and the coach makes its arrival stop without much ceremony, so watch for the North Pattaya sign yourself.
Treat any fare you see before you reach the terminal as a ceiling rather than a quote. Online listings for this corridor sit at THB 164 to 184 for the same seat the Ekkamai window sells at THB 148. Buy at the counter when your dates are loose. Book ahead when the date is fixed, when it falls on a Friday evening or a weekend, or when you’re moving with a group who all need seats on one departure.
When Mo Chit 2 makes sense, and when it costs you an hour
Mo Chit 2 sells the same product for a little more money and a lot more time. The Northern Bus Terminal sits on the north side of Chatuchak Park, and its Pattaya coaches work their way across the city before they reach Motorway 7. Some services also call at Chonburi, Si Racha or Laem Chabang on the way down.
That’s why the run comes out near 3 hours against Ekkamai’s 2. The last departure is the sharper problem. Mo Chit 2 stops selling at about 18:00, so an evening arrival in Bangkok that leaves you looking for a Pattaya coach at 20:00 has exactly one terminal left, and it isn’t this one.
There is still a case for it. If you’re already in northern Bangkok, or you’ve just landed at Don Mueang, crossing the city to Ekkamai can cost more time than the Mo Chit penalty itself. Under those conditions, take the closer terminal and accept the extra hour. From anywhere on the Sukhumvit line, it’s the wrong door. Our Ayutthaya transport guide covers the leg where Mo Chit and its neighbors genuinely are the right departure point.
The Suvarnabhumi 389 coach is the only bus to Jomtien
Route 389 runs straight out of the airport, which makes it the cleanest arrival on this page if your flight lands at Suvarnabhumi. Tickets sell at Gate 8 on Level 1 of the main terminal, fares start near $3.60 (THB 130), and the road takes about 2 hours on coaches of 36 seats with air conditioning. You never enter Bangkok at all.
It also solves the arrival problem the other two services create. Most 389 departures terminate at Jomtien Bus Station rather than North Pattaya, which puts you at the south end of the city near Thappraya Road instead of 6.4 km inland. If your hotel is in Jomtien, this is the only bus on the route that ends where you’re sleeping.
The catch is that the service splits across two endpoints and the split is uneven. Around 17 departures a day run to Jomtien and about 8 to North Pattaya, and both board from the same counter. Read the destination on the ticket before you get on, because boarding the wrong one puts you on the far side of the city from your hotel. Friday, Saturday and public holidays also stretch the running time.
Photographer: Broichmore. Source: Wikimedia Commons. License: CC BY-SA 4.0.What the seat costs at the counter versus online
Fares on this corridor diverge by purchase channel more than by service, and the English guides reprint the higher number as if it were the fare. The Ekkamai counter sells the seat at THB 148 and Mo Chit 2 at THB 158. Aggregator and reseller listings put the same seat at THB 164 to 184, which is a premium of 11 to 24 percent for booking from your phone.
So the rule is short. Buy at the window when you’re flexible, because the coaches leave every half hour and nothing about a midweek departure needs locking in. Book online when the date is fixed, or when you’re traveling on a Friday evening, a weekend or a Thai public holiday. Paying the markup to guarantee four seats together on a holiday Friday is a reasonable trade. Paying it on a Tuesday morning is not.
Where the bus drops you, and how to reach central Pattaya
North Pattaya Bus Terminal sits on Thanon Pattaya Nuea, about 6.4 km from Walking Street. It is not walkable to the beach in any weather, and no metered taxis wait on the rank. Every arrival off the Ekkamai and Mo Chit coaches needs a second leg, and budgeting for it is the difference between a $4 trip and a $10 one.
Your options from the terminal, with what each one actually costs:
- Shared songthaew: about THB 25 to Beach Road$0 15 for central hops and THB 20 out to Jomtien or Naklua since the April 2026 increase.
- Motorbike taxi: around THB 50, one bag maximum.
- Ride hailing app: THB 80 to 150 into Central Pattaya$0 120 to 220 to Jomtien.
