Pattaya’s Cattle Truck Crisis

[Pattaya One]

Pattaya’s troubled relationship with baht buses is so interwoven by vested interests and self-serving connections that, along with the jet skis, the topic can probably best be put into the category of: “bad things the city cannot or will not change".

But it is clear to anyone who has a casual interest in Pattaya, and who possesses at least one good eye and a functioning brain, that the present baht bus system is unprofessionally run, inappropriate for the city as its only mass transport system, and it is completely unable to cope with the huge influx of tourists and residents into Fun Town over the past couple of years.

Because of Pattaya’s success at wooing Russian-speaking tourists, the situation is likely to get much worse in the future, especially in high season, because the increased number of tourists is already putting great pressure on this flawed transport system.

Another delight- stuck in slow-moving traffic on a sweaty baht bus

Baht bus numbers - Supply and Demand?

Some estimates put numbers of baht bus vehicles at 700, although sometimes it seems the correct number might be more like seven, especially when you need one.

Whatever the real number, obviously the whole fleet of baht buses are not all on the road at the same time, but certainly hundreds are in operation during daylight, all over the city, either on fixed routes with a 10 baht price, or as special trips when the sky seems to be the limit, fare-wise.

In the past, baht buses always seemed to be there when you needed one, with little waiting, except late at night or early in the morning.

Now it seems wherever you are, and certainly on the popular tourist routes,  many baht buses, either privately hired ones, with loads of room,  or ones for public hire, their backs almost broken by the groaning weight of passengers already stuffed into them, are likely to sail (or creak) past before one that is sufficiently empty will stop for you.

This may be less of a problem if the pavements in Pattaya were pedestrian friendly, and if the city had good footpaths so people could walk instead of getting buses for short distances, but this is Pattaya and they are not.

Besides, it’s often too hot to walk, and the pollution and the road dangers frequently make walking an unpleasant alternative.

Extra baggage-always a problem

Russians

The deluge of Russian visitors these past couple of high seasons has exacerbated the problems of using baht buses as the city’s only mass transit system.

The increasing numbers of Russians, most of whom rely on baht buses to get them around, means that it is an increasingly common sight to see, even outside the highest season and peak times of the weekend, large numbers of Russians in Jomtien and Naklua, who are waiting on the traffic-clogged roads for a baht bus to stop for them which is not already packed with (mostly) their own countrymen squeezed into, or hanging off the back of it.

Russians and other tourists with more money, can get around this problem by renting private hire baht buses, so a couple or four people can travel in (comparative) style and comfort.

Unfortunately this understandable desire not to be sweated over in a packed cattle truck, and to instead hire a baht bus privately, means there are even less baht buses available to pick up the increasing numbers of people waiting at the roadside for one they can squeeze into.

Who can blame the happy private hirers?

The alternative is an increasingly long, increasingly frustrating wait at the side of a pollution-filled, dangerous road, to get into town from outlying areas, where you cannot sensibly or safely walk on the road (or pavement) at night.

However, the increasing number of private-hires is reducing the effectiveness of the baht bus system as a means of servicing ALL Pattaya’s tourists and residents.

In conclusion, it seems the city’s marketing success in attracting Russians in increasingly large numbers, may be a success for tourism, but not for the city’s "mass" transit system of knackered old trucks with seats in the back.

A new, airconditioned bus service is urgently required on main tourist routes.

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