- Chartered songthaew: THB 100 to 150, which is the price quoted at the rank for a private run.
Note the gap between the last two lines and the first. Travelers report that drivers waiting at the terminal quote the charter price by default, which runs five or six times the shared route fare for the same direction. If you want the shared fare, walk out to the main road and flag one already running the route rather than negotiating at the bay. The terminal itself reads well on organization and signage, though travelers note the waiting area has no air conditioning and the toilet costs THB 3.
The songthaew system in Pattaya works on fixed loops, not on destinations. A truck running the Beach Road loop stops for anyone who presses the buzzer, and you pay when you get off. The moment you tell a driver where you’re going before you board, you’ve started a charter negotiation instead, which is where the THB 100 to 150 quotes come from. Get on, ride the loop, press the buzzer.
Hotel drop coaches and minivans against the 148 baht seat
Two services solve the arrival leg for you, and both cost more than the coach. The choice is whether the transfer is worth what it adds.
The hotel drop coach runs around $11 (THB 400) and bundles the ride down with a van leg at the Pattaya end that delivers each passenger to their door. It’s close to three times the Ekkamai fare and runs about six departures a day rather than every half hour. The total sits nearer 3 hours, because the van leg happens after the coach arrives. If your hotel is early on the van’s route, it’s fast. If you’re last off, it isn’t. It suits travelers moving with real luggage or an awkward address more than it suits anyone counting baht.
The minivan is the other trade. It leaves the same Ekkamai terminal at roughly $5 to $6 (THB 180 to 220) and ends at a central Pattaya station near Walking Street and Bali Hai Pier, so the songthaew leg disappears. The nine seat cabin is tight, riders describe room for one small bag before you’re buying a second seat, and there’s no hold. Against the coach it trades a wide reclining seat and luggage space for a shorter walk at the end. Our guide to the Pattaya minivan works through that drop point argument in detail, and you can compare coach and van departures side by side.
Photographer: Benh LIEU SONG. Source: Wikimedia Commons. License: CC BY-SA 3.0.What to know before you board about booking and luggage
Booking ahead is optional on this route in a way it isn’t further north. Departures run every 30 to 60 minutes from Ekkamai across a window of 17 hours, so the counter will normally seat you on the next service. The exceptions are Friday evenings, weekends, Songkran and the Thai public holiday calendar, when Bangkok empties toward the coast and the early evening departures fill.
Luggage is one bag plus one backpack, 20 kg, stowed in the hold. Hand luggage rides in the cabin. Confirm what the ticket covers at the window before your bag goes under the coach, so nothing about the hold is a surprise at either end.
Two practical notes for the return leg. The last coach north out of Pattaya runs earlier than the last one south, so an evening flight out of Bangkok wants a mid afternoon departure and not a late one. If you’re carrying on east instead, the Koh Samet bus guide covers the next stretch of that coast. The Koh Larn ferry guide covers the island run out of Bali Hai. Our overview of getting around Thailand puts this corridor against the longer legs, and the Chiang Mai transport guide covers the overnight coach.
Where to stay once you reach Pattaya
All three below sit on or beside the beach line, which is what the coach terminal is not. That’s the whole point of choosing carefully here. A base on the water turns the songthaew into a once a day trip rather than the spine of your itinerary. That’s what most people are actually buying when they come down from Bangkok.
For what fills the days between, the things to do in Pattaya roundup and our 3 days in Pattaya itinerary cover the coast and the islands. For more options across the city, start with the best SHA hotels in Pattaya. If you’re taking a night in the capital first, the best SHA hotels in Bangkok covers that end. Once you’re down here, compare day trips and island tickets before the weekend rates move.
Frequently asked questions about the Bangkok to Pattaya bus
How long is the bus from Bangkok to Pattaya?
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Which bus terminal in Bangkok goes to Pattaya?
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Is there a bus from Suvarnabhumi Airport to Pattaya?
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Is the bus or the minivan better from Bangkok to Pattaya?
We rank this corridor on the numbers that change the booking, not on the mode that sounds best. See how we test and rank for the method behind these calls.
